Four Wolves and a Lamb
An election day asado in Argentina...
“Democracy is four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.”
~ (Attributed) Ambrose Bierce (1842- circa 1914, when he disappeared…)
Joel Bowman with today’s Note From the End of the World: Buenos Aires, Argentina…
It’s Election Day here in the Paris of the South, when world-weary citizens hold their noses, plug their ears with wax and cast their vote for the lesser of available evils. The midterms will decide the composition of the nation’s congress… and determine the path forward for Javier Milei’s incumbent libertarian government.
As we’ve been discussing all week, politics is less a contest of solemn principals as it is a parade of fictions, slogans and pre-broken promises.
Indeed, if objective reality had anything to say on the subject, the vote would be a cinch. Here’s one chart (among a thousand) that ought to put the matter more or less to rest. This one shows economic growth (or contraction) during the last five presidencies.
CFK: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner I and II – 2007-2011; 2011-2015
MM: Mauricio Macri: 2015–2019
AF: Alberto Fernández: 2019-2023
JM: Javier Milei: 2023-present…
And yet, while the graph appears to show Javier Milei well ahead of his presidential coevals in terms of economic growth, it tells only one part of the story…
Rather than pay for economic expansion by running massive fiscal deficits, bloating the public sector and printing the currency into an inflationary oblivion, as his Fernández predecessors had done, Milei managed to spur growth in the private sector, while taking his trademark chainsaw to the putrified Leviathan.
That is to say, growth under the present administration emanates from real world businesses creating real world goods and services for real world human beings… not phony-baloney, make-work boondoggles and centrally planned disaster zones.
And yet, in the fiendish smash-and-grab that is modern democracy, one is about as likely to encounter a sober assessment of the facts as he is to find vegan “burger” at an Argentine asado. It’s just not on the menu.
Lamb burgers, however… most certainly are.
In this week’s Notes we take a look at what’s at stake for Argentine voters, Trump’s “anti-Midas touch” in foreign elections and how the American taxpayers came to own billions of dollars worth of pesos. All that and more, below…
And now for your Notes From the End of the Week…
Final Notes…
The ley seca (dry law) went into effect at 8pm last night. That is, no alcohol is to be served at bars, restaurants or supermarkets across Argentina until after polls close tonight.
And so, in reverent observance of the local laws and customs, we’re off to the park for some hamburgers followed by a few gin & tonics with friends.
We’ll have more on the passing political parade next week. In the meantime, stay tuned for more Notes From the End of the World…
Cheers,
Joel Bowman
P.S. If you’re not already a Notes member, you can join our motley community of freedom lovers, independent thinkers and cheerful skeptics, below. For less than 20 cents a day, we do our best to make it worth every penny…
The problem with democracy is that we expect people to be saints and are bitterly disappointed when they turn out to be knaves. It would be better (and prudent) to expect folk to be knaves and delighted when they turn out to be saints.
Definitely will be interesting times ahead for Argentina. I look forward to the results of this election, as It will tell another whole new story. My opinion only !