False Election-Year Dilemmas

Any color you want… as long as it’s black ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ February 14, 2024  |  [View Online](  |  [Sign Up]( False Election-Year Dilemmas “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants… so long as it is black.” – Henry Ford Dear Reader, The press – mainstream, legacy, or otherwise – still doesn’t know what to make of Argentina’s new president Javier Milei. The best it can come up with is a diminutive: he’s the “Donald Trump of Argentina.” Over the past day or two, we’ve been ruminating over the chainsaw-wielding Sr. Milei’s address to the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 18, 2024. As well as reading the many and various reactions to it. By way of digging in… and since we’re 10 days away from the South Carolina Republican primary… we thought we’d set up our own election-year false dilemma. Rather than the primary choice between the former president and “Dick Cheney in heels,” or the presumed general choice between the incumbent well-meaning geriatric (with memory issues) and the bombastic former incumbent (with memory issues), we prefer to “take the piss” out of the election, as our British friends would say. What would it be like if the “right-wing” populist Donald Trump were to run against “right-wing” libertarian Javier Milei for the future prosperity of the world? Surely, it would be a tight race. In his own presidential address before the WEF on January 21, 2020, Donald Trump proclaimed victory over the prior administration. “Today,” he told the audience then, “I’m proud to declare that the United States is in the midst of an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen before. We’ve regained our stride, we discovered our spirit and reawakened the powerful machinery of American enterprise. America is thriving, America is flourishing, and yes, America is winning again like never before.” Then he ran through a litany of tortured economic data. Later, near the close of his 33-minute address, came the phrase which allows journalists their confabulation with Milei. Trump talks as if he represented the country Milei wishes to bring about by libertarian “revolution.” “We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy,” Trump asserted, “or wreck our country, or eradicate our liberty. America will always be the proud, strong, and unyielding bastion of freedom.” Damn right. Alas, the speech is where the similarities end. “Though the Trump camp might align themselves with Milei,” comments Patrick Lynch from the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), “the policy offerings from the economic nationalists bear little, if any, resemblance to the economic courage of the Argentine upstart. Rather than the thin gruel of economic grievance offered by American right-wing populists, Milei’s policies are built on his vast knowledge of sound and successful, albeit politically unpopular, economic thinking.” Milei tried to articulate for the billionaires — perhaps even for Trump — while in Davos this year what he means to achieve as president. Milei: Countries that have more freedom are 12 times richer than those that are repressed. The lowest percentile in free countries is better off than 90% of the population in repressed countries. Poverty is 25 times lower and extreme poverty is 50 times lower. And citizens in free countries live 25% longer than citizens in repressed countries. Now what is it that we mean when we talk about libertarianism? And let me quote the words of the greatest authority on freedom in Argentina, Professor Alberto Benegas Lynch Jr, who says that libertarianism is the unrestricted respect for the life project of others based on the principle of non-aggression, in defence of the right to life, liberty, and property. Its fundamental institutions are private property, markets free from state intervention, free competition, and the division of labour and social cooperation, in which success is achieved only by serving others with goods of better quality or at a better price. In other words, capitalist successful business people are social benefactors who, far from appropriating the wealth of others, contribute to the general well-being. Ultimately, a successful entrepreneur is a hero. By contrast, with Biden’s predecessor, the citizens of the empire fell victim to a “bait and switch.” A few short months after Trump’s claim of vanquishing the entrepreneur in America in 2020, he followed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) lead and agreed to lock down the entire economy, harming most notably small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Further, “the Donald” approved economic stimulus checks… even before the lockdowns went into effect. The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, nicknamed “Phase One,” was signed into law on March 6, 2020 by President Trump. By December of that year, Trump was claiming victory in the race to provide COVID vaccines. “My Administration has initiated the single greatest mobilization in U.S. history,” Trump preened on December 8, “pioneering, developing, and manufacturing therapies and vaccines in record time”... using taxpayer resources… then paying, with taxpayer money, big contracts to Pfizer and Moderna.  Stimmy checks and vaccines are among the reasons the federal debt increased by $6.8 trillion during the Trump administration, an increase of 33%. Sleepy Joe Biden, some readers may be shocked to learn, has only presided over a debt increase of $2.4 trillion, or 8% (so far). And despite the ubiquitous campaign promise to “drain the swamp,” the number of bureaucrats on Washington’s payroll rose…up to 2.9 million — a level not seen since 1990 and the first Bush administration. “The realm of human affairs is notoriously messy,” Joel Bowman, also a fan of philosophical conundra, writes. “Rarely do we abide by such neat and tidy categorizations as the false dilemma of black or white, especially when it comes to that most problematic of earthly undertakings: politics. “It is sometimes said that those on the so-called ‘left’ assume those on the right have no heart...and that those on the so-called ‘right’ think those on the left have no brain. “Libertarians, meanwhile, tend to agree.” The libertarian model “is the model that we are advocating for the Argentina of the future,” Milei articulated in his vision in Davos. “A model based on the fundamental principle of libertarianism. The defense of life, of freedom and of property.” Milei continued: Now, if free enterprise, capitalism, and economic freedom have proven to be extraordinary instruments to end poverty in the world, and we are now at the best time in the history of humanity, it is worth asking why I say that the West is in danger. And I say this precisely because in countries that should defend the values of the free market, private property and the other institutions of libertarianism, sectors of the political and economic establishment are undermining the foundations of libertarianism, opening up the doors to socialism and potentially condemning us to poverty, misery, and stagnation. It should never be forgotten that socialism is always and everywhere an impoverishing phenomenon that has failed in all countries where it's been tried out. It's been a failure economically, socially, and culturally. And it also murdered more than 100 million human beings. The essential problem of the West today is not just that we need to come to grips with those who, even after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the overwhelming empirical evidence, continue to advocate for impoverishing socialism. But there's also our own leaders, thinkers and academics who are relying on a misguided theoretical framework to undermine the fundamentals of the system that has given us the greatest expansion of wealth and prosperity in our history. Granted, Milei has a mountain to climb. In the early going, he abandoned his plan to dollarize the Argentine peso. And his “chainsaw” omnibus bill intended to reduce corporate and personal taxes and slash the administrative state by 80% only passed after major concessions. “In countries around the world,” Mr. Bowman observes, “card-carrying ‘conservative’ politicians have been blasting holes in their countries’ budgets for decades. As for ‘inclusive’ progressives, witness the disemboweled remains of any number of canceled liberal apostates, who failed to conform to the latest groupthink nomenclature of the day. “Meanwhile, when it comes to dropping bombs on people they will never meet in sh**hole countries they hope never to visit, the Uniparty is unanimous in its bloodcurdling chant: War for all and all for war! “The obvious question, therefore, is why sensible, private individuals put up with such a sorry parade of shrieking lunatics and profiteering psychopaths? Is there no other option?” So it goes, Addison Wiggin, The Wiggin Sessions P.S. That Javier Milei was elected with 40% of the popular vote was already a “gray swan” event. Not to be confused with Nassim Taleb’s use of “black swan” to describe events that cannot be forecast, a grey swan event, to an economist, is an event that follows a primary to its logical conclusion even if highly unlikely to happen. As Milei has repeatedly pointed out since being elected, Argentinians did their best to destroy their economy by following social-justice policies that are anathema to life, freedom, and property for over 80 years. History has a way of throwing off the yolk of oppression. P.P.S. And speaking of grey swans… yesterday, the Attorney General of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, formally petitioned Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Joe Biden as president. Morrisey, a Republican, argued Biden’s mental health is a problem for everyone after a 388-page special-counsel report was released last week with the backhanded comment heard ‘round-the-world, calling him a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” “President Biden’s cognitive decline is of great concern to Americans, especially during these times that our nation is facing crisis after crisis both here and abroad,” Morrisey wrote. “We need a president who is mentally fit.” On the gambling site PredictIt, it’ll cost you 74 cents to bet Joe Biden will still be the Democratic nominee at the Convention in Chicago on August 19. That’s down 5 cents from prior to the special counsel’s report. Following the report, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s price on PredictIt jumped up — from 12 cents to 17 cents. This particular grey swan got a little closer to taking flight. The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. By submitting your email address, you consent to The Wiggn Sessions delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions, feel free to [click here.]( Please read our [Privacy Statement.]( For any further comments or concerns please email us at feedback@wigginsessions.com. If you are having trouble receiving your The Wiggin Sessions subscription, you can ensure its arrival in your mailbox by [whitelisting The Wiggin Sessions.]( © 2023 The Wiggin Sessions 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. 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