After denouncing it as a propaganda tool for the left, Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei is relaunching a state-run TV channel for kids set to feature a cartoon teaching free-market economics while stressing the evils of taxes and communism.
Paka Paka, first introduced by leftist former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2010, will launch new programming in July ranging from Dragon Ball Z to Tuttle Twins, a US cartoon series that includes animated versions of free-marketeer economists Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. The channel will also carry a re-tooled version of Zamba, a local history cartoon.
“Thrilled to announce that Tuttle Twins will be coming to millions of Argentine kids on Paka Paka,” the show’s creators announced on X. “They’re replacing literal Marxist cartoons with hilarious education about freedom, economics and individual rights.”
In the series, Ethan and Emily Tuttle travel through time and space with their libertarian grandma to learn about the glories of capitalism. In one episode, the siblings discover the evils of government overreach in a ravaged, garbage-strewn Cuba run by Fidel Castro. In another, they realise money loses its value when governments print too much.
“This feels like cheating,” says a disappointed Ethan in one episode, as he watches ancient Romans melt cheaper metals to use as gold coins. “That’s because it is,” an animated Friedman responds. “And governments do it all the time.”
The cartoon is based on a series of books published by the Libertas Institute, a think tank in Utah, and distributed by Angel Studios, co-founded by Neal and Jeffrey Harmon. They were once accused by Walt Disney Co and other studios of operating a copyright infringement scheme, leading to a US$62-million judgment. They re-emerged after a US$10-million settlement.
In late 2023, Milei took office pledging to slash public spending, and new programming on Paka Paka screeched to a halt. Many of the show’s producers resigned. Last August, Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni announced that the channel would eliminate shows with a strong Kirchnerite bent and only feature neutral perspectives.
Milei, a brash former TV pundit and one-term lawmaker, loves to pay homage to his favourite libertarian economists during his frequent lectures to Argentina’s business elite. Even his cloned dogs, which he refers to as his “four-legged children” bear the names of his economist heroes: Milton (Friedman), Murray (Rothbard) and Robert Lucas Jr.
Daniel Parisini, a popular libertarian influencer known as ‘Gordo Dan’ who has close ties to the government, praised the Tuttle Twins cartoon in a recent podcast. “When we teach kids our ideology, it’s not indoctrination, it’s telling them the truth, because our ideology is the ideology of truth, while their ideology is the ideology of fantasy,” he said.
by Manuela Tobias, Bloomberg
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