Remembering the 11th of September

The only reason he was overthrown was because of the economic instability he brought to the country. Although his socialistic ideas in principle where good his implementation was poor. At the time of the coup inflation had risen over 500% for the year. The people he had hoped to help could no longer purchase anything. There was even a 24 day general strike. Now did the coup restore any democratic freedom. No of course not. They didn't even have a democratic government for 17 years. But Pinochet's economic policies helped to spark the miracle of Chile. In 2007 Chile ranked 11th most free economy.

What gives anybody the right to overthrow a government elected by the people?

Economic instability he brought? How dare you. Capitalists cause economic instability, in this case a Mr Nixon ordering the CIA to "make the economy scream" and to "unseat" Allende.

Your figures are wrong, in the first year inflation dropped from 34% to 22%, industrial growth rose 12% and the GDP increased 8% and unemployment dropped to 3.8%. The following year, after the United States initiated its economic war and the capitalists sabotaged the economy, inflation rose to 140%.

"The miracle of Chile" doesn't exist, just today thousands of people were out on strike demanding better working and living conditions, dozens were injured in the clashes with the government forces.

Allende's mistake was trying to be nice, giving the capitalists some room, allowing them to continue to exist. This is something many on the left are guilty of accepting. When the workers' take power the capitalists must be stripped of their property immediately. Capitalism has shown it won't accept even a few percent of its profits reduced, it'll gladly trade 20 years of fascism to keep the people down, and their profits up.

The people where not happy at the time of the coup. He was elected by the congress anyway. They voted him into office. The legality of the coup is in question. And I agree according to Chile law he should not have overthrown.

By September, high inflation (508% for the entire year) and shortages had plunged the country into near-chaos. (Flores, 1997)

As I said Pinochet's economic reforms led to what is known as the Miracle of Chile. Chile is one of the best economic successes of all Latin America. The fact that workers are striking for better conditions does not surprise me. Thousands of people strike in the US all the time. Thats what having a union is for. (I couldn't find your source for dozens being injured)

Chile today is as I said before the 11th most free economy. The ability of the people to have success is tremendous. The people have the power of the government. The people are better off today than they where when Allende took office. And they are better off today then their neighbors.

I don't know why you seem to think having a "free" economy is a good thing. The more free an economy the greater the division between rich and poor, and all the social ills that go with.

Go to Chile, once you go past the fancy hotels for foreigners ask the people about the "miracle".

With a free economy the potential for a person to succeed is there. I don't know why your so down on Chile they do have a poverty level of 18%. Thats only 1.2% more than the UK. Its not like its Venezuela with 38%.

You cannot have people at the top without weight at the bottom. Potential for a person to succeed is just that, potential for a single or small number of individuals to succeed, usually at the expensive of the rest of society.

A rich person cannot be rich without first plundering the poor.

Now we both know thats not true. Considering many people who now become wealthy do so through the service industry. If you work through a service industry there is no plundering going on.

I understand your point though. There will always be people who are better off than others. The difference being in (currently) the poverty level is lower than nearly every one of its neighbors. This I believe is an accomplishment considering the level of indigenous tribes that still inhabit the nation.

Hang on Anthony, why is the service industry different to any other industry? Workers get paid for selling their labour time, yet another person or group of persons profit from their work by not paying them the full value of their labour. That is theft.

Not sure I agree with you Paul. In the service industry the workers are given the opportunity to work for the wage they seek. In my industry the profit margin is a mere 2% as the industry standard. The reason for this is the employees reap most of the profits. As the company makes more money so do they. And because when you work in the service industry your overhead is generally only your workers pay. You can see they are not getting the shaft.

For the wage they seek? Don't be ridiculous, they get whatever the going rate is as it exists on a market.

We hire people based on their negotiated rate. Also due to the need for employees the wage rate is nearly 3 times (entry level) the federal minimum (considering you don't need a high school education thats a fine wage). In addition to this the employees share the profits. As we make more money it is then passed on to the employees. This helps to promote employee retention. And we all know it is much cheaper to give your employees a raise than to try and hire a new person and train them.

Fantasy land mate.