About Milei’s Project in Argentina
A Sigh and Stun by Political Thought
- Orchestra of the Human
- The Problem of the Classics
- Milei’s Triumph or the Defeat of Others
- Apocalyptic Pessimism
- The Return of Political Counsel?
- On the Risk of Atomization and Concentration
- Flipping coin in the Air
1.
To exist has become an exercise of dialectics over the years, recognizing ourselves in the mirrors that are the relationships in which we expose authentic concerns and reflections.
It is a pleasure since reality is never fully graspable through the perception of a particular subject, and mutually we expand and deepen our understanding of this complex system that humans have orchestrated.
This system is created not only in relation to the control and domination of natural threats (apparently generating imbalances that create new and different threats), well problematized by Kusch, in the transition from vulnerability in front of the violent and unpredictable nature, to the city walls that seek to control the uncontrollable, but also in relation to political domination. The formation of Nation-States proclaimed the monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, almost fulfilling Machiavelli’s longing for unity in the face of the harshness of effective reality. In the words of Aristotle, “the human, when he has achieved all perfection, is the first of animals; he is the last when he lives without laws and without justice.”
The complexity of thought regarding the forms of manifestation of the organization of the common adds to conversations that introduce countless assumptions about classical authours, adding consensus on debates of traditional political thought that may indeed be restrictive to interpret current reality.
I do believe that we must seek traces of common problems concerning the human condition and that they should be studied as an exercise in the construction of expansion and rigor; however, I feel an increasingly strong call to reflect on whether conditions will exist in the medium term for those models of human community thought, for them to be possibly applicable. The change is so radical that it requires perceiving the need to open space for political creativity, to recognize a window of opportunity filled with uncertain, unknown possibilities that are difficult to frame within the previously known.
One of these many possibilities was Milei’s triumph in the last national election in Argentina. It is worth recognizing that this was, and continues to be, a triumph that speaks to much more than the triumph itself.
The significance refers to a transparency of what reality actually is, revealing contained opinions and forces that could not be channeled within existing political institutions, including ideological ones.
It is also a mirror to the forces that do not identify with Milei, to recognize that they do not encompass the totality and that their discourse is not absolute. I am not interested here in probing which position is better or advocating for one or the other. Not because I don’t have a position, but because it seems that this is a moment to think about what may be transformative, about how to establish a humble, sensitive dialogue, in a web of networks that may be much more fragile than previously believed.
If a possible apocalyptic future finds humanity in its full technological development, with no possibility for all people to be effectively cared for, embraced, or encouraged to realize themselves as part of a virtuous environment, how would the instances of interrelation, public debate, and collective decision-making be recreated? Is there a possibility that the corporate world absorbs the political sphere, and what would that imply?
Probably not much more than Elon Musk sorting a million dollars a day to support Trump’s campaign, or his arrival at the helm of state agencies. Probably not much more than an anarcho-libertarianism propelled by democracy to eradicate the state.
Probably not much more than the management of the public sphere through trust funds, as is the case with Santi Maratea. The future that is beginning.
The redefinition of the concept of the State as unnecessary, sometimes conceals a reconversion (also in dispute or interpretation, whether it is protectionist or deregulative) that does not necessarily diminish it until its elimination, but rather maintains structures considered useful by the groups that are managing it. At the same time, true politics, international politics, seems to be anchored, at least in the medium term, in lateral relationships of national units. The ideas from the New Public Management school, which proposed thinking about the public beyond the state, to include agencies, civil organizations, social movements, foundations, local and international actors that operate as participants in the management of the public and political sphere, appear to have spread the “publicization” as a transfer from the state sector to the non-state public sector (Bresser Pereira, 1998), at the same time that this process can have some limits.
5.
The effective reality has forced us to be bolder in criticism and reflection, and perhaps also to understand that it must be appropriated in a collective practice of common political thought.
The concept of political formation has gained a bit more prominence, as has that of political communication. The work of the sciences and techniques of those who study social issues is, in part, bastardized, and in part, reclaimed for its potential redirected to achieve certain goals, as Santiago Caputto has done so efficiently.
Directed behavior is a widespread risk (and I am referring to all opinions in the field of information), and it raises the need for and the power contained in generating political formation that allows for more sovereign action in communication technology environments.
Due to the COVID pandemic, the development of digitalization (in communication, labor, state, banking, and commercial activities) accelerated, which, far from occurring gradually and/or equitably, imposed itself in a context of technological growth and artificial intelligence, a tightening of the global labor market, and greater autonomy and independence of large capital, in terms of the need of a wide working class and a reserve army. Political systems have been built to achieve consensus and order that allow for a balanced benefit among different sectors of society. Extreme inequality in capital concentration creates powerful figures, in front of whom there will be people who are no longer needed as a labor force or for the reproduction of the labor force. At that point, it may no longer be necessary to negotiate certain minimum living conditions. People can simply be displaced from the system; they are expendable. Furthermore, these individuals, far from having instances of encounter to build an identity, subjectivity, or much less a common action, they find themselves distanced not only by the increasing digitalization but also by the isolation generated by the mental health crisis.
7.
I also do not believe that late capitalisms necessarily have a specific form compared to others. There exists a model of the world in which a few corporations concentrate the maximum amount of possible capital, with structures increasingly marginal to the state, which will become more and more weak against the organization of private capital. But there are also anti-colonialist models that reclaim the sovereignty of peoples, defending the well-being of existing persons as the ultimate goal. Above all, in addition to the tradition of political science and analysis, which is indeed indispensable, it is necessary to summ an openness that allows for agreements and new strategies for care and love. In a key moment of transition, also of the international order, what lies ahead is unknown. Rethinking the possibilities of political formation, action, and communication, not only from praxis but also from critical analysis of the sustenance. Observing the reorganization, the movement of capital distribution and labor force, rather than issuing rigid or static judgments, whether they are about a social project or a constructed belief. Observing the cracks where strategies can be created to avoid succumbing to the resignation that life is lost or no longer matters, and that destruction is guaranteed. Tracking and recovering images related to the organic. The therapeutic. The authentic. The reliable. The humble. The solidare. The warmth. Above all, safe spaces for dialogue and courage. The courage and authenticity that Milei was able to have and build is something we also owe to those of us who continue to seek.
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