Anyone else encounter this?
Of course, the "This country is shit because socialism/communism happened" bullshit is quite common, most people have no political education, that culture was destroyed during the last dictatorship (76-83). Ask them when was the last time the socialists ran the country and they'll confuse them for peronists, they can't differentiate between ideologies. Next time ask them why did Peron incarcerated communists while he was in power. They won't have a clue about what you are saying.
Only a deeply ignorant population could have voted for Milei, as a candidate he promised he'd implement the same economic policies that have already failed a dozen times in the last 50 years. He expressed admiration for fucking Margaret Thatcher during a presidential debate, what else can be said after that?
Argentina is the perfect example of a country where you don't need to send your own soldiers to occupy and colonize it. First, destroy their syndicates, student movements and cultural expressions through their own armed forces. Then once "democracy" is back, cut funds to education, health, etc. and control the main news sources, finance NGOs, bribe their politicians for 2 cents. Flood the media with Hollywood crap and the worst mainstream music. Use mercenary "journalists" to reiterate the idea that it is all your neighbor's fault and you are in constant danger, don't trust anybody.
The final product is an anglophile population with no roots, no memory and no collective identity who doesn't have anything good to claim as their own. Their only hope is to migrate to Europe or USA. "The only way out is the airport" is a common saying.
Argentina only exists in name, it is not a real country as it has no sovereignty (high dependence on US dollar, other countries prey on its waters for fish and its mountains for minerals, etc). Their bourgeoisie always has one foot on America/Europe and if things go to shit they are immune, they send their profits overseas without paying taxes. When they need to put some of that dirty money back the government forgives them by decree because it is desperate for USD. Also, American and Israeli embassies are de facto part of the government, is there anything else to add? Politicians visiting the embassy perform a long standing tradition.
Football is the only means of expression left for fake national fervor and some pathetic semblance of collective unity, comprised of eleven multi-millionaires playing for FIFA and a mob of idiots who will raise their flag for the show, never for a real cause. It's all a mock up. There is no real nation.
I wish I knew more about those countries, I've heard similar things happened starting at the late 80s. It's almost as if they had a recipe for cultural annihilation, once you break the spirit of a nation all you have is atomized individuals highly manageable for foreign Capital.
There is one particular story a good commie friend of mine likes to tell, he worked at several radio stations and in the music industry during the 50 to 70s period, he saw how the dictatorship governments applied censorship to Tango and Folklore as a tool to neutralize any subversive expression while allowing American record companies to take control of the market, distorting the artists work to make it "more marketable", introducing foreign trends. That's when I understood his distaste for rock music. Not all rock of course, but the bland, harmless and simplistic version of it.
A lot of good artists had to exile the country and some took bad decisions giving in to the big records demands.