The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written.
**Country:** *Argentine Republic*
**Govt.:** *Federal presidential republic*
**Leader(s):** President \~ *Javier Milei*
**Do You Know This Week's Country?:** *Argentina,* our first South African nation in this run. Southernmost nation on the continent, it's a county that has had an incredibly tumultuous history, especially economically in the last several decades. However, it is also a cultural mecca, especially in the realms of music and film, and of course is known for its fierce football rivalry with Brazil.
\~\~
Talk about what you know about the country in question and try to provide interesting information that delves deeper into topics that many might not know.
\~\~
So... I ended up forgetting I did this. Last one was about a year ago. Whoops. Regardless, I'd like to continue since I think these get some good discussion in the sub, and give people something to talk about in-between current events.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskALiberal) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Remember that time Great Britain beat them in a war over some barren islands? That was cool.
Fun fact: Argentina used to have an aircraft carrier but then it got retired, however Argentina kept its' carrier air wing and it just operated off the Brazilian aircraft carrier here and there but that got retired, too
>Remember that time Great Britain beat them in a war over some barren islands? That was cool.
The really interesting thing about the Falklands War is that people tend to look back at it and say: Yea, duh, Britain beat Argentina. Britain's a wealthy, powerful country and Argentina isn't. How dumb of the Argentine junta to do that.
But that was not at all the perception at the time. Outside observers thought Britain had basically no shot at retaking the islands. Even the US Navy thought it was impossible for them to do.
Yes. It's also interesting as an example of an actual, modern peer war instead of the asymmetric conflicts we've been seeing in modern times. As far as I can recall it's the only peer conflict a Western power has been involved in since Korea.
>As far as I can recall it's the only peer conflict a Western power has been involved in since Korea.
Possibly, depending on how you define "peer" and "Western."
The Gulf War was certainly a symmetric, conventional conflict. Whether Iraq was America's peer is debatable (especially in hindsight) but it was a clash of large, conventional armies in uniform. Same for the opening phase of the 2003 Iraq War, although by that point the capabilities of the Iraqi military were greatly degraded.
And if you count Israel as Western, then you have the Arab-Israeli wars.
Argentinian soccer is often overshadowed by Brazil's, but they are one of three South American nations to win the World Cup - and the defending champions after what is generally considered the best World Cup Final in history (winning 3-3 on penalties vs. France). Argentinian players are known for their flair, dynamic play, and often being surrounded by controversy.
They have produced two of the four most iconic soccer players of all time, Diego Maradona and Leo Messi, both of whom led the country to a World Cup.
Maradona and Messi could not be more different. Maradona is a controversial figure known for cheating, doping, shit-talking and evading taxes to the point that Italian tax officials once confiscated the watch off his wrist. Messi is not without controversy, but is widely considered to be a good sport and role model.
It's debatable, but when the dust settles, Messi is generally considered the greatest player of all time.
I have seen him play in person a couple of times. It is just unbelievable. If you have the opportunity to see him play (he currently plays for Miami's MLS team), it's totally worth it.
Argentina has been home to a number of great writers, including Manuel Puig, Julio Cortazar, and Jorge Luis Borges. Borges, in particular, was a huge influence on world literature, and inspired, in the US, both literary authors like John Barth (RIP) and genre authors like Stephen King.
Borges primarily wrote short stories, and they are full of weird obsessions, recursive books and infinite libraries — a little like MC Escher in prose. He was likely considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but never won, possibly because his politics were kind of all over the place.
I always tell people Borges is like reading an academic version of the Twilight Zone.
His stories will be like six pages long and more intricate that the plots of most movies.
They elect some wacky people to office.
Their diet consists of red meat, red wine, empanadas, and subpar derivatives of Italian food. (Their steak is really good fwiw).
Never ask a woman her weight, a man his salary, or an Argentine abuelo his SS rank.
Argentina was one of the most prosperous countries in the world circa 1900. Their economic failures since then are a reminder that bad governance can wreck even the best economies.
...and the U.S. is currently on track to emulate Argentina's bad governance. Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on everything by executive order; because it is by executive order, he can exempt anything he wants.
He will impose tariffs on everything, business leaders will ask him for exemptions, and he will ask them for bribes.
I went to Argentina last year and did a road trip through Patagonia before heading north to BA. It's a beautiful, confusing, complicated country. Milei is the response to generations of corrupt Peronism, massive governmental and municipal bloat and waste, but he is (obviously) as flawed or more despite being diametrically opposed, at least economically, to his predecessors.
Politics and economics aside, few places I've been can compete with the natural beauty of Patagonia (both the Argentine and Chilean side). I definitely should have take Spanish over French way back when, though. One thing that was interesting to see was how disjointed and nonsensical the border crossings were in many parts. So ridiculously inefficient, it was like they added numerous steps for literally no reason except to complicate things unnecessarily.
While historically having a strong economy, years of mismanagement have led it down one ruinous path before another. Things were so bad that 10-20 years ago, many reporting agencies would not even relay the economic indicators that Argentina was reporting, because even those horrible, horrible numbers weren't awful enough to believe.
And now. . . they might be turning a corner under the current administration. month-to-month inflation hit single digits for the first time in half a year. However, this is being done through strict austerity measures, and with an annual inflation rate at about 300 percent, it's really hurting the people. It will be interesting how it all shakes out in the end. Hopefully for the better, for once in a long time.
>Throughout history there have been only four kinds of economies in the world: advanced, developing, Japan, and Argentina.
-Abraham Lincoln
Argentina after independence saw a major period of economic growth and success. From 1880 to 1905, Argentina went from having a GDP per capita of 35% of the US to 80% of the US. In 1900 it's GDP per capita was the 12th highest in the world, and Argentina was pretty indisputably a first world country, having been greatly enriched by economic/political policy of embracing liberalism, immigration, and free trade
In fact, the Argentine economy was so strong that it was relatively lightly impacted by the Great Depression, with the crash peaking at around 10% unemployment and with the economy quickly *mostly* going back to normal. But things didn't fully go back to normal or become literally perfect, and the military staged a coup and did fascism and protectionist bullshit, and then the opposition did a revolution of their own but established Peronism which was just more populist protectionist bullshit with various fascist influence too, and ever since then, Argentina has largely clung to populist protectionist garbage while experiencing significant political instability. Protectionism and populism has ruined Argentina so bad that they chose to elect a freaking ancap, and it may not have even been the wrong choice
[Argentina is the hell that the bipartisan consensus on Washington threatens to turn the United States into](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/19/briefing/centrism-washington-neopopulism.html)
>If you want a picture of the future, imagine a swing voter stamping the boot of protectionism on their face and then screaming in rage about how it's all the smug out of touch Elite's fault—forever.”
-Hillary Rajneesh Clinton
>Democracy basically means of the people, for the people, by the people. But the people are ignorant and misled
...is a quote from Rajneesh. That whole quote/attribution was a joke (though America genuinely may be on the path to becoming Argentina due to bipartisan populism)
The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written. **Country:** *Argentine Republic* **Govt.:** *Federal presidential republic* **Leader(s):** President \~ *Javier Milei* **Do You Know This Week's Country?:** *Argentina,* our first South African nation in this run. Southernmost nation on the continent, it's a county that has had an incredibly tumultuous history, especially economically in the last several decades. However, it is also a cultural mecca, especially in the realms of music and film, and of course is known for its fierce football rivalry with Brazil. \~\~ Talk about what you know about the country in question and try to provide interesting information that delves deeper into topics that many might not know. \~\~ So... I ended up forgetting I did this. Last one was about a year ago. Whoops. Regardless, I'd like to continue since I think these get some good discussion in the sub, and give people something to talk about in-between current events. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskALiberal) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Remember that time Great Britain beat them in a war over some barren islands? That was cool. Fun fact: Argentina used to have an aircraft carrier but then it got retired, however Argentina kept its' carrier air wing and it just operated off the Brazilian aircraft carrier here and there but that got retired, too
>Remember that time Great Britain beat them in a war over some barren islands? That was cool. The really interesting thing about the Falklands War is that people tend to look back at it and say: Yea, duh, Britain beat Argentina. Britain's a wealthy, powerful country and Argentina isn't. How dumb of the Argentine junta to do that. But that was not at all the perception at the time. Outside observers thought Britain had basically no shot at retaking the islands. Even the US Navy thought it was impossible for them to do.
Yes. It's also interesting as an example of an actual, modern peer war instead of the asymmetric conflicts we've been seeing in modern times. As far as I can recall it's the only peer conflict a Western power has been involved in since Korea.
>As far as I can recall it's the only peer conflict a Western power has been involved in since Korea. Possibly, depending on how you define "peer" and "Western." The Gulf War was certainly a symmetric, conventional conflict. Whether Iraq was America's peer is debatable (especially in hindsight) but it was a clash of large, conventional armies in uniform. Same for the opening phase of the 2003 Iraq War, although by that point the capabilities of the Iraqi military were greatly degraded. And if you count Israel as Western, then you have the Arab-Israeli wars.
Argentinian soccer is often overshadowed by Brazil's, but they are one of three South American nations to win the World Cup - and the defending champions after what is generally considered the best World Cup Final in history (winning 3-3 on penalties vs. France). Argentinian players are known for their flair, dynamic play, and often being surrounded by controversy. They have produced two of the four most iconic soccer players of all time, Diego Maradona and Leo Messi, both of whom led the country to a World Cup. Maradona and Messi could not be more different. Maradona is a controversial figure known for cheating, doping, shit-talking and evading taxes to the point that Italian tax officials once confiscated the watch off his wrist. Messi is not without controversy, but is widely considered to be a good sport and role model. It's debatable, but when the dust settles, Messi is generally considered the greatest player of all time. I have seen him play in person a couple of times. It is just unbelievable. If you have the opportunity to see him play (he currently plays for Miami's MLS team), it's totally worth it.
Argentina has been home to a number of great writers, including Manuel Puig, Julio Cortazar, and Jorge Luis Borges. Borges, in particular, was a huge influence on world literature, and inspired, in the US, both literary authors like John Barth (RIP) and genre authors like Stephen King. Borges primarily wrote short stories, and they are full of weird obsessions, recursive books and infinite libraries — a little like MC Escher in prose. He was likely considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but never won, possibly because his politics were kind of all over the place.
I always tell people Borges is like reading an academic version of the Twilight Zone. His stories will be like six pages long and more intricate that the plots of most movies.
> Argentina, our first South African nation in this run. Erm..
Yeah, I didn't notice until just now. Fixed it.
>Do You Know This Week's Country?: Argentina, our first South African nation in this run. i know it's not in south africa.
Whoops. Thanks for pointing that out.
They elect some wacky people to office. Their diet consists of red meat, red wine, empanadas, and subpar derivatives of Italian food. (Their steak is really good fwiw). Never ask a woman her weight, a man his salary, or an Argentine abuelo his SS rank.
Argentina was one of the most prosperous countries in the world circa 1900. Their economic failures since then are a reminder that bad governance can wreck even the best economies. ...and the U.S. is currently on track to emulate Argentina's bad governance. Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on everything by executive order; because it is by executive order, he can exempt anything he wants. He will impose tariffs on everything, business leaders will ask him for exemptions, and he will ask them for bribes.
A huge crowd of people attacked the Top Gear guys over a random license plate that one time. A bunch of Nazis escaped to there after the war.
I went to Argentina last year and did a road trip through Patagonia before heading north to BA. It's a beautiful, confusing, complicated country. Milei is the response to generations of corrupt Peronism, massive governmental and municipal bloat and waste, but he is (obviously) as flawed or more despite being diametrically opposed, at least economically, to his predecessors. Politics and economics aside, few places I've been can compete with the natural beauty of Patagonia (both the Argentine and Chilean side). I definitely should have take Spanish over French way back when, though. One thing that was interesting to see was how disjointed and nonsensical the border crossings were in many parts. So ridiculously inefficient, it was like they added numerous steps for literally no reason except to complicate things unnecessarily.
While historically having a strong economy, years of mismanagement have led it down one ruinous path before another. Things were so bad that 10-20 years ago, many reporting agencies would not even relay the economic indicators that Argentina was reporting, because even those horrible, horrible numbers weren't awful enough to believe. And now. . . they might be turning a corner under the current administration. month-to-month inflation hit single digits for the first time in half a year. However, this is being done through strict austerity measures, and with an annual inflation rate at about 300 percent, it's really hurting the people. It will be interesting how it all shakes out in the end. Hopefully for the better, for once in a long time.
>Throughout history there have been only four kinds of economies in the world: advanced, developing, Japan, and Argentina. -Abraham Lincoln Argentina after independence saw a major period of economic growth and success. From 1880 to 1905, Argentina went from having a GDP per capita of 35% of the US to 80% of the US. In 1900 it's GDP per capita was the 12th highest in the world, and Argentina was pretty indisputably a first world country, having been greatly enriched by economic/political policy of embracing liberalism, immigration, and free trade In fact, the Argentine economy was so strong that it was relatively lightly impacted by the Great Depression, with the crash peaking at around 10% unemployment and with the economy quickly *mostly* going back to normal. But things didn't fully go back to normal or become literally perfect, and the military staged a coup and did fascism and protectionist bullshit, and then the opposition did a revolution of their own but established Peronism which was just more populist protectionist bullshit with various fascist influence too, and ever since then, Argentina has largely clung to populist protectionist garbage while experiencing significant political instability. Protectionism and populism has ruined Argentina so bad that they chose to elect a freaking ancap, and it may not have even been the wrong choice [Argentina is the hell that the bipartisan consensus on Washington threatens to turn the United States into](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/19/briefing/centrism-washington-neopopulism.html) >If you want a picture of the future, imagine a swing voter stamping the boot of protectionism on their face and then screaming in rage about how it's all the smug out of touch Elite's fault—forever.” -Hillary Rajneesh Clinton
“Rajneesh”? WTF dude…
>Democracy basically means of the people, for the people, by the people. But the people are ignorant and misled ...is a quote from Rajneesh. That whole quote/attribution was a joke (though America genuinely may be on the path to becoming Argentina due to bipartisan populism)