Argentina - The Land of Excess

[MilHojas]

Land of Excess

In a country where poverty is rampant and politics is undefinable, the people continue to wait for a savior.

www.city-journal.org

 

[Redpossum]

Land of Excess

In a country where poverty is rampant and politics is undefinable, the people continue to wait for a savior.

www.city-journal.org

"However, there is a form of left-wing Peronism: a vaguely social-democratic movement whose presidential candidate is Sergio Massa, the governor of Buenos Aires."

That's from paragraph eight of the article linked above.

Last I looked, Kicillof was governor of La Provincia. But this is typical of what happens a man living in London writes about Argentina for a New York magazine. The thing is, as one reads the article, he seems to have some idea of what he's on about, and then he takes a left turn into the usual misunderstandings.

In paragraph five, he calls Menem a Peronist, which, well, an anecdote. My first three months here in CABA. I was having a sort of open discussion with some people in a small cafe. I asked "Memem fue Peronista?" and there was a hesitant hum like "Carajo, how do we explain something that complex to this boludo yanqui?". Someone opined "Menem fue Menem", and there was a small buzz of limited agreement. Then somebody else piped up with "Memem fue mafia", and everyone made noises of strong agreement. Menem is a complicated subject. Who is it here, one of the regulars, that has a signature about "For every complex issue, there is a solution which is clear, simple, and wrong" ? That's Argentina in a nutshell.

In paragraph seven, the author blames the montoneros for the dictatorship, blithely ignoring the whole Operation Condor thing.

And the rest is much the same. He mixes genuine insights with gross misstatements. The man is not a fool, by any means, and I'd guess he has spent some time here, but he's "London-based" now, and obviously in that trans-atlantic London-New York state of mind.

In conclusion, I will note that while I am critical of this article, it would be utterly beyond my abilities to write a better one. To comprehend that one does not understand, is not itself understanding, let alone being able to describe the thing.

 

[Brian_is_here]

Argentina and its politics are a complicated thing.

I personally do not like the cryptofascism of Peronism that is embedded into the Argentine Psyche... but trying to describe why the whole system is dependent on the clientism of peronism to have argentina even become close to functioning as a city-nation-state.... very challenging.

I don't know what Argentina needs to do to not be a dysfunctional wreck, but its certainly a wreck now.

In order to do anything of consequence in Argentina... Certain compromises have to be made. But how can you break the wheel?

The system creates a poverty cycle that you can't escape from but at the same time, the people of Argentina live in the Now. because the future is probably not going to be much better. But that same system that creates the poverty cycle sustains a substantial portion of the population from complete despair.

 

[Redpossum]

Argentina and its politics are a complicated thing.

I personally do not like the cryptofascism of Peronism that is embedded into the Argentine Psyche... but trying to describe why the whole system is dependent on the clientism of peronism to have argentina even become close to functioning as a city-nation-state.... very challenging.

I don't know what Argentina needs to do to not be a dysfunctional wreck, but its certainly a wreck now.

In order to do anything of consequence in Argentina... Certain compromises have to be made. But how can you break the wheel?

The system creates a poverty cycle that you can't escape from but at the same time, the people of Argentina live in the Now. because the future is probably not going to be much better. But that same system that creates the poverty cycle sustains a substantial portion of the population from complete despair.

I disagree with your description of Peronism as "cryptofascism", but other than that I'd say this is some home truth. Well said.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

"However, there is a form of left-wing Peronism: a vaguely social-democratic movement whose presidential candidate is Sergio Massa, the governor of Buenos Aires."

That's from paragraph eight of the article linked above.

Last I looked, Kicillof was governor of La Provincia. But this is typical of what happens a man living in London writes about Argentina for a New York magazine. The thing is, as one reads the article, he seems to have some idea of what he's on about, and then he takes a left turn into the usual misunderstandings.

In paragraph five, he calls Menem a Peronist, which, well, an anecdote. My first three months here in CABA. I was having a sort of open discussion with some people in a small cafe. I asked "Memem fue Peronista?" and there was a hesitant hum like "Carajo, how do we explain something that complex to this boludo yanqui?". Someone opined "Menem fue Menem", and there was a small buzz of limited agreement. Then somebody else piped up with "Memem fue mafia", and everyone made noises of strong agreement. Menem is a complicated subject. Who is it here, one of the regulars, that has a signature about "For every complex issue, there is a solution which is clear, simple, and wrong" ? That's Argentina in a nutshell.

In paragraph seven, the author blames the montoneros for the dictatorship, blithely ignoring the whole Operation Condor thing.

And the rest is much the same. He mixes genuine insights with gross misstatements. The man is not a fool, by any means, and I'd guess he has spent some time here, but he's "London-based" now, and obviously in that trans-atlantic London-New York state of mind.

In conclusion, I will note that while I am critical of this article, it would be utterly beyond my abilities to write a better one. To comprehend that one does not understand, is not itself understanding, let alone being able to describe the thing.

Hey, give the guy a break! He's seventy-nine years old and, like The British Museum, he may no longer have all his marbles.