The Great Modernizers: Gabriel Boric and Volodymyr Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky is a Centrist Libertarian and Gabriel Boric is a Libertarian Socialist, with emphasis on the Socialist. Just from that alone, you wouldn't imagine there are many similarities between the two politicians. But there is one big similarity, they both break from the respective norms of their countries. So let's get a good look at these two men, what they stand for, who they represent, and most importantly the historical significance of both men.

Let's start with Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky as I said before is a Centrist Pragmatist, he doesn't align himself with one economic theory in this sense, he's a "whatever is proven to work, is what we will do" kind of guy. But in regards to his social views, he has a lot in common with Boric in that he's Pro-choice on Abortion, Pro-LGBTQ Rights, Pro-Sex Worker Rights, and Pro-legalization of drugs. Zelensky is easily the most socially progressive president in Eastern Europe and that alone makes him a break from the Political norms of Ukrainian Politics.

Ukraine up until Zelensky had very conservative presidents, presidents that had a lot of similarities both rhetorically and policy-wise to Russian Politicians. There's a reason for this, Ukraine's politicians are very corrupt, many of them being bankrolled by Ukrainian and some Russian Oligarchs. Zelensky is/was an outsider to the political world, he's an actor and Comedian. He couldn't have been further outside the world of politics if he tried. The Ukrainian people were aware of the Corruption of the Politicians, they knew that this was a major issue but until Zelensky threw his hat into the ring there were no options that weren't corrupt.

13,000km away from Ukraine in Chile, a similar battle was going on politically. Enter, Gabriel Boric. Boric wasn't part of the political establishment, he was/is a well-known Activist in Chile, part of the Apruebo Dignidad movement. Boric is a Libertarian Socialist, Boric represents a break from the conventions of Chilean politics.

The History of Chile

Chile has a history that is a rollercoaster, to say the least, from 1970 to 1973 Chile's President was a man by the name of Salvador Allende. Allende was a deeply popular man in Chile, A Socialist in name, as well as in action. Allende's Presidency was marked by the mass-nationalization of large-scale industries like Copper mining and Banking, the rolling out of mass social programs that gave free milk to the children of Chile, the Nationalization of the educational boards, and the Nationalization of the Healthcare administration in Chile.

Under Allende, blue-collar real wages grew 56% and the minimum wage for the rest of society grew 22% with Inflation decreasing substantially from 36.1% to 22.1% due in large part to the increase in wages being able to afford Chileans a better quality of life than they had previously. Allende had also made a promise to bring more prosperity to the Indigenous peoples of Chile and one of the first things he did was give 3,000 scholarships to the Mapuche peoples of Chile.

All of that was popular at the time, and in large part still popular to this day, but like all things popular. It came to a brutal end in 1973, with an American-backed Military coup-de-tait spearheaded by Augusto Pinochet which resulted in the deaths of at least 3,400 people and the torture of 29,000 people. Many activists coming from the Communist Party of Chile were flung from helicopters and Allende was pushed to shoot himself in the head, killing him instantly.

Under Augusto Pinochet, everything from Allende's government was removed or reversed completely. Resulting in Chileans being shoved back into the deprived lives that they had before the Allende. Many Chileans were "missing" family members from the coup, likely either dead or in one of Pinochet's camps being tortured until that killed them. Pinochet's rule lasted for 17 years and the economic "reforms" that came in under Pinochet would mark an economic change, not just for Chile but the world.

The Economic changes brought in by Pinochet such as the re-privatization of healthcare, banking, and the educational boards, the lessening of regulations on starting and doing business are now what we call "neo-liberal" Economics. Neo-liberalism was not the creation of Reagan or Thatcher, it came from the depths of a Military dictatorship that undone all of the good from the last Democratic government after 40 years of continuous Democratic elections.

Wages in Pinochet's Chile shrunk by 8% and by the end of his dictatorship 44% of Chilean families were below the poverty line. The economy of Chile grew but the inequalities in Chile were even starker than what they had been before Allende's government. The continuation of Neo-liberal Policies would largely continue under the subsequent governments including the current President of Chile, Sebastian Pinera.

Who is Gabriel Boric and what does he share with Zelensky?

Boric is the natural re-invigoration of Allende-style Politics, he's a Socialist who wants to bring back the achievements of the Allende government with a 21st century spin on it. Boric is a Libertarian Socialist, as I mentioned at the start of this piece, and I can already sense the American's looking at the phrase "Libertarian Socialist" and tilting their heads like a confused Labrador. So I'll very quickly explain that to you.

Libertarianism historically was on the Left, it was Anti-authority, anti-status quo, the status quo of which being Capitalism. It was American exceptionalism that turned Libertarianism into a Free-Market Capitalist ideology. It didn't always mean that Libertarian Socialism is a Socialist economic policy tied with libertarian ideals when it comes to social issues and governance structure, things like Direct Democracy, Consensus democracy, Legalization of Sex work, legalization of drugs, etc.

Boric is a member of the Social Convergence Party which is a broadly left-wing party, there are Democratic Socialists, Social Democrats, Libertarian Socialists, Social Liberals, etc all inhabiting the same party because they've found a policy platform that works. So what does Gabriel Boric intend to do as president?

Boric aim's to completely change the Pension structure and payment system in Chile, he wants to bring in a Minimum pension guarantee that is valued at at least $250,000 per year for every single retiree. He wants to bring in a 1940s NHS-style healthcare system where the government negotiates drug prices, administers and controls all the hospitals, he wants to Nationalize banking again and Nationalize the Lithium mines so that Chile can guarantee a good rate of pay and workplace regulation to all of the miners in Chile.

Gabriel's Social policy goes further than Zelensky but they are similar, for example, Boric wants to bring in better Transgender healthcare, expansion of the right to change gender, legal protections for LGBTQIA+ people, legalization of sex work, and legalization of all drugs. So already we're seeing an almost identical social policy between Boric and Zelensky.

Where Zelensky and Boric differ is on Economic policy, Zelensky as mentioned is a Pragmatist, he doesn't favor one economic system over the other. He has a goal of expanding the economy of Ukraine by any means available to Ukraine, he wants to take advantage of the growing relationship between Ukraine and the EU and allow Ukraine access to the single market, decrease taxes in Ukraine to bring in foreign capital, and begin to do what should have been done in the 1990s.

The great reformers of our time

The most meaningful similarity between Boric and Zelensky is that they are both modern reformers but Ukraine isn't in a position to have a Gabriel Boric of their own. Their economy is small, they don't have a sprawling trading relation, their economy is still developing, never mind growing and Zelensky knows this.

Zelensky represents a modern version of the post-soviet reformers that countries like Croatia (post-Yugoslav but I'm including it) and Latvia had with the Latvian way party which allowed for Latvia to move forward economically and remain democratic after the fall of the Soviet Union. Although the main difference is that, Zelensky doesn't need to keep with the social politics of the time, social policy in Ukraine can modernize to the year 2022 on social issues. It still has time to wait until they get a Boric.

Whilst Boric represents a revitalization of the old spark of Socialism that Chile had and was succeeding with before the coup. He sparks the match of reform and both Zelensky are "out with the old, in with the new" politicians, they're both very young and represent the views of a new generation of Ukrainians and Chileans who aren't letting themselves get bogged down in History.

Now we just have to wait until the war is over in Ukraine to figure out whether or not Zelensky gets his dream of a Post-Soviet, Post-war Prosperous Modern Ukraine.