“The champions of socialism call themselves progressives, but they recommend a system which is characterized by rigid observance of routine and by a resistance to every kind of improvement. They call themselves liberals, but they are intent upon abolishing liberty. They call themselves democrats, but they yearn for dictatorship. They call themselves revolutionaries, but they want to make the government omnipotent. They promise the blessings of the Garden of Eden, but they plan to transform the world into a gigantic post office. Every man but one a subordinate clerk in a bureau, what an alluring utopia! What a noble cause to fight for!
Against all this frenzy of agitation there is but one weapon available: reason. Just common sense is needed to prevent man from falling prey to illusory fantasies and empty catchwords.”
—Ludwig von Mises, from his 1944 book “Bureaucracy”
When recently asked to give Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy advice on executing their mission at DOGE, Argentinian President Javier Milei said, “Just cut to the chase.”
A year into his tenure, Milei has been doing just that.
According to economist Peter St Onge, Argentina’s chainsaw-wielding, self-avowed anarcho-capitalist has cut government spending by a third (a little over $2 trillion in U.S. terms) and slashed 70,000 government jobs (700,000 government jobs in U.S. terms) all while bringing down monthly inflation from 13% to 2.7%. In reaction, Argentinian stocks have soared 125% on the year while bonds are up 85%. Though Argentina has a long way to go in gaining free-market muscle after cutting its government fat, Milei’s popularity hasn’t waned through the growing pains.
Indeed, Milei himself wisely predicted his revolutionary chainsaw economics would necessarily bring about a painful, short-term, economic contraction, only to be followed by an economic boom. No pain, no gain. A year into Milei’s strategy, it seems to be paying off. After a 3% contraction this past year, J.P. Morgan is now projecting 8.5% GDP growth in Argentina next year, one of the highest growth rates in the world.
Needless to say, Milei is the perfect person to give Musk and Ramaswamy advice on how to swiftly slay the Leviathan state.
“My advice would be for them to go all the way, to push it to the very limit, and don’t give up. Do not let down their guard,” Milei went on to say in his interview with Lex Fridman. “Of course, there will be people complaining, but these are people who are losing privileges, so they will have to explain to society why they are keeping those privileges, and that is quite uncomfortable.”
No doubt, Milei has his fair share of critics, especially from the usual suspects in prestige media and academia – institutions who have long been apologists for the worst abuses and abject failures of socialism. For some reason, the corporate press and most university denizens can’t help but seethe when they see people set free from their bureaucratic systems of privilege and pull. They call themselves liberals, but they are intent upon abolishing liberty.
The good news is that “the people” want their liberty – not just the people of Argentina but the American people as well. Donald Trump’s victory in November wasn’t just a defeat of the puppet Kamala Harris or her party’s puppeteers, it was a total rebuke of the entire managerial elite. The American people are no longer listening to “the experts” in media and academia who, for too long, have enjoyed their privileges with impunity at the people’s expense.
Unable to effectively hide behind their propaganda any longer, the Western managerial elite are exposed. With each passing day they only appear uglier, fatter, more foolish, and intellectually constipated – all as they attempt to defend a system fashioned in their very own wretched and corpulent image. Ludwig von Mises was right about the progressive, liberal elite. They say they are the defenders of democracy, but they are merely defending an unaccountable, corrupt bureaucracy.
That said, I suspect most defenders of the status quo harbor a secret desire to see the system changed as well. Most critics of Milei’s chainsaw, Trump’s wrecking ball, or DOGE common sense are simply stuck playing a role defending the prevailing system – and would be happy, after the fact, to see the status quo go. Even the privileged sometimes secretly yearn to be free from privileges they did not earn. Though these critics may scream as the chainsaw revs and chews through rotted knots of waste, fraud, and abuse, though they may even wring their hands with worry and woe as the wrecking ball knocks down wall after wall after wall, they are neither willing nor able to build back what was knocked down.
Indeed, much of the bureaucracy exists because it exists. Milton Friedman was right: nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program. Beyond prestige propaganda, the administrative state’s greatest defense is simply inertia and time – while its greatest fear is that liberty works absent their plans to shape the world.
Milei is right. Musk and Ramaswamy must “cut to the chase” and “push it to the very limit” when it comes to cutting the administrative state. For now, time is on the bureaucracy's side, but I truly believe, if we set the American people free, that newly sown seeds of American liberty will bear fruit like never before seen.
Trump must move aggressively and vigorously, aided by the common sense of DOGE and Milei’s example, until he has knocked down so much so swiftly that the critics will barely have time to respond in defense of their privileges, let alone convince anyone to build back better what the people have already chosen to alter and abolish.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email joeyclarklive@gmail.com. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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