I have no doubt that “Anarcho-capitalists and libertarians everywhere must be celebrating this achievement, and also celebrating this trend in elections and party evolution in many places around the world,” because as fellow Nietzscheans, there’s at most only one degree or so of separation from the ideas of fascism, of the “übermensch,” being entitled to rule the world, and control all its resources. Ask Peter Thiel, who combines the two ideologies as his own (in my opinion).
So of course they’re celebrating the election of another Israeli Fascist supporter, as the article at the bottom makes clear who he is:
"Moreover, throughout his campaign, he exhibited great admiration for the state of Israel’s culture and people, and how the state aligns with spiritual values. He defended Israel’s right to self-defense and condemned Islamic terrorism, which earned him much criticism.
"He was among the first politicians who unequivocally supported Israel in the ongoing war against Hamas and emphasized the urgent need to rescue all hostages captured by the terrorist organization. During his visits to various cities across the country, whenever someone handed him the Israeli flag, he enthusiastically took it and waved it.
"Moreover, he studies Torah with his own rabbi and has even contemplated converting to Judaism. In one of the interviews he gave, he even stated that after finishing his political career, he would like to dedicate himself deeply to the study of the Torah.
“Spirtual values?” No doubt what "spiritual values" they are and I don’t mean "Jewish."
But to Kwiatkowski:
"That a leading Democrat bureaucrat will experience being charged with the Democratic Party’s most salient contribution to law enforcement is not something we should take pleasure in. In a more civilized world,cowards like Stuart Seldowitz would be fighting his war of choice in Israel in person,not being rude and nasty to people he doesn’t know, about issues he knows nothing about, in his hometown.
"But it’s a thing.”
And what she wrote is sheer nonsense!
So given what I just sent, and given the respect I have for what Karen Kwiatkowki has done to oppose our wars, beginning with the Iraq War, you can imagine my pain in criticizing her for the article at bottom, as well as for another recent one in which she celebrated the “Greatest non-Jewish Zionist ever,” or at least since that Persian King of centuries ago. But given the work she’s putting in to get Trump back in the WH, someone needs to call her out for her “constructive” support of Israel and its fascist collaborators.
She wrote: "This week, we also saw the amazing election of a vibrant, straight-shooting, former soccer player and current free market economist to the presidency in Argentina. Anarcho-capitalists and libertarians everywhere must be celebrating this achievement, and also celebrating this trend in elections and party evolution in many places around the world. It speaks to the power of simple and honest conversations about money and man, the economy, and the state. It tells us the wisdom of Mises and Rothbard is spreading around the world like a friendly, health-promoting and welcome virus, leaving its hosts empowered, inspired and excited for what comes next. It speaks to a public and national recognition that the ever-expanding corruption and unfettered, galloping growth of the government-bureaucratic-ruling class has become intolerable.”
There’s no doubt that the breakdown in “Western governance” with wars and corruption, as all the wealth is transferred to the libertarian supported, corrupt, Oligarchs, is generating anger in so many people. But leave it to a libertarian to demand that even more wealth be transmitted into the hands of Oligarchs by electing their supporters, rather than affixing the blame on the Oligarchs and the libertarians who denounce any financial regulations to keep the Kochs and Adelsons of the world free from any accountability for their crimes. While demanding even more “Freedom” for them from any taxation, leaving it to the rest of us to provide the physical infrastructure of the world they exploit us in.
So now Israel has another global supporter, and the Palestinians can expect the Israeli Fascists to be even more murderous now that they have an additional layer of impunity, with Milei’s election. And Kwiatkowski will never understand that, lost in the ozone of libertarian “economic theory”that she is.
One more reason our US/UK/Israel wars will never end, with "All Power to the Oligarchs” who profit off them, the libertarian’s creed.
New Argentinian president Milei a fan of Israel, admires Jewish values
The incoming new government signifies a paradigm shift for the Jewish community. Peronist governments have, until now, been characterized by their relations with Venezuela and its ties with Iran.
Argentine president-elect Javier Milei greets his supporters after winning Argentina's runoff presidential election, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 19, 2023.(photo credit: REUTERS/AGUSTIN MARCARIAN)
It's an historic time in Argentina, where two vastly different parties contested the presidency of the country. Sergio Massa, the current minister of economy from the Peronist party, garnered 44.31% of the votes, whereas congressman Javier Milei, from the Libertarian Liberal party, secured a 55.69% majority of the votes. Argentina opted for a change, facing rising inflation and various corruption cases within the government, among other reasons.
Milei’s triumph implies a shift in Argentina’s relationship with the world. The newly elected president stated during his political campaign that he would not officially engage with states that do not favor freedom and democracy. He would vehemently sever ties with states that support terrorism, and he would assuredly break the close official relationships the country still maintains with China. He also promised to take distance from Iran.
Moreover, throughout his campaign, he exhibited great admiration for the state of Israel’s culture and people, and how the state aligns with spiritual values. He defended Israel’s right to self-defense and condemned Islamic terrorism, which earned him much criticism.
He was among the first politicians who unequivocally supported Israel in the ongoing war against Hamas and emphasized the urgent need to rescue all hostages captured by the terrorist organization. During his visits to various cities across the country, whenever someone handed him the Israeli flag, he enthusiastically took it and waved it.
Moreover, he studies Torah with his own rabbi and has even contemplated converting to Judaism. In one of the interviews he gave, he even stated that after finishing his political career, he would like to dedicate himself deeply to the study of the Torah.
FILE PHOTO: Argentine president-elect Javier Milei addresses supporters after winning Argentina's runoff presidential election, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 19, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Cristina Sille)
Paradigm shift for the Jewish community
The incoming new government signifies a paradigm shift for the Jewish community. Peronist governments have, until now, been characterized by their relations with Venezuela and its ties with Iran. The current government has condemned Israel on several occasions, sparking antisemitism in various Argentine sectors. However, this is apparently about to change.
Milei’s ideas and his attempt to forge closer ties with Israel and the United States show a different stance. This shift could be significant to the local Jewish community and implies new initiatives to foster closer relations between Israelis and Argentinians.
Milei has confirmed that he will travel to Israel and the United States before the 10th of December, the date when he will assume office. “My first trip will be to the US and I’ll also be traveling to Israel. Those are the initial trips I’ll be making. Everything will take place before I assume office,” he stated in a radio interview.
Israeli Ambassador to Argentina Eli Cohen congratulated Milei for his victory and extended an invitation for him to visit Israel soon and inaugurate Argentina’s embassy in Jerusalem, one of the promises he made during his campaign.
His latest religious trip was made a few weeks ago, when Milei, accompanied by his sister Karina, visited El Ohel in New York, the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. At the pilgrimage, he was seen wearing a kippah and carrying religious books.
It is undeniable that the change in government will likely lead to closer relations between the state and the Jewish community in general. Considering the global rise in antisemitism that the Jewish people has endured since the beginning of the war against Hamas, it seems given that the new government will support Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself, and at the same time safeguard and promote religious freedom.
On Nov 25, 2023, at 6:45 AM, Chas Freeman via Salon <salon@listserve.com> wrote:
Stuart Seldowitz’s behavior last week in NYC communicated to any normal American that he is either a thug, or a thug-in-training, a low-life, a scoundrel. We find that he was in the current employ of a government-connected lobbying firm profiting from the logistics of war.
What did surprise me was that once the video got out, he was fired from his job, the company wiped him from their website, and he has been charged with “hate” crimes and stalking.
That was quick – and while it is likely, given who he is and where he is, he will get off in his brush with the law scot-free – he won’t get his job back. Given the nature of the internet, he also won’t be able to wipe his recorded bad behavior from the eyes of the now and future world.
That a leading Democrat bureaucrat will experience being charged with the Democratic Party’s most salient contribution to law enforcement is not something we should take pleasure in. In a more civilized world, cowards like Stuart Seldowitz would be fighting his war of choice in Israel in person, not being rude and nasty to people he doesn’t know, about issues he knows nothing about, in his hometown.
But it’s a thing.
This week, we also saw the amazing election of a vibrant, straight-shooting, former soccer player and currentfree market economist to the presidency in Argentina. Anarcho-capitalists and libertarians everywhere must be celebrating this achievement, and also celebrating this trend in elections and party evolution in many places around the world. It speaks to the power of simple and honest conversations about money andman, the economy, and the state. It tells us the wisdom of Mises and Rothbard is spreading around the world like a friendly, health-promoting and welcome virus, leaving its hosts empowered, inspired and excited for what comes next. It speaks to a public and national recognition that the ever-expanding corruption and unfettered, galloping growth of the government-bureaucratic-ruling class has become intolerable.
That government thugs, low-lives and scoundrels – the ruling elite this time – is deadly to liberty and prosperity, and that these elites will destroy their countries to maintain control, does not surprise me. That the average Argentinian gets this – and used the state’s tool of casting a ballot to make a change – does.
Javier Milei – because of who he is and what he understands about the state – is getting a chance to see what may be possible. We must wish him well. But this confrontation between Milei and the government-bureaucratic-elite would not have happened if the Argentinian state, for generations, had not so publicly, and so thoroughly, ignored civil and moral limits, and had not been arrogant, self-righteous, and greedy.
It’s a thing.
I came across an interesting article this week that takes a viewpoint that probably shocks admirers and believers of modern Western government norms and maxims. It is anonymous, and when you read it, perhaps you can see why. The writer looks at lessons that the bloody, long and ultimately successful battle for Algerian independence may have, for Palestinians.
I was not surprised to see a comparison of Palestine’s struggle with past struggles between colonized and colonizer, in Algeria, or elsewhere. I could not be surprised that in the various machinations to resolve the French-Algerian conflict over many decades, early examples of solutions and reforms were negotiated “without a single Algerian seated at the negotiating table.”
The writer criticizes Camus, the Algerian-French reformist – who late in life, agreed simply to go silent on the matter, after decades of false reforms and one-sided negotiations had satisfied no one, and had led to ever harsher colonial rule, an ever angrier and more paranoid overlord.
I thought of our own Stuart Seldowitz, who rode and whipped the official soothsaying of a two-state solution for decades, revealing in his own life that there was never any there, there. No faith, no intent, no truth. I thought also of the US and German government officials, years after the Minsk Accords of 2014, in their personal retirement or in private, admit that the treaty for self-government and peace in the Donbass was just a calculated method to buy time as the US, Germany and Ukraine prepared for a more substantial and final subjugation of those who refused to obey them.
In “Lessons from Overthrowing the French in Algeria” I was not surprised that the action-reaction dynamic is one that never serves to occupier, the overlord, or the colonizer, no matter the history or the details. The problem is one of self-righteousness, arrogance and greed.
What did surprise me was the statement that “Real freedom is always taken, never granted.” It’s a phrase I have heard before; I believe it on a macro and philosophical level while I struggle to internalize it in my daily life. The statement is one of arguable fact, but in truly accepting it, we are – we become – changed men and women, powerful men and women, perhaps men and women who change their worlds.
It’s a very real thing.
In the midst of a week spent preparing food and catching up with family, feeding animals and watching the weather change, mundane and glorious tasks that I am blessed to be able to do, in this most wonderful week – these three things popped up on my radar. I was not looking for them, I did not expect them, I did not have time for them, and I don’t fully understand them.
But these three things prove a thing. We can debate, discuss, and devise how we get justice for years and years, even our whole lives. In the etymology of “justice”, we find enforcement of law, conformity to rules, what is proper, and fitting. Justice often seems man-made and demanded by men, sometimes vengeful, often angry – we ask her to be blind, against all evidence that she rarely is. But truth is very different. Clear, not complicated; transformational not reforming; empowering rather than imprisoning; intrinsically bold and naturally brave.
Truth trumps the magical thinking of the state, explodes the conjured fantasies of the elites, powers our markets, minds, and souls. Truth does not start fights, nor wars – but happily and undeniably, she will end them.
-- Salon mailing list Salon@listserve.com https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon
