I wrote a lengthy column yesterday on the horrific situation in Venezuela.
As I thought about the suffering, especially among the poor, I wondered whether Bernie Sanders and Joe Stiglitz are still willing to defend that country’s barbaric government.
And I also contemplated whether there are any comments from Jeremy Corbyn, Sean Penn, Jesse Jackson, Michael Moore, and Noam Chomsky, who also carried water in the past for that despicable regime.
Would these people still defend Venezuelan statism? And if they did, what could they possibly say?
It’s not my job to give advice to Sanders, Stiglitz, et al, but they may want to borrow the strategy of the Socialist Party in the United Kingdom. Those folks are actually arguing that the real problem with Venezuela is that it’s not socialist enough.
I’m not joking.
Let’s look at some recent tweets.
To be fair, since there is still some degree of private ownership in the nation, the statism practiced in Venezuela is probably closer to fascism than pure socialism, so there was a tiny bit of merit to that tweet.
The U.K.’s socialists double down on this argument by claiming that true socialism only exists when there is collective ownership of the means of production.
That’s also a reasonable point. But on that basis, then it’s silly for anyone (like Bernie Sanders) to claim that places such as Denmark and Sweden are socialist.
Let’s take a look at one final tweet from Socialist Party on the other side of the Atlantic. What makes this one special is that they actually claim that North Korea is an example of capitalism.
This is utterly bizarre. Are they smoking crack? In North Korea, the government does own and control the means of production (factories, mines, railways, etc).
If you read the fine print on the last row, you’ll see that they define socialism to exist only in a make-believe world where there’s basically no state. Anarcho-socialism, or something like that.
If that’s how they want to redefine socialism, then I have no problem with it. If a bunch of people want to set up some sort of commune based on voluntary sharing of everything, that’s fine with me so long as they don’t try to force me to either pay for it or be part of it.
I’ll simply close by noting that the Pilgrims used that model when they first landed in America and many of them starved to death.
Kibbutzim in Israel are pretty close to perfect socialism. They didn’t last very long, as jealousy, constant bickering about what he got, or what she got, and lack of motivation and innovation did them in. Exactly what you would expect from the experiment. At least there was no coercion or top down central planning. There was democratic planning.
[…] The situation has become so dire that even some socialists are disavowing […]
[…] Assuming he was able to impose his policy agenda, I think Bernie Sanders – at best – would turn America into Greece. In more pessimistic moments, I fear he would turn the U.S. into Venezuela. […]
[…] the way, in an example of unintended humor, the Socialist Party of Great Britain has a ready-made answer to all those questions. The misery is the fault of capitalism. I’m not […]
[…] Socialist Party of Great Britain has a ready-made answer to all those questions. The misery is the fault of capitalism. I’m not […]
Sorry: Where is North Korea here? Did this change?
“Look, if you are really an ‘economics professor’, then you ought to know about economics. Especially the fundamental difference between capitalist and socialist economics. Any economy where production is intended to make profits (like Venezuela) is capitalist — not socialist. pic.twitter.com/XcqhPJvfGJ
— The Socialist Party (@OfficialSPGB) November 26, 2017”
[…] the way, in an example of unintended humor, the Socialist Party of Great Britain has a ready-made answer to all those questions. The misery is the fault of capitalism. I’m not […]
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Soi-disant socialists – notably those in Hollywood – should be made to live with the consequences of their beliefs.
[…] Some leftists are disowning Venezuela. But only because it isn’t sufficiently […]
[…] only good news is that leftists used to make excuses for Venezuela and now some of them are trying to disown that brutal […]
[…] only good news is that leftists used to make excuses for Venezuela and now some of them are trying to disown that brutal […]
I like Mark Twain’s comment on people changing their minds: “It’s easier to convince someone than to convince them they are wrong.”
If socialists are turning on Venezuela, there’s hope that some of them will actually change their ludicrous position on socialism.
This assertion is equivalent to “Any economy is capitalist”.
Joseph Stiglitz.. Lukas Haas… Danny Glover… Jeremy Corbyn… Mark Weisbrot… Noam Chomsky… Jamie Foxx… Don King… Michael Moore… Naomi Campbell… Oliver Stone… Sean Penn… these folks are among the celebrities who publicly supported the socialist government of Venezuela… it’s difficult to evaluate what these elite personalities were thinking when they attempted to add legitimacy to the cause of socialism… but I doubt that they envisioned starving children and dead babies when they were showing off with Venezuela’s socialist despots… you really have to wonder what they were thinking when you consider the socialist and communist body count….
what?? 100 million?
One of these days Venezuelans will finally get rid of their corrupt government… ..and a new honest government will be placed in power …. which will implement the will of the people… ..to somehow either convince or coerce most of the population to work primarily for the public rather than their families and themselves.
Folks, once a society enters the vicious cycle its very very difficult to break away.