The New York Times today published a fairly typical hit piece. Typical in that it does most of its work by innuendo and guilt-by-association. The object of the piece is Javier Milei, the victor in Argentina’s presidential race.
The Times described Mr. Milei’s election as “a victory for the global far-right movement” that was strengthened by Donal Trump and “similar” politicians including Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro. The supposed similarities Mr. Milei shares with other “similar” politicians go largely unexplicated.
Other examples cited by the Times as testament to the horror of Mr. Milei include the assertion that Spain’s “far-right” Vox party has cheered him on; that Tucker Carlson interviewed him, and that after Milei’s victory, Elon Musk said that “prosperity is ahead for Argentina”. The horror.
The Times does concede, in a back-handed way, that the “far-right” Mr. Milei, an economist by training, is strongly libertarian. And that he is in favor “in theory” of open immigration and drug decriminalization. Does that sound like Donald Trump to you?
Mr. Milei, an economics professor and adherent of the Austrian school, also supports freedom of choice in such areas as prostitution, marriage, sexual preference and gender identity. He has come out strongly in favor of a school voucher system. Pretty right wing.
He has come out against both abortion rights and euthanasia. His critics consider this to be an example of his “far-right” repressive agenda. But that is, of course, nonsense. A libertarian is naturally repelled by the use of violence against a third party, and that is precisely what abortion and euthanasia amount to.
The NY Times has referred to Milei as a “Mini-Trump” largely because of what the paper describes as his bellicose style. But that is to confuse style with substance. Sure, from a stylistic standpoint his utterances have been less than genteel. But that is where the similarities to Mr. Trump grind to a halt. Donald Trump doesn’t have a libertarian bone in his body.
And while we are on the subject of style and substance, somehow or other the NY Times hasn’t displayed much concern over the rhetorical bellicosity, much less violence, of left wing interest groups like Black Lives Matter, Antifa, Jane’s Revenge, or environmental groups that spike trees.
What is really on display here is the progressive terror of individual choice. Progressives are convinced that they know what’s best for you. And they will continue to use the power of the State to enforce their will. And if you disagree, tough. Eat your spinach and shut up. After all, we wouldn’t want freedom of choice to disrupt the successes of urban public schools.
Or would we?
JFB
