Yesterday’s column looked at the continued government-caused decay of Venezuelan society. To put it mildly, it’s a very sad story of how pervasive statism can destroy a country.
I also wondered whether leftists such as Bernie Sanders, Michael Moore, and Jeremy Corbyn will ever change their minds and (hopefully) apologize for giving aid and comfort to the evil Chavez-Maduro regime. (I’m not holding my breath.)
Today, let’s revisit the issue.
But instead of citing news reports, let’s look at four videos on the tragedy in Venezuela. We’ll start with Reason‘s excellent summary.
I like how the video concludes with a warning that America should avoid the same mistakes.
And that’s not just a throwaway line. Venezuela did not become a basket case overnight. There wasn’t an on-off switch that Chavez or Maduro used to turn the country from capitalism to statism.
Instead, it was the combined effect of decades of bad policy decisions.
In other words, gradual deterioration eventually turned into major disaster. Which may help explain why I’m so distressed about the creeping statism of the Bush and Obama (and perhaps Trump) years.
But I’m digressing. Let’s get back to the videos. Our next item is a report from the New York Times. It’s disappointing (but not overly surprising) that there’s no mention of the big-government policies that have reduced people to scouring for garbage, but you will learn about the horror of daily life for the poor.
Our next video, from Prager University, is a very straightforward description of how socialism has destroyed Venezuela.
I especially like how she concludes with a warning about how big government erodes societal capital, which then makes it very hard to restored liberty.
And the part about classifying involuntary weight loss as the “Maduro Diet” also was a highlight, at least if you like dark humor.
Our last video is an excerpt from a speech by a Venezuelan economist.
The part that grabbed my attention was the downward cycle of government-created inflation and government-imposed minimum-wage hikes. One bad policy leading to another bad policy, over and over again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
And while he doubtlessly exaggerated when he said that every single person in Venezuela would be happy to eat out of America’s trash cans, it’s still horrifying that a big chunk of the population would welcome such an opportunity.
So where will all this lead? At the start of the year, I expressed hope that the people of Venezuela would rise up and overthrow their tyrannical government. I don’t know if I should turn that hope into a prediction, but it certainly seems like it is only a matter of time before something dramatic happens.
[…] I used to list a collapse of Venezuela’s reprehensible socialist government as one of my annual “hopes,” but I’ve largely given up (particularly since Latin Americans […]
[…] I used to list a collapse of Venezuela’s reprehensible socialist government as one of my annual “hopes,” but I’ve largely given up (particularly since Latin […]
[…] The best case scenario is that Chile is copying Argentina. The worst case is that it is copying Venezuela. […]
[…] I’m focused on the dangers of copying Venezuela’s bad economic policies, but I agree about the downsides of the other two policies – gun control and speech control – […]
[…] I’m focused on the dangers of copying Venezuela’s bad economic policies, but I agree about the downsides of the other two policies – gun control and speech control – […]
[…] I’m focused on the dangers of copying Venezuela’s bad economic policies, but I agree about the downsides of the other two policies – gun control and speech control […]
[…] That’s true, I tell them, but please respond to my question about what we can learn when we compare Chile’s successful experience with economic liberty and Venezuela’s awful experience with statism. […]
[…] That’s true, I tell them, but please respond to my question about what we can learn when we compare Chile’s successful experience with economic liberty and Venezuela’s awful experience with statism. […]
[…] shown by basket cases such as Venezuela, Lebanon, and North Korea, bad policy can wreck economic […]
[…] shown by basket cases such as Venezuela, Lebanon, and North Korea, bad policy can wreck economic […]
[…] Here are four other videos about the impact of socialism in […]
[…] Last but not least, David charitably focuses on democratic socialism rather than Marxist socialism, so he’s not even counting the horrible abuses that you find in socialist regimes such as Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela. […]
[…] Yes, he’s still lovable ol’ Crazy Bernie, but he’s now being overshadowed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another out-of-the-closet socialist who somehow thinks America should be more like Greece or Venezuela. […]
[…] ouster – For the sake of the long-suffering people of Venezuela, I’m going to keep listing this item until it eventually […]
[…] ouster – For the sake of the long-suffering people of Venezuela, I’m going to keep listing this item until it eventually […]
[…] ouster – For the sake of the long-suffering people of Venezuela, I’m going to keep listing this item until it eventually […]
[…] all, the debate isn’t whether we should be Liberland or Venezuela. It’s whether government should be bigger or smaller compared to what we have […]
[…] is a horrifying and tragic example of what happens when the private sector in a country is almost completely suffocated by excessive […]
[…] Those policies are destructive and harmful, to be sure. Just think about basket-case economies such as Greece and Venezuela. […]
[…] She’s malicious. In other words, she’s smart enough to realize the policy is bad, but she doesn’t care. Call this the Venezuela approach. […]
[…] we can look today at countries like Cuba, Greece, Venezuela, and North Korea to confirm the utter insanity of supporting any type of […]
from Bloomberg:
“The Army Took Over the Spigots, Forcing Thirsty Venezuelans to Pay”
“As the system falls apart, water becomes a luxury. Drivers who marked up costs initially are now getting shaken down too”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-25/thirsty-venezuelans-forced-to-pay-for-water-as-army-takes-over
Blind acceptance of capitalist, imperialist propaganda. Socialism in Venezuela has lifted millions out of poverty, hunger and illiteracy. This article might as well have been written by Trump himself.
[…] me of Cuba and North Korea (and Venezuela, though I don’t believe that awful regime has ever officially claimed to be […]
[…] me of Cuba and North Korea (and Venezuela, though I don’t believe that awful regime has ever officially claimed to be […]
[…] versions in places such as North Korea and Cuba or democratic versions in places such as Venezuela and […]
“In untold numbers, they join ragtag columns of refugees trekking under a blazing sun into neighboring Colombia. An estimated 100,000 per month now cross into Colombia, legally and illegally, according to Colombian officials. Many remain in Colombia – up to half a million by some estimates.”
THE COLLAPSE OF ‘SAUDI VENEZUELA’
Once the region’s richest country, now a leading producer of refugees.
By David Paulin
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269848/collapse-saudi-venezuela-david-paulin
[…] was to chair a panel earlier today about whether Venezuela can recover from socialism. I obviously have an opinion on that topic, but I want to write today about some information that was shared on the panel about […]
“As Venezuela comes apart at the seams, it will hand over more and more control of its natural resources, and even power over its institutions, to China, according to a new report from the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies.”
“Venezuela’s Oil Sector May Soon Have New Owners”
by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-06/venezuelas-oil-sector-may-soon-have-new-owners
[…] Source: /danieljmitchell.wordpress.com, April 1, 2018, dan mitchell […]
“I like how the video concludes with a warning that America should avoid the same mistakes.”
When America has a similar population to Venezuela it will make the same mistakes. Full stop.
Winston Churchill gave the best take on political systems when he said .
.(para phrase) : Democracy may be a bad system of government , but it’s much better than all the others ones”.
John C.
it’s interesting to note that we have tens of thousands of homeless people in California… many of them eating out of trash cans… and defecating on the streets…
Michael Moore should give the Maduro Diet a try. He needs to lose weight.