Milei Proves That Ideas Matter

“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.”

- rest at Milei Proves That Ideas Matter | AIER

 

It is not a natural function of government to "change lives significantly." As my favorite president, Grover Cleveland, wrote in his veto message of the Texas Seed Bill in 1887:

"I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the Government the Government should not support the people."

What should people be supporting the government to do? -

"The state therefore has two natural functions, functions essential to the existence of any peaceful, ordered society: to protect the rights of citizens against violent or fraudulent assault, and to judge in conflicts of right with right. It has a further third function, which is another aspect of the first, that is, to protect its citizens from assault by foreign powers. These three functions are expressed by three powers: the police power, which protects the citizen against domestic violence; the military power, which protects the citizen against violence from abroad; and the courts of law, which judge between rights and rights, as well as sharing with the police power the protection of the citizen against domestic violence.
…
But since this institution must possess a monopoly of legal physical force, to give to it in addition any further power is fraught with danger; that monopoly gives to the state so much power that its natural functions should be its maximum functions."

- Frank S. Meyer, In Defense of Freedom: A Conservative Credo, published in 1962


On the subject of President Javier Milei of Argentina, he appears to be attempting to make a good start. What happens next depends upon the legislature in Argentina:

"After devaluing the peso by more than 50 percent, cutting state subsidies, and reducing the number of ministries by half, Milei presented a package that encompasses most of his plans to transform Argentina into a free market economy. The 351-page bill proposes to deregulate and modify laws governing fiscal matters, labor, the environment, health, and more."

- rest at Milei's Sweeping Reform Package Triumphs in the Legislature's Lower House (reason.com)