Un mundo contaminado

Until the proliferation of right-wing populism, the regimes that corrupted democratic rules to suppress the opposition and perpetuate themselves in power had fundamentally a Marxist character. But the new nationalist and ultra-conservative anti-liberalism, under the banner of the "cultural battle", has wrested from Chavismo and socialism the monopoly of despotism. The well-known essayist José Benegas, seasoned in the fight against Latin American populism, develops in this book the thesis that the traditional left/right axis no longer allows us to understand the current political moment. Both sides share a taste for warlords who destroy institutions, and who, after having won popular favor at the polls, put an end to the methods of controlling their corruption, turn the legislative powers into amanuensis, place followers in the courts to shield themselves from any investigation and gag the press. Benegas dismantles the rhetorical traps with which populist regimes, authentic 21st century dictatorships, install the reign of their own arbitrariness in the name of democracy. And, by refuting his doctrinal assumptions, he undermines the legitimacy of governments that propose the concentration of power to show themselves as saviors of the people. But it is not enough simply to expose these traps. If the practices of populist despotism are triumphing, it is because societies are afflicted with anemia regarding the ideas of liberty, property, and limited government. For this reason, A Contaminated World sets out to demonstrate that the idea of government as a great benefactor is a mantra left and right that contradicts the democratic principle of true self-government. This book is an invaluable contribution to the cause of recovering lost liberal democracy and institutions, and reestablishing the legal, political, and ethical foundations of a free society.