The Zman is not impressed with Javier Milei, just elected President of Argentina.
Javier Milei is the next in line in what has become a tradition that started with Beppe Grillo a dozen years ago in Italy.
Grillo was a TV comic. As was Trump in The Apprentice. Milei was a TV pundit “known for his prolific swearing and pledge to take a chainsaw to the machinery of state.” But nothing changes. Says Zman:
There is little chance [Milei] will get any of his agenda implemented. The two main parties still control all of the important institutions, so they will collude to block his initiatives…
What all of these eccentric characters are, in the end, is proof that there is no voting your way out of the problems of liberal democracy.
I read a piece recently that said that only the top 10 percent is doing well in today’s America. The middle class and the lower class are falling behind. But nothing changes.
So what’s the problem? I will tell you. Dysfunctional as it is, the modern state survives because everyone gets their bite of the goodies. And nobody will agree to a reduction in their share of the loot, however small.
The corporate elite won’t give up their carve-outs.
The educated class won’t give up their “jobs for gentry” in the bureaucracies and administrative state.
The middle class won’t give up its Social Security and Medicare.
The lower class won’t give up its welfare and Medicaid.
And there’s a bunch of other stuff that is handed out, from DEI jobs to various grants, and the recipients will burn the place down rather than agree to a reduction in their benefits.
Here is Javier Milei going down the list of government departments shouting “Afuera!” And jolly good fun it is. But you just try to abolish a bunch of government departments, Javier old chap, and see where it gets you. Yes, of course they are useless. But they are not relly there to be useful. They are there to provide jobs in return for votes.
You may remember that the opera Pagliacci is about a clown, and things down’t end well. In the aria “Vesti La Giubba” — put on the costume — the clown, Pagliaccio, ends with
Ridi, Pagliaccio,
sul tuo amore infranto!
Ridi del duol, che t'avvelena il cor!
which translates as
Laugh, clown,
your love is broken!
Laugh at the pain, that poisons your heart!
Nothing changes. “You can’t vote yourself out of the problems of liberal democracy.” No, liberal democracy ends when it runs out of other peoples’ money.