- Argentina is a tale of class struggles and political conflict.
The army has played a significant role in this story, enabling
a minority to rule over the country for long periods of
time. The collectivism that in other Latin American countries
assumed a gentle form of currying favor with the central
government, served in Argentina a basis for an internal
rift. The population is almost entirely of European origin,
the majority from Spain, and some from Italy. The absence
of any obvious characteristic distinguishing one group from
another, and thereby justifying hierarchic superiority has
had a destructive influence, creating a hostile competitive
atmosphere. The military too has adopted an aggressive confrontational
approach, and the number of people secretly abducted and
murdered by the army has only deepened the internal rift
- not only between citizens, but also between the citizens
and the army. Nationalism is a sense of unity. To the extent
it exists in Argentina, it does not manifest itself in a
positive constructive manner, but rather in demonstrations
of violence and superiority on the part of those who consider
themselves the elite towards other classes who do not accept
their authority or superiority. The hierarchic structure
of Argentina was thrown into confusion by policies adopted
by President Menem, a Peronist who acted against the interest
of the Peronist professional unions, who had voted him into
office. He did so because of his connection to big businesses
and his hopes to use them to pull Argentina out of a 60-year
economic crisis - that had resulted from a sectoral government
practices - both with landowners and the anti-Peronist labor
movement. While Menem's willingness to break with the tradition
of serving the interests of the sector that has offered
him political support is commendable, his policies which
were based on economic benefit rather than sectoral interest
are more consistent with an Anglo-American approach than
with a Latin American one. This fact was at the root of
the last economic crisis, though plenty of economic crises
took places under governments following the more traditionally
Latin American approach. Apparently, no system can succeed
when there is societal discord and division. When a society
is sick, its economy is doomed to failure, regardless of
whether its central government is following objectively
'sound' economic principles or whether it is acting in the
interest of one sector and with utter disregard for the
interests of the general economy. It emerges that the true
problem in Argentina is social, rather than economic. Before
a state can be run, a society must be run or built. Social
leadership must firstly consider the social obstacles and
demonstrate leadership in tackling them. The leadership
must invest energy in inculcating the younger generation
with the value of societal unity in a society that is fundamentally
egalitarian, or with steering hierarchic values in a Latin
American society towards charity to those who are considered
inferior, as is done in Chinese society. Such generosity
is compatible with Latin American values, as is reflected
in Mexican and Brazilian efforts to free their slaves -
but it has faded in recent generations particularly in Argentina.
Thus Argentina is ailing since it is a nation is in the
process of fragmentation rather than unification.
|
