‘Reconsidering Pinochet

Gavin McInnes:

That’s the problem with talking to “the people.” They have a tendency to destroy the silly theories you dream up while sitting on a barstool in a free country. Opinions about dictatorships make for amusing banter and great T-shirts, but they don’t take into account the victims of the totalitarianism involved.

Whether you’re on the side of Chávez and Che or that of Pinochet, the truth is that choosing sides and having these discussions is a luxury that wouldn’t be possible under any of those regimes. They are all oppressive. I judge a culture on its ability to handle ridicule, and by those standards the West is still the best.