Dear Americans: don't be Argentineans

Beware, dear inhabitants of the United States. Beware. Inflation rates in your country are reaching historic levels and you must be alert. Who am I to scare you? Well, you know, I live in Argentina, which is a world power when it comes to inflation and economic crises. You cannot compete with us; we far surpass you. Although inflation in the United States has been reaching historic rates, believe me, it is a walk in the woods, while ours is a walk in a polluted swamp full of hungry crocodiles. This year it will exceed 70% (it is difficult to know what the ceiling will be) and the ghost of hyperinflation lurks, again, in these lands. The last one was in 1989, but well, it could happen again.

What happens in a hyperinflation? Well, something similar to what is happening in the country today. Prices increase so much and so fast that immediately after collecting the salary people go out desperately to stock up and buy dollars (protect them), cryptocurrencies, silver, gold, whatever. Anything goes to get rid of the pesos, which depreciate at great speed, something like an ice cube under the strong Caribbean sun. In fact, at the moment, Argentines living in the north of the country, near the Bolivian border, are even saving in Bolivianos. At this rate, when we least realize it, a roll of toilet paper will cost more than the highest denomination banknote (1,000 pesos, about 2.9 dollars). Want a graphic representation? Click here. The last depreciation of the peso has been going on for more than two decades, but after the resignation of the Minister of Economy at the beginning of the month, the distrust in the country and its currency worsened, so the depreciation reached a dizzying speed.

Take care, folks. High inflation rates, or even a hyperinflation, do not happen overnight. I have been listening to statements from some of your politicians and journalists, who blame the businessmen for the price increases; those bells are the ones that are usually heard in these parts, and while here the political class -especially the Kirchnerist ruling party, the addicted media and the delirious extreme left- continues blaming the countryside, the businessmen, the independent journalists and even the devils; everyone but the unbridled monetary emission. Prices continue to rise and companies are leaving the country, almost at the same pace that the already very high poverty is increasing.

In Argentina the madness is overwhelming. In fact, if one wants to buy dollars to get rid of the colored papers issued by the Central Bank, something like Monopoly bills, one usually resorts to the so-called cuevas (illegal exchange houses) to get hold of them, because, although they continue to depreciate, they represent a great refuge for everyone. It is in the cuevas where dollars can be obtained, illegally, at the market price (337 pesos at the time these lines are being written) without the need to leave personal data and without maximums, something very important, since in Argentina there is a strong restriction -called cepo- on the purchase of foreign currency at the official price (arbitrarily determined by the Government and significantly lower than the market price), which today stands at 136 dollars. Moreover, they now blame the lack of dollars on tourists traveling abroad or foreigners who exchange dollars in the illegal market (i.e., who use common sense) for the lack of dollars. These absurdities expressed by the Government only show their desperation.

The delirium does not end there, since in Argentina, where a population accustomed to barbarities that in a more or less serious nation cannot even be imagined, there are more than ten exchange rates to buy dollars. Something absolutely normal for Argentines.

Take care of yourselves. At the slightest sign, sound all sirens and do not stop sounding until politicians try to get as far away as possible from Argentine policies. Last year, the Argentine president renamed Joe Biden "Juan Domingo Biden" (in reference to late Argentine president Juan Domingo Perón) to celebrate his president's social vision. Danger! The social vision of Peronism in general led us to several crises, and that of this Government led us to be going through this new and terrible situation, from which even the Vice-President of the country, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, wants to distance herself by blaming all the ills on the President she handpicked and who has been answering to her since she started her term of office. Yes, she put him in, she told him what to do and now she blames him for everything. So here we are.

Opposition to the arbitrariness of the ruling class (politics) is one of the historical characteristics of the United States, whose leaders should be nothing but servants of the people. Turn on all warning sirens when your government's policies approach those of Argentina

What social vision am I referring to? In this Argentina already rotten from the ground up, in order to stay in power, the Government, as is customary in Peronism (and especially in Kirchnerism), enlarges the State to suffocating levels, takes control of it and generates ignorance and dependence in the population. For this reason they distribute the so-called social plans, which are something like subsidies for doing nothing; child allowances, which are something like subsidies for procreation, among other handouts monopolized by the State, such as pensions, beyond the misnamed highly loss-making state enterprises.

Social plans have become one of the most important political tools of Kirchnerism. The money is given to leaders of various Peronist and extreme left-wing groups, which distribute these resources among large numbers of people who, in most cases, do not work. However, many of the recipients of these subsidies must attend demonstrations organized by the leaders of the different groups, which some critics call "poverty managers". During these rallies, bridges and important streets of the City of Buenos Aires are cut, harming all the people who work and produce those resources that are then stripped to support the same people who block the streets and, above all, the leaders. This is a routine we are used to here and it is part of the problem, since a handful of Argentines are the ones who have to support tens of millions of people, which is why the accounts do not balance and the Government is in charge of printing bills that then generate this inflation, which is nothing more than a very high tax paid especially by those who have the least.

Usually, poverty managers do not try to dynamite Peronist governments, they are very patient with them, much more than with non-Peronist governments, regardless of the situation of the country, as long as they can continue receiving their millions. But now everything has exploded, the money has run out, so the fight in the officialism is fierce and some of their accomplices, the poverty managers who answer to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner started to spit all kinds of threats against the President. As Margaret Thatcher said: "Socialism fails when other people's money runs out".

So, dear citizens of the United States: be careful. Do not become accustomed as we are to this kind of barbarities, do not believe the powerful who benefit from this kind of social vision, for it is nothing more than a disguise to generate dependency and gain more power. Beware of the managers of poverty, who are very adept at blaming others (politicians, the media, sectors of the population or abstract enemies) for the outrages they themselves commit in the name of solidarity, equality and peace, which are very nice terms but are nothing more than disguises for their hidden evil.

Opposition to the arbitrariness of the ruling class (politics) is one of the historical characteristics of the United States, whose leaders should be nothing but servants of the people. Turn on all warning sirens when your government's policies approach those of Argentina, even if it is only half a step. Trust in your capabilities and strengths as individuals and do not fall into the trap of demagogues who want you ignorant and weak so they can manipulate you like puppets. The cheese in the trap smells good, but know what awaits you if you approach it. We are already crushed; do not follow our path.