“This book is an attempt to understand libertarianism,” is how the American economist defined it Walter Block (Brooklyn, 1941) his book Defending the indefensible (Barbarossa-Innisfree), which the President first recommended to Minister Federico Rumpfenegger and then, at his suggestion, presented to the members of the Cabinet in the Quinta Presidencial de Olivos this week. For Block, an admirer and student of the American economist Murray Rothbard, the “undefensible defenseless” are groups or people such as “the multinational businessman” and “the smuggler” as well as “the baby seller” and “the destroyer of iconic buildings.”
At online bookstores and Mercado Libre, the 250-page book costs $22,500. Block published three volumes of Defending the indefensible and also Defend discriminationwhere he is making steady progress in the area of political incorrectness. In Argentina his work is distributed and marketed by Grupo Unión; Milei ordered the copies to be handed over to the officials. The “culture war” is not just being fought in stadiums and streaming channels.
After the 2023 presidential elections, the San Isidro-based publishing group presented the president with a complete library of its catalog for the Quinta de Olivos. “Since 2013, the President has purchased all libertarian books from our bookstore“, says Rodolfo ThistleDirector of Grupo Unión, to LA NACION. “After the photo of Milei and his officials with copies of the book, we received several inquiries from bookstores and readers,” he added.
The President’s Office released a photo of the meeting showing participants holding a copy of the first volume Defending the indefensible. Originally published in 1976, the work addresses central concepts of libertarian thought, such as the principle of non-aggression and the defense of private property, based on pro-anarcho-capitalist examples and theoretical debates, expressed in various “characters”, including “the miser”, “the speculator” and “the broker”.
Sources close to the presidency said that Block’s essay “a challenge to open thinking to the free marketAnd that if you want to push forward a reformist agenda (like the one proposed by the government), “you have to get used to thinking outside the box.” Days ago, Block – whose name was Trending topics this Tuesday on social networks – had publicly thanked Milei for the interest in his work: “Together and with many other defenders of freedom, individual freedom, free enterprise and the libertarian movement, we are doing everything we can to promote prosperity and justice.”
“Defending the indefensible is an important book because it shows how voluntary actions and agreements always create value for someone and, very often, for society as a whole.even those that seem disgusting to us – he tells LA NACION Marcos Falconean analyst at the Cato Institute, the boss Think tank United States Libertarian. It is a book that does nothing other than extend essential principles of human activity to a range of activities generally considered marginal. An example is moneylenders, whom we generally reject if we believe they charge too much and then call them “usury.” Block shows how good their presence is, even if we are outraged at their price, because they allow lending where no one else wants to lend. Without them, the situation of those who borrow money would not be better, but worse. There are other examples of jobs that many people reject, such as prostitutes, but which also meet a demand from people who want to pay for sex; Without them, not only customers would be worse off, but also the service providers themselves, who make a living from their work.”
For Falcone, the fact that the president recommended Block’s book “speaks to his vision of where society should go: Although there are all kinds of obstacles to the liberalization of Argentina and especially to the deregulation of the economy and professions, this must be the north of changeAnd he adds: “Deep down, Milei’s goal is not just legal but also cultural: his liberalism implies the acceptance that we should not interfere in actions or agreements where there is no coercion, even if we don’t like them.”
Milei’s recommendation caused sharp criticism on social networks after users such as journalists Bruno Bimbi and Martín Caparrós shared it on her page. Macrismo’s former culture minister, Pablo Avelluto, also spoke out against Block’s ideas. “No other book explains this government so honestly. The defense of loan sharks, exploiters, evaders and blackmailers is not a metaphor, but a program. The state as enemy, inequality as freedom and cruelty as virtue,” he wrote in X.
“I remember it,” Falcone says of the controversial item. Block’s general point is the same in all cases: banning X makes the person who already needs X worse off, not better.in this case work, even if it is forbidden. But nowhere does Block celebrate the fact that a child has to work, and neither does Milei.”
LA NACION also consulted Ivan CarrinoAssociate Researcher of Faro UDD at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile and Professor of History of Economic Thought at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Buenos Aires. “It certainly outrages both the left and the nationalist and patriotic right,” he claims. Block is a purely libertarian author who, like much of the left, defends both the legalization of drugs and prostitutionbut for economic reasons.”
For Carrino, who attended the conference that Block gave in Buenos Aires years ago, Milei’s gesture should be interpreted as an expansion of the liberal agenda, which he said was not part of the public debate in the country until recently. “Journalists, communicators and political analysts must read Block for at least two to three days to comment on this issue.“, he jokes. Regarding the issue of child labor, he asserts, following Block’s logic, that the production of wealth under capitalism has led to children no longer being “capital goods” (labor) and becoming “consumer goods” of families that could provide them with education and comfort.
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