Chainsaw Diplomacy: Javier Milei’s Argentina Destruction Is Nightmarish Model for Musk, DOGE
Javier Milei made a special appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) earlier this month. The Argentinian president gifted Elon Musk a custom chainsaw, which he promised to use to drastically reduce public spending in his new role as the de facto leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk and Milei have become close bedfellows of late, the former clearly impressed by the latter’s wholesale slashing of government programs and entire ministries and his anarcho-capitalist politics. If Musk is indeed using Milei’s Argentina as inspiration for his own mission with DOGE, that bodes extremely poorly for the United States. Milei’s rule has led to mass impoverishment of the Argentinian people, the enrichment of the country’s elite, and the vast expansion of a burgeoning police state. Many Argentinians are watching on concerned, seeing parallels between Milei’s tactics and the Trump-Musk administration’s plans.
Economic Shock Therapy
Milei joined Musk on stage at CPAC, the most influential right-wing gathering of the year. Accusing the Democrats of “treason,” Musk lifted the shiny chainsaw – emblazoned with Milei’s slogan, “¡Viva la Libertad, Carajo!” (“Long live liberty, damn it!) – above his head. “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy! Chainsaw!” he shouted to an excited crowd.
Milei has made the tool a symbol of his rule and his willingness to make sweeping cuts to government spending and eliminate entire government ministries, in alignment with his libertarian ideology. Musk has long been a fan, tweeting that “prosperity is ahead for Argentina” following Milei’s election victory in November 2023. A few months later, the two met in person, with Musk declaring, “I recommend investing in Argentina.”
“There is an affinity, in ideological terms, between Milei and Musk,” Jodor Jalit, an Argentine journalist, lecturer and researcher, told MintPress, explaining that:
They both sponsor a downsizing of the state, but for different reasons. For Milei, it is a crusade to order the macroeconomy. For Musk, it is a power grab move. He is trying to displace any potential rivals within the state. But Milei is trying to downsize the government for economic reasons.”
That Musk – in charge of implementing a massive government cost-cutting project – is so inspired by Milei should concern all Americans. In barely over a year in office, Milei truly has taken a chainsaw to Argentinian society, shuttering 13 ministries and firing 30,000 public employees, equivalent to around 10% of the federal workforce. This includes the Ministries of Transport, Education, Public Works, Culture, Social Development, Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security. “I am the mole that destroys the state from within,” he declared.
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