by johnny nemo » Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:38 pm
As I've said before, Libertarianism is a shortcut to thinking.<br>A dangerous shortcut, if you look at August Pinochet and his Libertarian nightmare in Chile.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-chichile.htm">www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-chichile.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Many people have often wondered what it would be like to create a nation based solely on their political and economic beliefs. Imagine: no opposition, no political rivals, no compromise of morals. Only a "benevolent dictator," if you will, setting up society according to your ideals.<br><br><br>The Chicago School of Economics got that chance for 16 years in Chile, under near-laboratory conditions.<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong> Between 1973 and 1989, a government team of economists trained at the University of Chicago dismantled or decentralized the Chilean state as far as was humanly possible. Their program included privatizing welfare and social programs, deregulating the market, liberalizing trade, rolling back trade unions, and rewriting its constitution and laws.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> And they did all this in the absence of the far-right's most hated institution: democracy.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The results were exactly what liberals predicted. Chile's economy became more unstable than any other in Latin America, alternately experiencing deep plunges and soaring growth.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Once all this erratic behavior was averaged out, however, Chile's growth during this 16-year period was one of the slowest of any Latin American country. Worse, income inequality grew severe.<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong> The majority of workers actually earned less in 1989 than in 1973 (after adjusting for inflation), while the incomes of the rich skyrocketed. In the absence of market regulations, Chile also became one of the most polluted countries in Latin America.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> And Chile's lack of democracy was only possible by suppressing political opposition and labor unions under a reign of terror and widespread human rights abuses.<br><br>Conservatives have developed an apologist literature defending Chile as a huge success story.<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong> In 1982, Milton Friedman enthusiastically praised General Pinochet (the Chilean dictator) because he "has supported a fully free-market economy as a matter of principle. Chile is an economic miracle." However, the statistics below show this to be untrue. Chile is a tragic failure of right-wing economics, and its people are still paying the price for it today.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> <br><br>I didn't even mention all the people Pinochet's secret police butchered to keep his Libertarian pipedream alive.<br><br>Chile and Somalia are the best arguments against Libertarianism.<br><br>Sweden and the Netherlands (NOTE: and Venezuela today) are what happens when you ignore rightwing Libertarian nutjobs and provide REAL solutions to problems.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.politicalcompass.org/faq">www.politicalcompass.org/faq</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The assumption that Social Darwinism delivers more social freedom is questionable. The welfare states of, for example, Sweden and The Netherlands, abolished capital punishment decades ago and are at the forefront of progressive legislation for women, gays and ethnic minorities - not to mention anti-censorship. Such established social democracies consistently score highest in the widely respected Freedom House annual survey on civil liberties.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br>Their detailed checklist can be viewed at: <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.worldaudit.org/civillibs.htm">www.worldaudit.org/civillibs.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> .<br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Such social developments would presumably be envied by genuine libertarians in socially conservative countries - even if their taxes are lower.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> <br><br> <p></p><i></i>