Remembering the essentials is more important than electoral shows

By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 24/08/2025

Guest columnist.
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The recent elections in Bolivia made one thing clear: the candidates don't understand the elements that would make us a civilized country.

The electoral show staged by Bolivian politicians, which resembles a popular festival, begins with the selection of a "charistic" candidate; it continues with a victim-playing rhetoric; it continues with unrealistic offers, such as bonuses even for breathing, and ends by blaming others for all the ills. This kind of repetitive film, with an alarming monotony, would be hilarious if it weren't a dramatic scene, a scenario worthy of Woody Allen, a tragicomedy. Very few people escape from a situation that is often well-intentioned. Sadly, public opinion becomes part of this circus, as years of poor education and indoctrination have dragged the great masses into the abyss of statism.

But here the question is valid: what things should be debated?

First, the retirement system. You don't have to be an actuary or an expert in financial mathematics to know that the Bolivian dictatorship has left us without pensions. The explanations for the miserable incomes received by retired workers are almost ludicrous. Let me tell you one: in Bolivia, people live to be nearly 120 years old.

Second, wages aren't raised by decree, because if they were, a government mandate would be enough to make us all millionaires. Real wages and incomes derive exclusively from capitalization rates, that is, from investments in machinery, tools, technologies, equipment, and relevant knowledge that logistically support labor to increase its performance. Do we want better incomes? Simple: we need more capitalists and fewer unions.

Third, take away the state's ability to manipulate the currency. Hence my persistent insistence on dollarizing Bolivia. It's not just a monetary issue; it's something much bigger: it's about preventing the government from robbing us with inflation.

Fourth, minimize state spending on advertising, because all this has achieved is turning the media into addicts to official advertising. It also endangers freedom of expression.

Fifth, close all state-owned enterprises, but not exclusively to reduce the fiscal deficit, which is very important to do, but because every state-owned enterprise, regardless of its sector, is immoral, since it is coercively financed with third-party resources. To put it simply, it's like me taking my neighbor's savings to gamble at the casino. And romanticizing big white elephants like COMIBOL isn't helpful here, because, basically, they were entities that were, first, deficit-ridden, and second, immoral.

Sixth, I'll be more radical here: close customs, because tariffs don't protect domestic industry, but rather make imported products more expensive, making them unaffordable for local consumers. Tariffs are bad, period.

Seventh, we must modify the education system, but a profound reform that prioritizes three things: 1) financial education, 2) civic education, and 3) science and technology. Enough of repeating the eternal tales of a Bolivia that is rich because of its natural resources, or of a rich country inhabited by poor citizens. Future generations must understand something vital: freedom is the true wealth of nations.

Eighth, implement tax competition between departments. Each region must be able to manage its tax collection. It's time to end the idea that progress depends on a state allocating resources to governorates and municipalities. Without a central government distributing money, the most backward departments, such as Chuquisaca, to cite one example, would struggle to have a tax policy that guarantees the greatest amount of investment and capital. Under this system, no one owes anyone anything.

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