Javier Milei delivered a fearless speech to The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on 1/14/2024. He presented a classical demolition of collectivist policies and extolled the accomplishments of individual liberty. Watch the speech by clicking on this link:
Read the transcript of the speech at this link:
This was such a well written speech you should watch or read all of it. In my opinion these are the highlights of his speech:
Unfortunately, in recent decades motivated by some well-meaning individuals willing to help others and others motivated by the wish to belong to a privileged cast the main leaders of the western world have abandoned the model of freedom for different versions of what we call collectivism. We're here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problem that afflicts the citizens of the world, rather they are the root cause.
That said when you look at per capita GDP since the year 1800 and until today what you will see is that after the Industrial Revolution Global per capita GDP multiplied by over 15 times which meant a boom in growth that lifted 90% of the global population out of poverty. We should remember that by the year 1800 about 95% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty and that figure dropped to 5% by the year 2020 prior to the pandemic. The conclusion is obvious. Far from being the cause of our problems, free trade capitalism as an economic system is the only instrument we have to end hunger, poverty and extreme poverty across our planet. The empirical evidence is unquestionable.
The problem is that social justice is not just and it doesn't contribute either to the general wellbeing. Quite on the contrary it's an intrinsically unfair idea because it's violent it’s unjust because the state is financed through tax and taxes are collected coercively or can anyone of us say that they voluntarily pay taxes? Which means that the state is financed through coercion and that the higher the tax burden the higher the coercion and the lower the freedom.
If the goods or services offered by a business are not wanted the business will fail unless it adapts to what the market is demanding. If they make a good quality product at an attractive price they will do well and produce more. So, the market is a discovery process in which the capitalist will find the right path as they move forward.
Countries that have more freedom are 12 times richer than those that are repressed. The lowest decile in terms of distribution in free countries are better off than 90% of the population of repressed countries.
...libertarianism is the unrestricted respect for the life project of others based on the principle of non-aggression in defense of the right to life, liberty, and property. Its fundamental institutions being private property, markets free from State intervention, free competition, the division of labor, and social cooperation as part of which success is achieved only by serving others with goods of better quality or at a better price. In other words, capitalists, successful businesspeople are social benefactors who, far from appropriating the wealth of others, contribute to the general well-being.
Why do I say that the West is in danger? I say this precisely because in those of our 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 some due to mistakes in their theoretical framework and others due to a greed for power 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, culturally, and it also murdered over a 100 million human beings.
On the pretext of a supposed market failure, regulations are introduced which only create distortions in the price system, prevent economic calculus, and therefore also prevent saving, investment, and growth.
The market is a mechanism of social cooperation where you voluntarily exchange ownership rights. Therefore, based on this definition, talking about a market failure is an oxymoron. There are no market failures if transactions are voluntary. The only context in which there can be a market failure is if there is coercion and the only one that is able to coerce generally is the state which holds a monopoly on violence.
However, faced with the theoretical demonstration that state intervention is harmful and the empirical evidence that it has failed couldn't have been otherwise. The solution to be proposed by collectivists is not greater freedom but rather greater regulation which creates a downward spiral of the spiral of regulations until we're all poorer and the life of all of us depends on a bureaucrat sitting in a luxury office.
Neo Marxists have managed to co-opt the common sense of the western world and this they have achieved by appropriating the media, culture, universities, and also international organizations.
Today states don't need to directly control the means of production to control every aspect of the lives of individuals. With tools such as printing money, debt, subsidies, controlling the interest rate, price controls, and regulations to correct the so-called market failures, they can control the lives and fates of millions of individuals. This is how we come to the point where by using different names or guises a good deal of the generally accept political offers in most Western countries are collectivist variant whether they proclaim to be openly communist, fascist, Nazis, socialists, Social Democrats, National Socialists, Democrat, Christians, Christian Democrats, progressive populist, nationalists, or globalists. At bottom 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 that one which led humanity to the most spectacular progress in its history. We have come here today to invite the rest of the countries in the Western World to get back on the path of prosperity, economic freedom, limited government, and respect for private property are essential elements for economic growth.
...I would like to leave a message for all businesspeople here and for those who are not here in person but are following from around the world. Do not be intimidated either by the political cast or by parasites who live off the state. Do not surrender to the political class that only wants to stay in power and retain its privileges. You are social benefactors, you are heroes, you’re the creators of the most extraordinary period of prosperity we've ever seen. Let no one tell you that your ambition is immoral. If you make money, it's because you offer a better product at a better price thereby contributing to general wellbeing. Do not surrender to the advance of the state. The state is not the solution, the state is the problem itself. You are the true protagonists of this story and rest assured that as from today Argentina is your staunch unconditional ally.
Why would WEF invite Javier Milei to speak?
FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo attended the WEF annual meeting. She witnessed Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab walk out of the room during President Milei’s speech.
Daniel Hannan writes in The Telegraph that WEF invited Milei to speak to provide "at least a warning to that most self-regarding of conferences that voters can make terrible choices."
Hannan also notes that Milei, a former economics professor made no attempt to meet his audience half way. On the contrary, he began by warning that Western values had been betrayed by “those who want to belong to a privileged caste”.
Did WEF invite Milei to speak so that they can concoct a narrative to embarrass or discredit Milei?
Does WEF intend to edit Milei's speech so that they can release soundbites that will discredit his message?
If Milei's invitation to speak was without hidden intentions, then it suggests that the WEF believes they can dismiss any critique and continue with their collectivist plans.
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