Pinochet

A little late to be discussing this man, but I’ve been meaning to write something on his death.

As many readers will be aware, Pinochet divides people quite sharply. Many right-wingers mourned his passing, arguing that he had done a huge service to Chile by implementing his free-market based economic reforms. Others on the left argue that he was a brutal dictator, repressing political dissent, outlawing political parties and generally sanctioning rape, torture and murder when it suited his regime. Personally, I believe the latter.

What I find terribly amusing about the whole situation is the large amount of right wingers – who claim to believe deeply in liberty and freedom – who are willing to jump up and defend him. The usual excuse is something like what John Londregan points out: “Castro and the far left are worse than Pinochet, they kill more people and deliver fewer benefits than did the military government of Chile."

Case in point – “Frankly, if the entire continent of Central and South America were overrun by a horde of Pinochet's, it would be a much better place and the world would be many times better off. Brutal and barbaric though he was, and as inexcusable as the taking of human life is, you just have to look at places like Nicaragua or Cuba and ask: Would it really have been better to have kept Allende in power? Millions of Chileans are better off as a consequence of Pinochet. Rest in Peace.”

I guess this blogger is implying that sometimes the use of force against people is necessary to implement free-market economic reforms. That’s a utilitarian argument if I’ve ever seen one – the benefits of the free market economic reforms far outweigh the killing, rape and torture of many Chilean citizens who dared to exercise their democratic right to oppose him. Not to mention the implied the insinuation – that just because other hard left regimes kill people in the name of communism or socialism, it somehow justifies Pinochet’s regime. Ah… no. Killing people, raping people and torturing people is still bad, even if another regime is doing the same thing. What’s even worse about this argument is that the blogger is conceding that sometimes the use of force is necessary for the benefit of others. Where do you stop, however? A communist could argue the same thing.

Thankfully, other right wingers are not that stupid – “His free market policies and overthrowing an authoritarian socialist pinup (Allende) do not justify suppression of free speech, murdering, torturing and imprisoning opponents. Margaret Thatcher's support for him has been her biggest mistake and the biggest black mark against her name in my book. I understand why she did it (Falklands and his free market policies), but it never excused his oppression of Chilean freedom.”

I guess Pinochet’s death raises some interesting questions about freedom and liberty.