This is not a new book, but a reprint of the original published in 1930. The reasons for the re-issue are made clear in the introduction written by the author’s son, who has the same name as his illustrious father—Leopoldo Lugones. According to Lugones (son), La grande Argentina is an extraordinarily modern book. Most of the problems that Argentina faced thirty years ago, it still faces today. Some of the chapters have a surprising similarity with the present, and it is difficult to conceive that so many years have elapsed since they were written.
Leopoldo Lugones was primarily a poet, and as such he will be remembered. When the present work appeared in 1930, Lugones was 56 years of age and the author of more than thirty books. A number of these were prose works dealing with economic, social, and political problems. Thus, besides being the leading poet of Argentina, Lugones had an intimate knowledge of his homeland and its people. As stated by his son: “La grande Argentina offers the reader a very clear idea of what our country is, including its defects, which have been imposed upon it by mistaken politics.” The author himself refers to the book as “an act of faith in the motherland, which also pretends to formulate a diagnosis.” The diagnosis is, of course, the essence of the whole book, and with each one, Lugones prescribes the cure that must be administered to make Argentina strong and prosperous. A blunt and outspoken critic, Lugones attacks with vigor such abuses as excessive liberalism in government, inadequate public education, corruption in politics, exploitation by foreign interests, the latifundio, high interest rates, bad transportation facilities, poor public health measures, and a number of other problems. He especially abhors what he calls “democracia mayoritaria.” The concept of “noble equality,” he states, should mean total equality for those who are competent. But unless this is true, it would be senseless to rely on the inept for the government of the country. The liberty to do, and especially to do harm, continues the author, is an idealistic paradox which can result in social disintegration. The terms “democracy” and “republic” have to be Argentine and not Anglo-Saxon, he argues. The reaction against the gauchismo of the semi-barbarous federation gave rise to an exaggerated form of foreign constitutional liberalism which was incompatible with the local conditions. Only by finding its own solutions, asserts Lugones, can that country aspire to be “La grande Argentina.”
