Evo Morales’ nationalization of Bolivia’s energy resources seemed to be the act of a retrograde madman intent on repeating the mistakes of the 1960s. And largely, that’s what he is. He’s taking Bolivia right down the road to ruin, as if this poor country can afford any more of that. Nationalization has got to be the stupidest, insanest, most guaranteed-to-fail thing he can possibly do for, or rather, to, Bolivia.

Yet there are many people … for now … who support him. It defies belief that in this day and age, anyone could possibly support the messes of the idiotic 1960s. But there are people who do, and they are the core base of support that convincingly elected Evo Morales president last December.

A general rule in human affairs is that dictators don’t turn up in places that are well run.They turn up in places that were messed up by a series of errors and a string of idiots in power earlier. That’s certainly the case in Bolivia. So that background explains a lot as to why many Bolivians support Morales’ madness, turning Bolivia into “South Venezuela” in just one day.

Eduardo Avila at Barrio Flores is a Bolivian-American whose views are distinctly left, and I think he supports Morales, but he’s someone whose views we respect because he is not dishonest. Wrong, sure (e.g., ‘natural resources belong to everyone’), but not a liar.

Anyway, he has an intriguing and beautifully written essay on why many Bolivians support Morales and why Morales’ acts are perceived the way they are. It offers clues and understanding to why this is happening. He points to a great deal of history that helped shape various attitudes, and cites common experiences. I don’t see things the way he does on everything, but the value of the essay is that it tells us what this is like. If you believe the things he does — some of which are in conflict with economics — you will understand why Bolivians see things the way they do.

Read it here.