Last week, the global elite gathered in Davos for the World Economic Forum, an event shrouded in secrecy and suspicion. The theme for this year’s discussion was ‘Rebuilding Trust’. Ponder that for a moment – the world’s richest and most powerful leaders are wondering why people don’t trust them anymore. Worse yet, it took them four days to map out a solution, as if telling the truth requires a strategic blueprint. Surprisingly, there was a rare dose of genuine wisdom at this year’s WEF, coming from Argentine president Javier Milei.

Milei took the stand and delivered a 23-minute monologue on why the world must embrace freedom while warning against the West’s affair with Marxism. Liberty, according to Milei, is the key to economic growth, showcased by the free world’s rise to global dominion. By comparison, socialism has failed as often as it has been tried. Its excess restrictions lead not only to aggressive oppression, but economic collapse.

The international establishment nodded candidly while the Argentine spoke, pretending to hear this tidbit of political history for the first time. At some point they may have realised that they weren’t the audience for his speech – they were the antagonists. The true listeners were the citizens of the world; a working class desperate to find sense and means through the carnage created by WEF’s attendees.

Milei went on to condemn radical feminism, equality mandates, economic manipulation, and the ‘bloody’ abortion agenda – likening them to tools used by the State to exert control. Naturally, his advice was to embrace a libertarian approach to global governance. He quoted his fellow Argentine Alberto Benegas Lynch to sum up the movement – ‘libertarianism is the unrestricted respect for the life project of others’. Wiser words are seldom spoken.

Consider how that applies to Australia – a nation where permission must be granted for the most basic daily activities. Is it coincidental that our over-regulated society is facing a crippling debt, housing crisis, and cost-of-living blowout? Today’s youth (who overwhelmingly lean Progressive) demand the same economic comfort enjoyed by their parents yet they seem all too content on destroying the freedoms that drove it. We must take both or none; we cannot pick and choose.

Despite that, our political debate is led by two parties claiming that their brand of authoritarian restriction is better than the other. Two parties that insist on raising your children, managing your wealth, planning your retirement, and deciding what’s best for your health, as if privacy and individual purpose are unconscionable threats.

It’s hard to stave off the feeling that Milei’s message was personal for Australians. We are well past wondering what might happen if we embrace Marxism and finding out first-hand what does happen. The government machine has become the source of our problem rather than the solution. Our leaders lack the skills to motivate, unite, or inspire so they must rule with brute force instead. Our track record on freedom and human rights is deplorable and we’re now facing the economic decline that comes with it.

In the absence of Donald Trump, Milei has become that guy on the diplomacy stage, unafraid to speak out against a disproportionately left-wing cabal. He represents a rare symbol of hope that even a country neck-deep in socialism can learn to embrace liberty and a free economy. There is hope yet for Australia, and the rest of the world.

In the words of the Argentine – ‘long live freedom, dammit!’