You are right, I assumed he was principled and dedicated to the good of the country above all else. Should I reconsider that? Like I said, I read positive things about him and thought was a sincere person. If you have something else I should read, I would be very interested to know what to add to my list.

I've been following Argentina's struggles for a while given my time in Brazil and the parallels to hyperinflation so I was willing to consider his unorthodox approach, but perhaps it blinded me?

> I assumed he was principled and dedicated to the good of the country above all else. Should I reconsider that?

It's tough to imagine that you're being sincere. I have to assume you're not a US citizen or have not been paying attention for the past ~10 years?

In any case, yes - 1000%; reconsider your opinion on this matter. The man is a moron at best, and evil at worst.

edit:

and for what it's worth; broad statements like "principled and dedicated to the good of the country above all else" are almost universally untrue and lacking in nuance w.r.t. motives no matter which party holds the office of president.

He is talking about Argentinian President, not Trump

I don't think that's right.

> I've been following Argentina's struggles for a while given my time in Brazil and the parallels to hyperinflation so I was willing to consider his unorthodox approach, but perhaps it blinded me?

???

I really appreciate your comment. I'm being totally sincere.

I did see the news reports about him with a chainsaw. He seemed like a nut when I saw that.

And I then watched the Lex Friedman interview and read the profile in the New Yorker.

I was surprised in that my initial glance at him was not positive but my opinions shifted.

Please give me other nuanced and intelligent discussions. I'm sorry I missed the ones you read.

I am a us citizen. I will say the fact that Milei seems very enthusiastic about Trump is very damaging to his brand for me.

Check out some of the reporting from before the election https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2023/09/07/meet-javie...

Look at some of the actual details around his wish list, the fantasy of dollarization is a favorite of mine https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-11-24/d...

Compare what's promised to what actually occurs. Did he attack the privileged, were the poor lifted out of poverty, has free enterprise restored a moribund economy? https://www.npr.org/2025/02/09/nx-s1-5280631/argentinas-rece...

I don't know how productive it would be to give you random examples as I am wuite biased and find just about all of his actions to be despicable. It sounds like you may be living in something of an echo chamber of sorts. I recommend seeking out news sources that may challenge your beliefs and relying less on social media and YouTube videos. I'm not really sure how to help you to be honest though. Are you watching/reading some form of news on the regular? For me it's NPR but I try to watch some conservative news as well to see what the other side is up to, how they're reacting.

that you mention lex and the new yorker in the same sentence is very damaging to your brand for me.

I also had a good impression from hearing him speak. He's clearly highly educated and intelligent. But he's also a supporter of Carlos Menem, a famously corrupt politician in the long history of corruption in Argentina.

Whether or not Milei truly wishes to help his country, or if he's using his power for personal gain, is difficult to say. As an outsider, I don't have an informed opinion. But I'm inclined to believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle. The reality is that the vast majority of people who seek political power are egomaniacs and sociopaths. Very few actually want to help their country.

There are some good takes in both directions throughout this thread. Based on talks I had with friends and family living there:

Reasons for liking him: he's bringing inflation down, he has been keeping his promises towards retirees, and he's been reigning in some egregious examples of corruption that previous administrations ignored because it gave them political power.

Reasons for not liking him: he's strangling Universities, rent prices are out of control and not properly reflected in the inflation index, and after being first row during Trump's inauguration he decided to withdraw Argentina from the WHO.

A friend of mine who doesn't like him described his policies as "Ron Swanson from Parks & Rec". I think there's a lot to it.

That rent prices are out of control is not true https://www.infobae.com/economia/2025/02/17/sin-ley-de-alqui...

The article explains that this is the first time since 2020 that prices stopped increasing, which doesn't mean they are at a level where people can afford them - the article itself attributes the lower purchase power of the average family as one of the main drivers for why they stopped raising. The article also explains that maintenance (expensas) are 22% of the final rent price and those increased 170% from last year. "We stopped raising prices because we priced everyone out" is definitely what I'd call "out of control".

Anecdotally I also know three families who had to move back to their parent's house because they were priced out of the rental market. I won't say that all of this is Milei's fault (although I do have thoughts about his handling of the Rents law), but nonetheless the current situation is far from good.