Chile Rejects Woke Constitution by 62% Vote

CHILE REJECTS WOKE CONSTITUTION. It did more than just provide legal abortion and a free education and free universal health care. It also required gender parity in government and gave indigenous groups much autonomy.

Beyond that, it granted 100 different rights. Specifically, rights to food, water, housing, internet, retirement benefits, clean air and sanitation. Everything that people might want, the government would provide. And not only to people. The constitution also gave rights to nature and to animals.

So how did it get so extreme? Because leftists managed to gain more than two-thirds of the 150 seats on the convention. Therefore, they did not need a single vote from the conservative members.

They even defined Chile as a “plurinational” state. That could have meant recognizing each of 11 indigenous groups as its own nation. Thus, each nation could have had its own government and court system. Talk about identity politics!

From 80% in favor to 62% against

It all began with violent 2019 protests against a rise in metro fares from $1.13 to $1.15. Though the price rise resulted from rising oil prices, the government immediately cancelled it. But once the protests began, they were hard to stop. They diversified into protests against inequalities in health, education and pensions. Finally in 2020, Chlieans voted on a new constitutional process, which won 80% pf the vote.

The previous constitution was ratified under the oppressive Pinochet regime. But it contained many free market-friendly provisions influenced by economist Milton Friedman. The resulting economic growth slashed poverty from 40%+ in 1990 to lower than 8% today. The economic growth rate now stands at a healthy 2.5% per year. But despite many previous amendments to that constitution, Chileans wanted to start again from scratch.

In late 2021 Chileans elected as president a 35-year-old former student protest leader, Gabriel Boric. He has staked his government on the success of the new constitution. But trouble brewed as his approval rating sank to 39% and indigenous violence surged in the central valley. There logging companies suffered attacks by Mapuche splinter groups. Some of the attackers wanted to carve out territory for drug-trafficking operations.

Belize and other nations are planning constitutional conventions in the near future. They should take warning from Chile, where in two years 80% in favor turned into 62% against. Thank God, democracy prevailed and the people voted down this extremist overhaul of their country.

Image by Patricio Hurtado from Pixabay