last time I checked "people" and "military" were two different concepts.
Last time I checked the US military has a long tradition of professionalism and non-politicization. The same was said of the Chilean military, based upon Prussian professional standards. That suggests that the military, their's and ours, exist to preserve the institution.
You might also recall, as I tried to bring to your attention previously, that Chilean military leaders prevented several coup attempts, one of which resulted in the assassination of the Army's chief of staff, Rene Schneider, who opposed the coup aimed at preventing Allende's inauguration.
And regarding inflation, the FAS site discusses 500% and another link mentions 60%.
fas.org
The Nationalists, the Christian Democrats, and conservative students backed the increasingly subversive strikers. They called for Allende's resignation or military intervention. Attempts by the Catholic Church to get the PDC and Popular Unity to negotiate a compromise came to naught. Meanwhile, inflation reached an annual rate of more than 500 percent. By mid-1973 the economy and the government were paralyzed.
And the 60% inflation is discussed here, which btw, has an interesting graph of how extreme Chilean politics had become by the election of Allende:
localaccess.com
And you might also familiarize yourself with the term "Chicago Boys" and how they transformed Chile under the brutal rule of Pinochet.
www-hoover.stanford.edu
Who actually owns the resources?
And that comment alone Sir, is indicative of just where your political views actually lie. If you don't believe in the private ownership and management of resources, you create a situation where any powerful governmental leader can expropriate personal or corporate property whenever it is politically convenient. Sure, nationalize and confiscate the property of foreigners who developed the resource and provided jobs to your citizens. And then later claim that there is a "conspiracy" aimed against you when foreign banks and investors opt not to risk additional capital in your nation.
I wonder what would happen if the US started nationalizing foreign owned property here in the US??
I see that you and I live in totally different worlds.
Yes.. apparently we do.. I've been wondering what color the sky was in your world for some time now. Must be rose-colored with pink tinges.
As for Pinochet being "totalitarian", you obviously have your political systems confused. Pinochet was an authoritarian leader who later gave up power without unrest. Brutal as he may have been during his rule, he had certain elements of society who supported his "strong man" rule and restoration of order and stability.
A totalitarian state is a system where priviledged members (generally of a political party) control all aspects of a society for their own benefit. They shape your thinking, prevent all political opposition, control the economic means of production, and they seldom transition to democracy and capitalism without significant violence and/or turmoil.
cf.ac.uk
You're a Phd John... I would assume you would know the difference between Totalitarianism and Authoritarianism..
Do you teach for a living?
Hawk |
