[Tudorfly]

Well said. I especially like the sentence “Venezuela, the weight loss capital of the world.”

[RayChuang88]

Correct. Look at what happened to Venezuela’s economy within a few years of Hugo Chavez’s takeover of the country.

[Nateman]

Protectionism is taxes on other people’s stuff. It’s not free trade or capitalism. It belongs in the socialism catagory.

[DocRock]

Venezuelans now forage through trash like wild animals and even eat dogs and cats to survive.

I used to have a client that was a "Bernie Button Wearer". She loved to get into long, hostile debates over socialist ideals with me. I was her "favorite conservative" because I never raised my voice and got angry. I simply debated with calm logic. She had Parkinson's and her shaking increased with her anger. She also had a small service dog, a toy or teacup sized animal, which she always carried. She refused to talk about Venezuela, just like her candidate Bernie. I would pull up articles about organized hunting parties for pigeons, dogs and cats. She would absolutely refuse to look at the articles or discuss the starvation. I would smile, bed over to her cute service dog and whisper, "Don't worry Princess, they eat their favorite pets last". My client was one of those that hated Trump so much, she promised to leave the country if he won. She actually did. She moved to Costa Rica.

[lowbridge]

Bump

[blueunicorn6]

The socialists convinced the people of Venezuela to starve so that the socialists could ride in the government limousines.

[SES1066]

Venezuela's most recent stroke of genius to feed its starving population? Rabbits! Everybody can grow rabbits in cages and then have them FOR dinner. I predict shortages for rabbit chow and am waiting, with bated breath, for PETA's response.

Urban Agriculture Minister Freddy Bernal reminds the serfs; "A rabbit is not a pet; it’s two and a half kilos (5.5 pounds) of meat that is high in protein, with no cholesterol." The critics wonder where the cages, food and breeding stock are coming from. The government has yet to respond but with the average Venezuelan losing 19 pounds in the last year alone, desperate measures are on the rise!

While the 'leadership' parties hearty behind walled enclaves guarded by the military, the International Monetary Fund (The IMF) forecasts that prices will rise (inflation) 720% in Venezuela this year. Can any statement more clearly illustrate the 'pie in the sky' vision of socialism than this statement from their non-elected President, Nicholas Maduro; "We're looking for creative solutions in the socialist vision,"?

[Nateman]

I have a simple definition of socialism : Legalized theft. It not only sums up what socialism really is it explains why the results are always bad. Legalizing something bad does not make it good, it just makes it easier to be bad. Making something bad on a national scale is a sure fire way to destroy the nation that does it.

[Billthedrill]

Interesting case study, Venezuela, if you can block out the human suffering involved. When Chavez took over in 1999, it was a first-world country or as near to it as to make no difference. Extraction economy, energy from hydroelectric sources, only other really important export being coffee. He was in power for 14 years, Maduro for the remaining four.

In that time Venezuela went from plenty to starvation, literally. Not even a generation. Given the surplus present in Venezuela in 1999, enough to make Chavez's speeches about inequality popular (sound familiar?) they managed not only to squander the surplus but put a wrecking ball to established wealth-producing industries. That's actually pretty difficult to do. Details tend to be a bit repetitive, but when "redistribution" meant expropriation of the means of production and its placement into the hands of those who saw it only as a source of personal wealth, the systemic rot was incredibly rapid. Socialism does the first and brags about it. Marx insisted the excision of the class running the factories would result in increased productivity. Marx was an idiot about so many things.

In fact, socialism is theft, about which Marx was correct, but it isn't really on the behalf of the people, to which any Venezuelan can attest. The New Boss isn't really the same as the Old Boss, he's a thief, not a producer accused of being a thief. The difference is now shown in the pinched faces of the Venezuelans.

Still, to ruin the thing in only 18 years is something of a dark accomplishment. You'd have to be systematically wrong about nearly every economic decision during that time in order for that to happen. The media are pompously proclaiming lower oil prices and drought as the culprits because they can't or won't face the truth. Neither was the case. Human stupidity and greed were the case.

[MosesKnows]

Greedy Capitalists Didn’t Rape Venezuela, Greedy Socialists Did

Greed is normal but it is incorrect to imply that Capitalist greed competes with Socialist greed.

Capitalism and greed exists in all forms of government. The major difference lies in who owns or controls the capital.

One of the post suggest, “Teach a man to fish” … but only in Americanism can the individual control who owns the fish and dispose of it as he wishes.

[AllAmericanGirl44]

Bkmk

[Taxman]

Self Ping.