Posted by
Andrews on Friday, October 03, 2008 10:30:17 AM
People keep comparing Obama to Carter or Clinton or, thanks to his eloquence and cultish appeal, to Hitler. I would offer up an alternative, and one that may have some appeal to those alive in the 70's. Obama is our Salvador Allende, a technocrat socialist, elected to office with an acquiescent legislature, following a period of ever greater government power, who would use that power to rapidly socialize the state. To anyone familiar with the massive damage Allende's "reforms" did tot he Chilean economy this is a frightening prospect. (Sadly, the Pinochet government had enough problems of their own that many on the left pass the blame from Allende to Pinochet, allowing Allende to become something of a martyr of the far left.)
Actually, the parallels become rather disturbing when you look into it. Allende's predecessor used powers similar to those granted in
Kelo to nationalize a large part of the farmland of Chile, setting the stage for even more sweeping nationalization of farm land and industries. That predecessor, Montalva, was a nominal conservative who had nonetheless engaged in many left-leaning reforms, including education reform and a sweeping reform of pharmaceutical distribution.
Like any analogy, it is obviously an imperfect fit. And even were it a perfect fit, it would be no guarantee that history will follow the same pattern. South American nations have, with some exceptions, followed a more tumultuous course than those of the United States, and the constitutions of various nations differ enough that even the same circumstances are unlikely to produce the same outcomes*.
But still, to see an Allende-like figure following our own nominally conservative president who enacted many leftist policies is a bit frightening.
The only consolation is that I don't believe the Obama campaign is as strong as the pundits, both left and right, seem to believe it is. The current economic woes may be helping Obama, but I think this consensus, once again, is press groupthink running ahead of the truth. Obama is back to dead even, or within the margin of error of the same, and the press is crying victory. It all seems a bit premature.
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* Since our constitution is no longer a binding social compact, but instead is a "living document" meaning whatever the judges say it does, I suppose this may no longer matter.
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POSTSCRIPT
I know I have made many attempts to compare Obama to historical figures, fictional figures, and one means of transportation, so I am hesitant to offer one more, but the Allende comparison seems particularly apt. If you care to see my earlier analogies, the list is found at the end of my post "
Best of the Web Imitates Me VI".