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Argentina is collapsing. Its economy wasn't great before, but austerity is destroying its own foundation for short-term profits for the wealthy. See again: Sowell purely works for the obscenely wealthy against the needs of the people.
As for Africa, it is not Socialism that keeps the various African nations under-developed. Like Parenti said, they aren't under-developed at all, really, they are over-exploited. Imperialism from the Global North has carved out of Africa and South America the lion's share of their resources:
But that expropriation of the Third World—has been going on for 400 years—brings us to another revelation—namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich! The Philippines are rich! Brazil is rich! Mexico is rich! Chile is rich—only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken—there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries—these countries are not underdeveloped—they're overexploited!
Please, elaborate on what you think Socialism is, if it is keeping African nations under-developed.
No, economy is not a zero-sum game, correct. However, one has to call into question the purpose of a system that is built to make a few people obscenely wealthy on the backs of the vast majority. Capitalism naturally suppresses the wages and material conditions of workers, whose conditions gradually, microscopically improve, or even deteriorate, while Capital concentrates in fewer and fewer hands. The end result of Capitalism is monopoly. Once a hypothesis, this statement is now a confirmed fact.
I'm aware of Sowell's past as a "Marxist." Many people have donned such a moniker and failed to genuinely grasp Marxism, and the existence of one such fellow-turned crank does not at all lend credibility to Sowell. Marxism does not turn to dictatorship, rather the vast majority of AES states represented vast democratization of the economy, from Cuba (previously a country of fascist slavers) to Russia (under the thumb of the Tsar) to China (under the thumb of the Nationalist Kuomintang) to Vietnam (under the thumb of colonialist France) and more.
I've read enough of Basic Economics to know that Sowell is a crank. I haven't read it cover to cover, nor do I care to waste my time studying every crank in the world of economics in-depth. I don't imagine you've read Marx's works much either, nor do I expect you to, you clearly have chosen the side of Sowell and the microscopic few that profit off of the vast majority of the population via extortion.
Argentina is collapsing.
Jaja, I love real world examples. The opposite is true. You can see basic economics working in practice 😀
Poverty is down and lower than when Milei started his presidency. Do you really think the poor care that his policies will make a few rich folks even richer? They just want shelter, safety and some food.
It's the opposite, poverty is skrocketing. What's happening is a decrease in debt and inflation at the expense of the poor, not the actual poverty rates, which again shows that those you support serve purely the wealthiest in society.
Safety, shelter, and food are harder to come by for the working class under Millei, while the wealthiest in Argentina celebrate.
aljazeera is your source? really?
Below a site from Argentina and more recent. If you want I can also provide a Spanish source. Sometimes I really think you Marxists rather see people poor than acknowledge your ideology is based on an illusion with no real world prove it has ever worked.
Why not zoom out? Millei marks an increase in poverty rates and a destruction of social services. The economy is shrinking and GDP is falling, and now Social Services those in poverty rely on are being eroded, resulting in the lives of those in poverty being far more at risk to begin with.
I have no idea what you mean by saying I would rather see people poor. It's the opposite, I'd rather the likes of Millei stop trying to destroy economies so that his friends and backers can get wealthier while the poor starve and die. Moreover, Marxist economics works, from the USSR to China to Cuba life expectancies rose dramatically, poverty rates fell dramatically, and the economies rapidly grew. China in particular is doing extremely well now and is now the largest economy in the world, when adjusted for PPP.
On the contrary, it's the "Libertarian Capitalists" that have no actual proof of doing anything other than helping the already obscenely wealthy profit more in the short term. It's basic economics.
Are you trying to convince me by sharing macrotrends with poverty data until 2022? You know he started end 2023 right?
Yep. The poverty rate now is, by your own source, 36.8%. That is over triple what it was pre-Millei. I said, zoom out, so you could see what a disaster he has been.
Oh, come on. You can do better than that. He took over from the socialists that made the country a hell and it was only getting worse. It really takes guts from a country to choose someone that is against freebies. This was not a country in a good shape. Poverty is not the only number that is currently improving btw. The Moody country ratings update is really significant. It marks the first upgrade for Argentina in over 20 years! Talking about zooming out 😀
Let's hope Argentina continuous on this free market path and next year Lemmy will be full of Libertarians. Future is looking bright.
Argentina wasn't "Socialist," perhaps a different flavor of Capitalist. Nevertheless, poverty was far lower under the previous party. It was by no means perfect, and Millei was in fact a protest vote, but the consequences have been disastrous. Trying to frame an over tripling of poverty and far worse conditions in poverty as "improving" is extremely silly on your part.
Argentina wasn't in a good shape, correct, but now it's a dumpster fire. It's extremely telling that you, again, try to pass off a rating for investors as a sign of overall improvement when you've been clearly shown how Millei has decimated the livelihoods of the Working Class to make himself and his buddies richer. Again, basic economics.
As Argentina burns, there will be fewer and fewer Libertarian Capitalists globally, though there is significant chance of a revolution in Argentina if conditions continue.
Are you from Argentina? I like to get my info from the country itself. See link below - this guy is providing very detailed info and he is optimistic about the future. You don't fix a mess in a year though - Argentina is not there yet, I really hope his party will win the election in October so he can double down on his agenda.
I think it's very funny that each time your points were disproven or fell flat on their heads, you ignored and dodged further and further until you walked yourself into a hole defending a tripling of poverty rates and decimation of the economy so foreign plunderers can profit massively, sharing the spoils with Millei and friends. Rather than responding to any of my points in ernest, you just point to the fact that I'm not Argentinian and show one dude's blog showing how excited he is that foreign investors are going to make serious money from the suffering of Argentina.