As the world continues to turn evermore in an extreme right-leaning direction, it can be no real surprise (especially not to the highly jaded ones) that Argentina’s latest president is none other than Javier Milei a.k.a. “El Loco.” And yes, he seems to be someone who acts the way Donald Trump truly wanted to while still kind of “holding back” (believe it or not). Because, at the bare minimum, at least Trump never dressed up in a superhero costume reminiscent of Nacho Libre while calling this alter ego “General Ancap.” Though he probably wanted to do something similar (with his rightful alter ego name being something like General Shithead or General Cheeto). Indeed, Trump’s “congratulations” for Milei appear as much a sign of his own hope for more dystopia during the 2024 election as they do “genuine happiness” over the fact that unhinged men keep fortifying patriarchy’s hold over the political arena, ergo what goes on in the world.
With his own demagoguery, Milei rose to political prominence in much the same way that Trump did: through a lot of publicly-displayed buffoonery. Specifically, he was an economic (therefore, political) pundit that made numerous TV appearances, sometimes in the guise of the aforementioned alter ego. Usually, so that he might sing about Argentina’s economic crisis in that getup. His career as an “economist” for various privately-funded companies, including Corporación América, as well as a think tank called Fundación Acordar, only added to the insulated reverence he kept building over the years. Having his own radio show, Demoliendo mitos (a.k.a. Demolishing Myths—ha! As if!) didn’t hurt his steady building of a following either. One that, like the Americans who gravitated toward Trump, simply wanted to see a radical change—any radical change—in their government. One that, in Argentina, has been dominated by Peronism since the time of Perón.
In fact, Milei’s victory over erstwhile current president Sergio Massa marks the first time since the country returned to a “democracy” (back in 1983) that such a dominant far-right presence has managed to take hold of the government. Because, as is often the case, the right tends to triumph in elections when the left is blamed for economic crises and the correlative rising poverty and crime rates. Both of which Argentina is suffering from big time, what with the poverty rate hovering at over forty percent. Milei, a self-declared libertarian, clearly saw this as an opportunity to swoop in and act as that “superhero” he mimicked on TV. The kind who wields chainsaws in public while on the campaign trail to indicate his “seriousness” about wanting to make “dramatic cuts” in order to “stabilize” the economy and curb the out-of-control inflation problem that has been plaguing the country.
As Milei put it, “There is no room for gradualism. There is no room for half measures.” The Netherlands’ latest far-right leader, Geert Wilders, would likely agree. Wilders even wears a red tie, a signature of Donald Trump (apart from the red, shudder-inducing “Make America Great Again” hat). As leader of the ironically-titled Party For Freedom, much of Wilders hardline politics is rooted in “nativist,” anti-immigration views—with an especial emphasis on being distinctly anti-Islam (his vocal sentiments have, indeed, made him a target for many Islamic extremist death threats). While his economic policies are less in the spotlight than Milei’s, Dutch philosopher Rob Riemen might as well be talking about both men when, in 2010, he cited Wilders and his party as “the prototype of contemporary fascism” in that he has finagled “the politicization of the resentment of the man in the crowd” (this description also easily applying to Trump’s political rise as a demagogue).
Throughout the globe, this alarming turn of phrase has continued to gain traction in terms of the far-right gradually “collecting” power and entering increasingly into mainstream government after lying in wait to pounce on the “right moment” (no pun intended) via taking advantage of public dissatisfaction with things that ultimately have nothing to do with conservative “soapbox solutions.” In Europe especially, the far-right continues to gain control of governments at the highest level. This includes Giorgia Meloni in Italy, Petteri Orpo in Finland and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Another alarming “tidbit” of late is that if French presidential elections were held today, polling wisdom suggests far-right extremist Marine Le Pen (who has already run for the role of French president three times) would finally win.
All across the world, not just in Europe and South America (see also: the recent power held by Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Chile’s José Antonio Kast), a fascist, far-right darkness is taking hold. One spurred by the age-old idea that conservative parties are somehow “miracle workers” at resuscitating the economy (of course, the Tories in Britain are the most glaring present evidence to the contrary). Milei simply happens to be among the freshest, most overt examples of how, when people turn to the right for “fiscal salvation” (which, by the way, never actually comes), they, without fail, seem to forget, every time, about the even higher price one must pay in the sacrifice of human rights so as to achieve that so-called salvation.
In Argentina’s case, toppling the Peronism that has dominated the country’s politics since the time after Juan Perón’s first “presidency” (read: a presidency that employed many dictatorial tactics) is yet another sign of how extreme things have become. With voters turning to “shock politics” in a bid to seek a change that can never truly come unless the system of capitalism is dismantled entirely. And no, that does not automatically mean turning to socialism (that age-old conservative fear), but rather, a reassessment entirely of humanity’s priorities.
Naturally, the likelihood of that happening is nil, with Žižek’s adage, “It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism” automatically coming to mind amid increasingly absurd voter “preferences” relating, in the end, to how they can better secure their financial well-being instead of their emotional and spiritual one. In short, putting a more colorful Band-Aid (represented by the superhero costume-wearing politician) on a fatal wound that needs a different cure entirely.
