Jorge Luis Borges Against the State

The December 2026 issue of Reason explores Argentine President Javier Milei's accomplishments and what is yet to be done.

Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentine author of some of the 20th century's most renowned short stories, was a harsh critic of authoritarianism. His views stemmed from a deep philosophical individualism. In a 1946 essay, Borges wrote that the "interference of the State with the acts of the individual" had become the "most urgent problem of our time." He dreamed of a political party that would promise "a strict minimum of government." He frequently invoked the 19th century libertarian Herbert Spencer: "I believe, like the tranquil anarchist Spencer, that one of our greatest evils, perhaps the greatest, is the preponderance of the State over the individual," he wrote near the end of his life. "The individual is real; States are abstractions that are abused by politicians, with or without a uniform." … [Subscribe to continue reading]