Wowee! It's been a busy weekend here. Where do we start?
Than you must agree that Macri is not an agent of transformational change, no? By definition, a "society not ready to accept fundamental reforms" can't elect the harbinger of such reforms.
I wasn't even discussing that broad an angle. To continue the trend of
own-fart-smelling self-quoting, there's a LOT of space between the various descriptions you've pinned to Macri, including 'like any other SA politician', enabler of the business oligarchy, and most recently, hack - and 'agent of transformational change', whatever that even means.
What's wrong with competent steward of the economy, for example? Again, in the first months of his presidency FFS.
And the crisis of 2001 was not that event, in your view?
Perhaps it might have been, but that's neither here nor there. Macri wasn't elected in 2001, it's 2016 now. A lot of water - including some relatively good years - have passed under that bridge.
The article you just linked to refers to an
ongoing crisis; methinks comparing it to 15 years ago is a
leettle bit of a stretch.
So you think most of the population would object a law that would give any Argentine, from any province, a fair shot at a job being a judge or prosecutor, without requiring political connections or a powerful political sponsor? A law that would seriously limit cronyism, give the general public that lacks political connections access to jobs that were always beyond their reach and would, in the long term, completely revolutionize the Argentine judiciary? Gee, and I am the "negative one".
I think most Argentines would find this law a no-brainer. All Macri would need to do is start anti-cronyism campaign and submit the law to Congress. I think the public opinion would rally behind him. But he will never do it, because such changes would harm the oligarchs he represents.
But instead of seeing that, people come up with weird excuses, to justify his lack of will to bring change.
Let's agree for argument's sake that such a project both is a good idea and doable. That he has not undertaken this particular project automatically means everything you're saying about him? Has he not had his hands rather full?
It rather seems that you have preconceived notions regarding the man, which you are now seeking to justify. And as I said, perhaps time will show you to have been right. But for now it looks like you're projecting stuff that's not there.
You don't have to be that radical and fire the existing employees. Make it so that the new rule simply applies to the new hires moving forward, like Brazil did in 1988. Sure, it took a while for the old politically connected guard to retire and be replaced by the new generation, but it is happening right now.
As I said, that is a long term play with high impact but that should not be that controversial.
And:
Something like the beginnings of a discussion about fundamental reforms, even if it takes years to implement. A draft of a roadmap for change. Or is even that too much to ask for?
See my last comment.
When one talks about a policy being radical related to getting rid of people who have jobs getting paid for doing nothing, you should realize that that is part of the problem.
While Argentinos as a population may support some kind of law related to how to hire government employees, in general, the reality is quite a bit different. Macri, although president, is not a king and doesn't have nearly as much support for making decrees as Cristina apparently enjoyed during her tenure. Between the congress (where he's at a disadvantage), the unions (where he's at a disadvantage) and some sectors of the judiciary and even the bureaucracy, he can't wave a magic wand and make everything suddenly "honest".
People can look at what's happening with the previous administration (as far as prosecuting them) and say Macri and his administration is just getting vengeance and trying to solidify his power (as Cristina and her henchmen and family claim). Or, people can look at what's happening and say "hmmm, maybe Macri and his administration are working to reduce corruption and are starting with the tip of the iceberg that was so prominent" I.e., the "low-hanging fruit". I wouldn't even say it has to stop with the previous administration, et al. Maybe he intends to perform other reforms as well. But Macri has an awful lot to do thanks to the condition of the country and must pick his battles carefully because he doesn't have the power base that Cristina had.
With the system of patronage that exists here, supported by so many, it will be one of the most difficult things to do to pass something like what you are talking about, at this point. Hell, it doesn't even make sense to pass such a law until there are enough people in place to be able to enforce something like this - why pass something that the greater portion of the bureaucracy and organs of state that he can't control will simply ignore? There are other ways of working to remove corruption than passing laws that eventually begin to get traction at some point in the future. Just because Brasil did it one way doesn't mean that's the only way to do it in Argentina.
Maybe Macri has a plan, like he says. Maybe not - but saying at this point that Macri is just like other SA politicians seems to me to be jumping the gun by quite a bit, given what he's been accomplishing in the first 5 months of his administration.
And I must say, living here for 14 months and visiting on occasion doesn't necessarily clue one into how things are here at the grass roots level. I have had reasons, which I will not go into, over the last few years to see some of the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff that goes on and it's naive to assume that even what people say is what they actually believe, at the core of their being. It took me 7+ years living here to get into things to such a degree, our of the expat community and in the parts of things here that are truly Argentine.
Hit a bunch of nails on the head. As usual.
I know very little about Brazilian politics beyond what is reported in the foreign press, but have not heard of key elements resembling the situation here. I have not read, for instance, of Temer having to deal with a Congress that is largely if not overwhelmingly loyal to Dilma, you talk without end of Brazil's judiciary being independent where here we have Justicia Legitima and Gils Carbo, and where CFK can hurl shit against the judge investigating her with impunity. I have not read of huge sectors of Brazilian society acting as if Dilma is still president. Etc.
In Brazil, judging by what you've been writing it appears a big part of the reforms you're discussing are a fait accompli. Over here, the man tries to make a recess appointment of judges with impeccable credentials and no bias at all, and it becomes a BFD.
Again: Maybe Macri will turn out to have been an asshole the likes of which this country has never seen. But to date, there's just not been any suggestion of that. He's been working pretty much nonstop, and getting a lot of things right. All while the erstwhile holders of power are watching some of the landmines they planted while in power go off, and busily helping with new ones, like the ley antidespidos. And gnashing their teeth at the ones that haven't, like the dollar futures affair that got defused pretty deftly.
To point at a given initiative, even a good one, and give the man grief for not having implemented it - yet - a huge 'yet', given the makeup of Congress in particular and the judicial/political environment in general, and the amount of stuff he has on his plate - is just nuts.
