Monday, November 4, 2013

Think of banana split and licorice?

Maybe not, this is Venezuela where they don't even have flour and oil. But they do have a ministry for putting on a happy face...or else;
Naming a new governmental agency "Vice-Ministry of Supreme Social Happiness" is an integral part of the revolution's intention to equate happiness with being in a government welfare program, sociologist Colette Capriles says.
According to Capriles, the language used by the government to refer to the creation of governmental agencies falls within the regime's efforts applied deliberately to help further the revolution's cause by advertising its purported benefits in the run-up to an election. However, beyond that lies the state's desire to impinge on citizens' privacy, to encroach on their deepest, innermost being by exerting control over all parts of their lives.
"Ultimately, happiness comes down to having a welfare program (commonly known in Venezuela as mission). The intention is twofold: to let the state dictate your happiness, and then to provide a specific content for this concept," Capriles says. "It is a downright lie, because happiness is more than getting stuff. In trying to provide a specific content for happiness, the true nature of the government is revealed."
Happiness isn't a guy llamado Jose. Is it a guy named Barack?  His specific content for Americans is HIS concept of health insurance, not theirs.

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