Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling wrote “A Libertarian Crosses a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American People.” The journalist -award finalist pulitzer– he arrived there attracted by the stories that the bears were emboldened and that they had even attacked humans for the first time, but then he found a political, social and economic background that he did not expect. Better said, he came across the history of the libertarians and their experimental “Free City Project.”
Hongoltz-Hetling: That ideology represents a true kind of naivety about the way the world works, pinning their hopes on a theory that has not yet been proven.
It tells a story and I understand the appeal of that story, it brings people together behind something like a myth, that of the disappearance of the State. I guess maybe in the same way that religion has done historically. It’s a kind of voluntary delusion, where people agree to let reality go in exchange for a story about society and themselves that they can feel good about on some level.
News: If Milei heard the history of this town, Grafton would say that it failed because there was not enough libertarianism.
Hongoltz-Hetling: Sure, and that’s how you know it’s wrong. An absolutely 100% perfect condition is supposed to be needed for this miraculous and desired effect to occur.
And of course, you will never get that 100% condition. It’s like the medical freedom movement, about which I’m now writing a book, that proposes non-traditional medicines like miracle water. When someone takes their medicine and gets sick, they say: you’re just not taking enough. It is a way of never being to blame for failures, a means to achieve a beautiful argument because it resists all criticism.
Therefore, even when they come to power, they blame those who have no power.
News: What opinion do you have of President Javier Milei?
Hongoltz-Hetling: From my point of view he is crazy when it comes to saying that the entire world economic system is based on false assumptions. It is so out of sync with global values that I fear it will be detrimental to Argentina.
And the fact that he has not made that political calculation shows me that he is not interested in effective governance, but in strengthening his bond with his followers by showing them that he will be a defiant and strong individual who will voice their needs against all odds. The advancement of this political ideal that has never been tested before on planet Earth, I think that is a sign of madness. And yes, I hope I’m wrong. But I’m afraid I’m right.
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