Carlos Sabino has a take on Venezuela that
won't surprise long-time readers of HSIB;
I’ve had the dubious fortune to experience life in two countries that
claimed to be marching towards socialism. I was in Chile between 1971
and 1972 when President Salvador Allende led a government attempting to
create a socialist state of freedom. I lived in Venezuela from 1974
until President Hugo Chávez set course towards the “sea of happiness”
that was nothing other than the Cuban socialist model. [our bold]
In both cases I had to put up with lines outside stores provoked by
shortages, government-backed violence, and a harsh daily existence in
which every instant was dedicated to hunting down basic products and
food.
Which the authorities blame on capitalists;
A few days ago, Jorge Giordani, who was hailed for years as the
“czar” of the Venezuelan economy, said that the country had lost its
wealth, and that the “bureaucracy, ignorance, and incompetence” of the
regime had brought it to the brink of catastrophe.
However, Giordani took care to add that these evils belonged to “the
capitalist system” itself. I wasn’t surprised: I knew Giordani when we
both lectured at Venezuela’s Central University. He was a sorry sight: a
firm defender of the regime in North Korea, he repeated insipid
doctrines to deceive his students instead of educating them.
Socialism is
el opio del pueblo.
Capitalism is supposed to produce wealth and machines with push buttons. Socialism then takes over this machinery to make the distribution equitable. Everyone takes just a bit of time each day to push the button on some productive machine.
ReplyDeleteIf Venezuela has lost its wealth, it is of course the fault of the capitalists, who have sabotaged socialist society by producing defective machines. The capitalists are criminally ignorant of their place in socialist history.
Capitalism repeatedly fails in this way.