Libertarian movement and Prophets of the market in Chile: the ideas of Axel Kaiser

Abstract

Axel Kaiser has become in recent years one of the most prominent representatives of the libertarian movement in Chile. Some of his books, as La fatal ignorancia. La anorexia cultural de la derecha frente al avance ideológico progresista (2014), La tiranía de la igualdad. Por qué el proyecto de la izquierda destruye nuestras libertades y arruina nuestro progreso (2015), La neoinquisición. Persecución, censura y decadencia cultural en el siglo XXI (2020), or El economista callejero. 15 lecciones de economía política para sobrevivir a políticos y demagogos (2021), have become real bestsellers. Precisely, the objective of this article is to analyze the most representative ideas that this public intellectual has poured into his books. The article is theoretically based on the sociology of intellectuals and the sociology of public interventions. In addition, a content analysis model is applied in Axel Kaiser's books. The article discusses and concludes how the libertarian movement in Chile is becoming an ideological alternative to cultural Marxism; it is building a new common sense based on economic liberalism and Axel Kaiser stands out as an intellectual prophet of the market who appeals to emotions and economic education.