HALF-FULL REPORT 01/19/24
If Ayn Rand were watching this speech, she would shed tears of joy as she witnessed her great hero of Atlas Shrugged, Francisco d’Anconia, come alive before her eyes. For Franscisco, like Javier Milei, was from Argentina.
Ereyesterday (1/17), after flying commercial instead of private jet to Switzerland, Argentina’s Milei Gives the Davos Crowd a Spine Transplant is how the Wall Street Journal described it. Here’s how he began telling off the world’s globalist elite after being introduced by Klaus Schwab:
“Today I’m here to tell you that the Western world is in danger. And it is in danger because those who are supposed to have to defend the values of the West are co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism and thereby to poverty.
Unfortunately, in recent decades, the main leaders of the Western world have abandoned the model of freedom for different versions of what we call collectivism. Some have been motivated by well-meaning individuals who are willing to help others, and others have been motivated by the wish to belong to a privileged caste.
We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world. Rather, they are the root cause. Do believe me: no one is in better place than us Argentines to testify to these two points.”
The most electrifying intellectual experience of my life came in 1966 on a beach in Malibu when I read Francisco d’Anconia’s Speech on Money. It was the most brilliant explanation of why capitalism is not only the most practical economic system for achieving widespread prosperity but also the most moral.
And that’s exactly what Milei – a professor of economics – explained at Davos:
“It would first be important for us to take a look at the data that demonstrate why free enterprise capitalism is not just the only possible system to end world poverty, but also that it’s the only morally desirable system to achieve this.”
Milei’s equivalence of Marxism and Fascism reminded me of another speech that changed my life. When I was a senior at UCLA in October 1965, Ronald Reagan spoke at our campus, shortly before he announced he was running for Governor of California.
Reagan told us the “Left-Right” political spectrum made no sense to him with Communism on the Left and Nazi Fascism on the Right. His spectrum was “Up-Down” – Up towards individual freedom protected by a constitutional rule of law, and Down towards all forms of state control of the individual be it fascist, socialist, et al.
Milei at Davos:
“This is how we come to the point where, by using different names or guises, a good deal of the generally accepted ideologies in most Western countries are collectivist variants, whether they proclaim to be openly communist, fascist, socialist, social democrats, national socialists, Christian democrats, neo-Keynesians, progressives, populists, nationalists or globalists.
Ultimately, there are no major differences. They all say that the state should steer all aspects of the lives of individuals. They all defend a model contrary to the one that led humanity to the most spectacular progress in its history. We have come here today to invite the Western world to get back on the path to prosperity.”
I could not possibly encourage you more to watch Milei’s 23-minute speech in the video above, or perhaps better, to read the English transcript of Milei’s speech so you can savor and reflect on its brilliance.
Javier Milei is the world’s greatest champion of freedom today. He cemented that standing this week at Davos. Of course, he ended with his famous battle cry: ¡Viva la libertad, carajo! Long Live Liberty, Damn It!
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Will Milei be the tip of the spear for end-wokeness elections around the world in 2024? As we learned in HFR 01/05/24, there are national elections scheduled or expected in at least 64 countries this year:
One of them is El Salvador. Previously the murder capital of the world, it’s now one of the safest – because President Nayib Bukele cracked down on crime and jailed more than 65,000 gang members. Bukele is a great admirer of Milei and Trump. He’s up for reelection on February 4. The latest poll:
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Jose Antonio Kast, affectionately called JAK, is often called the Milei or Trump of Chile. He was narrowly defeated for the Chilean presidency in 2021, with the left freaking out against him. Typical was leftist The Guardian scare-story: ‘Very Worrying’: Is A Far-Right Radical About To Take Over In Chile?
Elections will be coming up again at the end of the year and Kast is clearly ahead today. Milei – and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil – are promising to campaign for him. Chile are Argentina are intense rivals, always wanting to prove which is better. Once Milei’s economic policies begin to have runaway success, there’s little doubt that Chile will be inspired to do the same – with Kast at the helm.
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Here’s a mind-blower: a white guy may be the next president of South Africa. He’s John Steenhuisen, leader of the country’s principal opposition party, Democratic Alliance. He’s organizing the Multi-Party Charter, a coalition of parties collectively opposed to the radical left/radical anti-white ruling dictatorship of the ANC which has virtually destroyed South Africa’s economy with rampant crime and corruption out of control.
Elections will be held sometime this summer. Steenhuisen is inspired by Milei and Trump but refrains from being ostentatious about it. Yet a clear majority of South Africans desperately want to be rid of the ANC yoke. Their choice, in poll after poll, is Steenhuisen’s DA.
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There are a large number of elections in Europe this year, and one in particular stands out: Portugal. In November, the Socialist president Antonio Costa had to resign under a cloud of corruption charges. The election for a new government is on March 10, and with Portuguese wanting real change, way in the lead is movie star handsome Andre Ventura and his Chega! Party. Chega means Enough!
The Portuguese certainly have had enough of their current leaders. Ventura proudly proclaims his admiration for Milei, and polls show the Portuguese love it.
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Last Saturday (1/13), China’s least favorite Taiwanese, Lai Ching-te, was elected president of his country. The Chicoms went bananas when he publicly declared, “Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent nation, so we don’t need a declaration of independence.” So naturally, they went on an all-out effort to demonize and destroy him – and the more they did so, the more the Taiwanese people supported him.
Sound familiar?
As Milei has said many times he wants nothing to do with Communist China, he’s already been invited to and will attend Lai’s inauguration in May.
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All of this and a lot more will be providing a lot of global momentum for America’s Champion of Change this November. One of the changes he’ll be making is to end this:
And he will be elected because the electorate believes him to do so:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wE8F926Spc
Meanwhile, Texas sure has his back. This afternoon (1/19): Texas To Ignore Federal Deadline Over Border Patrol Access In Eagle Pass.
And: Texas Begins Arresting, Charging Illegal Immigrants In Eagle Pass As Border Feud With Biden Admin Intensifies. Exactly what’s nee
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To sum up. Trump is going to smoke Nikki in New Hampshire next Tuesday (1/23) and is so far behind him in South Carolina (where she was governor), she may drop out soon – just as Vivek already has. RDS is on the ropes and may call it quits any day now. Then it’s clear sailing for El Donaldo.
The fear is that this will drive the Dems to ever more extreme desperation. What will they do to create multiple crises of distraction and emergency? Let us know your opinion on the Forum.
Meanwhile, ereyesterday (1/17), Jaime Dilon, CEO of JP Morgan was interviewed on CNBC. As you know, he’s one of the Wall Street Big Dogs with enormous influence. You’ll be taken aback by what he says about Trumps supporters and pleasantly so.
It’s an indication that Wall Street is coming to terms with the looming reality of a Trump second term – and putting the media and Washington on notice that it would be wise for them to do so as well. Watch:
Let’s close with this. You know how important the Hispanic vote is, right. While Trump is gaining popularity among them, Milei is rapidly becoming the hero of much of the entire Hispanic world.
You can be assured that Javier Milei will come to the US and campaign with Trump, telling American Hispanics that their best future lies with him back in the White House.
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One last note – of thanks to Mike Ryan for his astoundingly brilliant HFR last Friday. I was blown away. You might consider re-reading it as you may be too.