"Balls, we need balls" is probably the most famous phrase of German goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn. Balls, too, are needed by someone who is patronizingly introduced by Klaus "The Great Reset" Schwab in Davos, only to tell the assembled political and economic elite to their faces that they betray the liberal-libertarian principles that have made the West great. And Javier Milei, Argentine president, and a goalkeeper in his youth got these balls.
His speech, and it is not difficult to predict, will go down in history. It is by far the most watched speech of this year's WEF. Elon Musk has recommended the speech several times on X.
Here it is in brief:
The West is in danger because it has opened up to socialist ideas. It is capitalism that has catapulted humanity out of mass poverty and created unimagined prosperity. Capitalism not only creates tremendous wealth, while socialism leads to poverty, it is also a just order, unlike socialism. Capitalism is morally superior to socialism. Socialists use the mantra of "social justice," but it is neither social nor just. "Social justice" is in fact unjust because it is financed by taxes and is thus based on coercion and the threat of violence. It is anti-social because it makes people poorer. This is because redistribution reduces the incentive to be productive. The pie is getting smaller than it would have been otherwise, because redistribution destroys the entrepreneurial discovery process. Socialism has always and everywhere failed, economically, socially and culturally. And it has cost over 100 million lives.
Neoclassical theories prepare the ground for socialism. Neoclassicists compare their model to reality and call any deviations of reality from the model "market failure"; they don't realize that in fact their model is failing. They should dispose of their models. There is no such thing as a "market failure". The market is a mechanism of social cooperation through voluntary barter. The market can't fail.
When the socialists realized that the workers under capitalism were not impoverished, but getting richer, they changed their strategy. Today, the class struggle between capitalists and workers is replaced by alleged conflicts between men and women; or between man and nature. In order to save the environment, population growth is to be controlled; Abortion is encouraged.
The neo-Marxists have transformed public opinion in a long process of taking control of the media, universities and even international organizations. As everyone in the audience knows, the WEF is one of the latter. Socialist ideas must be fought head-on and loudly. There are many varieties of socialism in the broader sense. Socialists are not only those who call themselves socialists, but also social democrats, Christian Democrats, communists, Keynesians, Nazis, nationalists, and globalists. They are all united by their belief in regulations and the state. The real heroes of society are the entrepreneurs. They are creators of prosperity who can take pride in making profits by satisfying the needs of others. They should not ally themselves with the state, not even through the WEF. The state is not the solution. The state is the problem. The state is a danger to freedom.
This brief outline shows the breadth of topics Milei covers in his 23-minute speech. Step by step, he dismantles the statist worldview. He is the charismatic, eloquent thinker and leader that libertarians have long waited for. A stroke of luck for liberty. He recognized the importance of the Kulturkampf early on. This cultural war is about ideological hegemony (Antonio Gramsci, 1891 – 1937). In this war, the demands of the left, such as egalitarianism, genderism, feminism, relativism, nihilism, centralization, and atheism, collide with the value of liberty; but also with the institutions that make a capitalist society flourish in the long term, such as private property, natural hierarchies, traditions, the family, and Christianity.
This culture war must be taken up, loudly, self-confidently, uncompromisingly, always and everywhere; and in this Milei is a unique role model. Not only has he successfully embraced the culture war in Argentina, he has also reaped the fruits of cultural change in the form of the presidency. Like all libertarians, he is actually disgusted by politics. But he took the sacrifice upon himself. He was not above fighting for the ideas of freedom in the intrigues of politics.
The culture war is to be waged at all possible levels, not only in university halls, books, talks at conferences and media contributions; but also in politics. Without the political stage, one is deprived of a very effective tool for influencing public opinion and culture. The statists are happy when they are among themselves in parliament and can plan their interventions in civil society undisturbed. That's why Milei finally decided to enter the political arena; and, by his election, gained incredible attention to libertarian ideas. Terms such as libertarianism or anarcho-capitalism are now socially acceptable. The spiral of silence has been broken, and more and more people are identifying themselves as Milei supporters and supporters of the ideas of freedom. Even more people will turn to the ideas of freedom once the libertarian reforms in Argentina bear fruit. The discourse is moving in the direction of freedom. Culturally, a lot has been set in motion. Milei's allegorical "chainsaw" has become popular all over world. The libertarian wave has now even reached Davos and the World Economic Forum.
What happened in Davos was unthinkable not long ago: an anarcho-capitalist president looks globalists in the eye, rebukes them for their socialist ideas and sings an ode to freedom, capitalism and free enterprise. And he quotes Israel Kirzner and Alberto Benegas Lynch Jr., two Austrian economists. He criticizes the 2030 Agenda, neo-Marxism, feminism, abortion, taxes, socialism, mainstream media, warns of the destruction of Western values and speaks of God as the Creator. Pure culture war. ¡Viva la libertad, carajo!
