all 6 comments

[–]RedEyedWarrior 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Good for Chile. If you think their current, neoliberal constitution is bad, then the new leftist constitution is much, much worse. In particular, the fact that the constitution requires that at least 50% of positions within corporate and government institutions are women.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Well I wouldn't call their original constitution a 'path of hope'. It was enacted by military decree by August Pinochet, a brutal fascist dictator, who the US backed and put in power, and Pinochet embraced the neoliberal economic policies we demanded that were decidedly good for us, but bad for the people of Chile.

I have a feeling our media interest in this has more to do with this constitution affecting the mining of lithium that we want than anybody giving any fucks about the people of Chile

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-27/a-new-chilean-constitution-could-mean-big-changes-to-copper-and-lithium-mining

[–]Feldheld 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Pinochets economic policies were what made Chile and its people the most prosperous in South America. The only people who arent happy with these policies are spoiled brats from rich parents who always think they know better than everybody else after they read one book or watched TV. Oh, and criminals of course who always think they deserve other people's money.

Pinochet was no doubt a brutal dictator but he saved the country from something much worse.

[–]RedEyedWarrior 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

I agree with that.

But as much as I’m against communism, I do not approve of the marriage between business and state. I want to keep those two entities separate. And neoliberalism is a marriage between business and state, where the government picks winners and losers in the market place.

Free markets are the way to go.

[–]Feldheld 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Pinochets policies had nothing to do with neoliberalism. He was mostly influenced by Milton Friedman and the Austrian School.

Neoliberalism is a leftist movement. It was an attempt by social democrats to save their leftist illusions after the end of the cold war and the demise of the eastern bloc.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Perhaps you are right about the economic policies, I know they were definitely in our interest, but they may been mutually beneficial, I admit I'm far from an expert on the subject of Chile's economy. But even if thats the case, a Constitution is a whole lot more than economic policies. Things like the Bill of Rights, where the 1st, 2nd, and 4th amendments are currently under attack in the US largely concern civil liberties rather than economics. Again, not an expert on the Chilean Constitution, but brutal dictators don't have a great track record on things like that, it's just hard for me to believe that constitution couldn't use some revising, or that this 'path of hope' stuff is anything but us being pleased we are going to get those minerals