Lived — Jan 12, 1951 – Feb 17, 2021 (age 70)
How socialism turned Venezuela from the wealthiest country in South America into an economic basket case | Fox News
“When I read Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, I could not have known that, some years later, I would be on the receiving end of the type of ‘economic hit’ that John Perkins so vividly narrated. The New Confessions resonates with my experiences of the brutish methods and gross economic irrationality guiding powerful institutions in their bid to undermine democratic control over economic power. Perkins has, once again, made a substantial contribution to a world that needs whistle-blowers to open its eyes to the true sources of political, social, and economic power.” —Yanis Varoufakis, former Minister of Finance, Greece.
Real Problem of Socialism is human nature, people don’t like the output of their hard work taken from them without compensation and the biggest issue is that the leaders can never have enough, it’s like feeding the Vaal, the best intentions fall into the seven sins. If there are no checks and balances there is no equity, without equity somebody always loses and eventually they get tired of losing, especially when they fall into hopelessness and they can’t feed the same family that used to live well. Socialism is a nice thought but we humans are incapable of keeping it under control so it fails every time.
Greed, envy, ambition are all parts of our basic makeup, and they can’t live in a socialist society, we may have to wait for a later start date to get it right, for now we need checks and balances and that’s not our government who needs the most checks put on them. So we will have to take care of each other despite our government’s appetite for our output. We have met the enemy and they are us, get over it, capitalism has helped more people in human history than any other economic system and for now it will have to do.
Venezuela, with its proven oil reserves was a prime example of where capitalism would have soared, making all Venezuelans the pride of South America. With all of the industrial growth and development spun off from the petrochemical industry, EVERYONE would have lived the dream. Instead, socialism took over, people had no impetus to succeed, industry didn’t even start, let alone flourish and the powerful elite gobbled up the wealth. With no reason to produce, the economy failed and people starved.
The socialist-democrats, if left to their desires, will do the same.
Venezuela was the most prosperous country in South America prior to the takeover. Not even a generation went by before the crash and burn. It only took about a dozen years to totally destroy Venezuela’s economy and society with socialism. We are one Bernie Sanders election from a similar same fate. Once in power they will rig the electoral process to stay in power. Polls show that many of the 37 percent of Americans who say they support “socialism” actually have in mind the generous welfare states seen in Europe… Let’s not forget to tell them about the extremely high tax rates that will go along with that.
People that don’t pay taxes are all for higher taxes. People without jobs are always for guaranteed free benefits they claim are rights. One of those American socialist platforms is free college for all. What a grand mistake. The financial inability of colleges to fund free tuition I won’t even discuss here. When anyone can attend college then a college education means the same as a high school diploma. Right now that isn’t much in this age of “everyone graduates.” Graduation rates are going up because the core standards have been watered down to the lower ability students.
In other words, no one is allowed to be below average. Teachers fear failing students, and grade what used to be failing work as passing. Our math teachers are asked, “why are you failing so many kids?” Attendance standards just don’t exist anymore. Student grade point averages are going up yet colleges are telling us that student readiness in the areas of reading, writing and math are going down. Now colleges are graduating students who don’t shine in college, As Colleges are told to keep these students to get federal funding.
The federal government should not be in the BIZ of student loans.
The institutions/entities get the money, the cost of tuition/books/labs/tenure increases and the loans keep churning out. Who in their right mind (immediate problem) would spend $80K plus for a $60K job? OJT, working while going to school (and no one said it’s law to graduate in 4 years. Do it earlier or later, who cares?). Loans and insurance is what drives up the price of anything and both are fraught with fraud.
Nowhere is the push for socialism more confusing than in the United States, where the capitalist economic model has led to the greatest economic expansion and creation of wealth among the largest number of people than in any country throughout history. The U.S. ranks around the 30th percentile in income inequality globally, meaning 70% of countries have a more equal income distribution. In the US the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I think an individual should pay for college. If he or she needs a loan, and the government wants to provide one, it should be little or no interest. Not 5% or 6%, but 1%.
Is Socialism The Answer? (Marxist Reacts!)
The minute the government began granting $4,000 per student is the same day that all colleges raised their tuition $4,000 a year. Many citizens in this society have forgotten the country was founded and built mostly by Christians that were looking for freedom and opportunity. The Pilgrims tried socialism (commune), many starved that first winter. So they reconsidered and found better solutions. Our constitution is not built on theory, it is built on experience. Which is why the leftie controlled schools do not teach history any more. Only socialist talking points. Trump ran on ending corruption and the waste of tax dollars and is not a politician.
He doesn’t play ball with them.
That was why the career politicians are desperate to get him out of the White House. If the Citizens of this Country start taking their power back, they won’t be able to enrich themselves through corruption. We need term limits. Many are being used as pawns crying for socialism. This is GREAT for the swamp dwellers. It would ensure they would retain their power and obtain even more control over our lives and the money we earn. It would prevent Citizens from opposing them without a revolution. Socialism doesn’t work due to human nature. It gives the top power and control over individual lives. This allows the citizens to become slaves to the government.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Why should anybody who has worked hard their whole life, accumulated some wealth, have to give that up to people who have the mentality “If it’s free, it’s for me.” Nobody wants to work to achieve the benefits. This is a good article and should be taught in schools so the younger generation learns that not everything free is good. Unfortunately the opinion of the vast majority of people believe that unlike Venezuela, Germany, prior Soviet Union, China, Cuba and wherever socialism is practiced, it can’t happen here as we are too wealthy or the voters will not allow it to happen. Unless there is vocal and political opposition to such a policy, anything can happen.
I remembered a story I read in the Soviet Union in the early 90s – very rare for them to see Americans at the time. I lived with a family, and the mother of the family was an aerospace engineer for the MIG design bureau. She told me one day that she was getting a big promotion with a lot more responsibility. I asked her if that meant she would have a bigger salary, more access to basic foodstuffs, better ranking in apartment lotteries, etc. She instead pulled out a small banner with a picture of Lenin, underneath was written in Russian: “To the winner of the Socialist Competition.”
She said that was what you got for a promotion – a banner.
She rolled it up and put it in my hands and said “please, take this back to your country and show people what this is. And what this is is nonsense. I want to feed my family, I want to buy jeans and shop at a GAP. I want a normal life like you have in the West. Instead we get this. It doesn’t work, tell your country about it!” I will never forget this.
What happened in Venezuela is somewhat unique in that socialism usually cannot take hold in a successful country with a vibrant economy. It does not appeal to people who enjoy a good standard of living- it needs rife political discontent and poverty to stir protest and anarchy. The countries that instituted true socialist economic policies before Venezuela did so because the country had a failed economy, the people were basically starving and embraced the siren song of socialism out of desperation. Venezuela has the dubious distinction of being a nation where socialism destroyed a wealthy country with a strong economy basically because the people voluntarily and freely chose it through popular vote. And as long as we have socialist/communist sympathizers (PIMP-athizers..) allowed to spread hate freely, we will move in the very same direction.
Americans would not accept Socialism.
Government workers and contractors would be cut in half. School teachers pay slashed. Medical staff making minimum wage. Farmers raising 10 cows would get to keep 2. Manufacturing would be non-existent. Automobiles became obsolete when people could not afford new ones or parts to repair old ones. Roads, bridges and infrastructure fail everywhere. Power grid and phone service are unreliable at best. Come spring no one is planting flowers and greening up their lawns. No Summer Vacations, No 4th of July. Stores close due to no Christmas Shopping Season. No Amazon Prime, No ebay. Given a few years this is Cortex and Saunders Utopia. I personally say NO THANKS!!
The people who want socialism in this country don’t have any money, but they’ve never really experienced poverty. If the country goes socialist, they’ll get the opportunity to find out what poverty and no health care is really like. It’s not racism, it’s not xenophobia, it’s THIS that worries me about immigration. If millions of immigrants with the same mind set that existed in Venezuela are nationalized then the result might be as in Venezuela. I see some of the early signs in the US right now, without nationalization. Many of those immigrants seek freedom; they are running from socialism not towards it.
Immigrants -legal or illegal – who come to the US do to:
TO BETTER THEIR LIFEWORK.
No system is perfect, but socialism is one of the most powerful destructive forces in the universe. It severely punishes hard working successful producers/entrepreneurs in order to provide a good life for EVERYONE no matter how lazy and unethical. Why would anyone work hard in an environment where success is severely punished as you see your hard earned income confiscated by the government and redistributed to people, many of whom are lazy and don’t want to work or try to gain the skills needed to succeed in life.
You’ll hear people refer to Denmark or Sweden, but these countries are not embracing socialism. They are social democracies with progressive taxation. They embrace free market capitalism in conjunction with a large welfare state. In the U.S., we’ve had PROGRESSIVE taxation for decades and an ever expanding welfare state. Socialism isn’t the answer. We need to figure out the best way to deal with our welfare state and ever increasing government debt. This includes strong incentives for able bodied people to have to work to survive. The Democratic party does not want to hear things like this. They are going farther and farther left. It may take a few years, but the country is certainly headed in that direction thanks in part to the far left liberal educators in our universities.
“One of the consequences of such notions as “entitlements” is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.” – Thomas Sowell
The reason so many millennials believe in socialism is because the progressives (socialists) have infiltrated our schools and colleges and have brainwashed a whole generation. Parents of this generation have been self-absorbed in their personal lives and have not paid attention to what was happening in the schools. The few parents that did were lambasted as “loonies” and “conspiracy theorists”. These children were taught that everything America did was wrong and the so-called social justice warriors were and are dupes for power hungry despots. Nothing creates wealth and opportunity like capitalism (true capitalism, not the crony capitalism of the left) and personal freedom. We don’t need fake “equality of outcomes” we need equality of opportunity.
That is not provided by socialist policies.
A professor asked his students at the start of the semester if they preferred socialist grading, the average of the grades to be assigned to each. The student by vote, barely agreed. When the first test was completed, the usual bell curve existed. The ‘A’ and ‘’B’ students were angry while the ‘D’ and ‘F’ students were pleased. Everyone received a ‘C’. The second test completed, the usual bell curve existed only it was shifted to the left. The ‘A’ students weren’t going to work as hard for a ‘C’ and the ‘F’ students were going to continue on their path. When the last test was completed, as expected, the entire class received an ‘F’. No one cared anymore since their individual effort didn’t effect the outcome in a significant way. THAT’S SOCIALISM
God help this country: If The democrats stay in power.
Dems have already said they want to rewrite the constitution. Dems are truly the enemy in this country. Sadly, their behavior seems to support the claim. Whatever happened to the freedom loving, law and God respecting, get to work democrat party of the 50’s and 60’s?
The Democratic Party of the 50s and 60s was to the left of the current Dem party. They were pro labor, anti Wall Street, and supported ambitious social programs. Truman tried to get universal healthcare passed. The 1% vs 99% is an old argument given by socialists.
What they don’t tell people is that the oligarchs under the capitalist system are replaced by oligarchs in the socialist system, and a new 1% vs 99% is created. Only now the haves have less and the have nots have even less. And the haves maintain control with a rifle. The majority of Danish politicians intuitively believe that capitalists are an unpleasant necessity to generate the revenues to fund the social welfare state.” The above statement is cut from an article European Socialism: Why America Doesn’t Want It (forbes.com) The point is that even in the utopian socialist countries, they recognize that socialism can not be sustained without capitalism funding it.
In other words, SOCIALISM DOES NOT WORK!!
I have been around a few decades and have learned a few things, among them:
-You can tell some people something until you are blue in the face and they still have to learn it the hard way -Usually every generation has to learn the same things that the previous generation had to learn. -Wisdom is not inherited. I hope we don‘t embrace socialism, because it is hard to restore what socialism destroys.
“His(Chavez) first priority was instead to rewrite the Constitution. He was direct about it, telling the Venezuelan congress in 1999: “The constitution, and with it the ill-fated political system to which it gave birth 40 years ago, has to die. It is going to die, sirs — accept it.” “Chavez succeeded in re-writing the Constitution, which came with new rights to things like free government-provided health care, college, and “social justice”. The constitution passed a popular vote easily, with 72% of the vote.” This is EXACTLY what the Dim Dems, led by The DimWit AOC, are talking about! They MUST be STOPPED!
The challenge we conservatives have is that we don’t work together.
The left works together across all sorts of different leftist organizations like a finely oiled machine. Each of the different conservative groups works independently. Even the TEA parties don’t talk/think/strategize together. I’ve said this for years to assorted conservative groups and always get push-back. They say things like “we’re grass roots, we have to work alone”. Really? Can’t get more grass roots than our forefathers, yet working together didn’t turn NJ into NY: they all united to fight the British and create America. Conservatives are like a bunch of gnats: annoying but tolerable. But if we united we’d be like a swarm of deadly bees.
Sounds great but they are already killing you in asymmetrical ways.
If they can fire you, cause you to lose your job, they’ve got you economically weak. If they can shut off your electricity, your internet, your phones… you’re in trouble without a face to face gunfight. Who are you going to go and shoot? How will you organize your militia?
Common sense or Economics is no longer taught in Schools or Colleges..
AOC is a Prime example and Proof.
Dr. Adrian Rogers Quote “You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the end of any nation.
You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
“If they support “socialism” actually have in mind the generous welfare states seen in Europe…” Apparently, these 37% either pay no taxes now, or don’t mind having the government take 50-60% of their income as these “generous welfare states seen in Europe” take from their citizens in taxes. There is no “free lunch”. Socialism has failed in more than 35 countries. It only works until you run out of other people’s money. Same old story, different players. The one thing they have in common is that they all are in it for the power to steal all the money they want for themselves. Some things never change. All you people in the USA that think Socialism is the way to go, should ask for a refund from whatever college you attended.
It comes down to human nature – a third of all people, by nature, won’t do anything if they don’t have to – perhaps that percentage is lower or higher but the reality is that if people who are able to work but choose not to work and are taken care of regardless of their contribution to society the country will eventually collapse – socialism or not the US has already taken that path toward financial collapse.
After the depression, those people (AND THEIR CHILDREN) my parents never forgot for the rest of their lives. They saved and planned for another one right up until they DIE/D.
The lesson of the Depression is that Capitalism without regulations will cause economic collapses. Bankers tricked people into investing into stocks that they wanted to sell off at higher profits. Presidents knowing that the stock market couldn’t keep going up but their friends on Wall Street lying and saying everything is okay. The regulations created were the solutions to the lessons we learned. The conservatives lifting the regulations over and over is futile. Humans are inherently greedy is the reason the depression happened. The programs created AFTER the depression helped to save those affected by it.
There wouldn’t have been an insured place to save money if not for the social programs after the great depression. No Social Security to help those that were wiped out after the depression. It’s funny that you use a time when the most social programs were added to the country to say that social programs are bad. Today, even though the lesson of socialism & communism has been learned, Americans seem willing to forget that lesson. I sincerely fear for our future. Not for me, but for the generations to come after I am long gone.
Real Problem with Socialism there should be no room for any kind of collectivism in a Republic just as there should be no room for cancer in a healthy body. The antibodies of the Republic are failing: Faith in God, Love of Family, Conscience of Sacred Duty, Patriotism, and Common Sense. Because we have abandoned those, our Republic is dying. If we return to those principles, we will flourish once again. And in return we must if we want to live. Venezuela’s soul was killed by abundance obtained without effort and administered without intelligence.
See the results. See your future if we don’t do a 180 now, America.
While not supporting socialism, it is important to point out the importance of a true free market. If the U.S. drug companies want to continue raising the price of insulin, I should be able to purchase it from Canada and not be forced to pay their excessive prices.
When will conservatives support real capitalism with REAL transparency in pricing and true competition? Instead what we get is crony capitalism where companies make it impossible for consumers to compare prices and services by burying everything in complicated price structures and fine print.
Every ism except capitalism is basically the same.
That is why the US has always been the shining city on the hill. If we turn our backs on what created us, we will economically become no better than the rest of the world. If we let our guard down militarily, Russia and/or China will overrun the entire world Some people do not understand.. once you open a door – it’s not that easy to close it when things start going wrong – and not as anticipated.
There is no reset and no undo – to fix the harm done.
This is life, there is no “trial run”. Why isn’t the caravan heading to Venezuela?
If capitalism is evil and Socialism is the Answer?
This is true they pay 65% to 70% in taxes to support their social programs. Additionally, they have started reducing some of their social programs due to the negative impact it is having on the wealth of the country as their wealth is declining and they already see that socialism is not sustainable long term. Another shining example of how socialism doesn’t work, yet the left continues to promote it like it actually works better than capitalism.
Let’s all put our heads in the sand and pretend that it would work here.
When you remove the incentive to succeed, you remove the success needed to build the country. Because they know where freedom and opportunity live. In democracies, not leftie dictatorships. One of the major reasons why illegal immigrants want to cross the US borders and live in this country is the sad economic conditions of their country due to the wrong decisions made by their corrupt leaders.
We cannot allow this to happen in the United States.
Just take a look at The devastating effect of socialism in Venezuela is an excellent campaign material for the 2020 election, it is opening the eyes of the American Voters what they can expect in the future if they decide to switch to a Socialist Government by voting for Sanders, Cortez, Warren, Biden, Booker, Harris, etc.
They are the nails that will seal the coffin of the American Economy.
The only people that prosper under Socialism are those killing the people to enforce it. Venezuelans went willingly into this trap with the lure of FREE everything. That the Leaders would punish those BAD, EVIL, NASTY Corporations. And when they were thrust into power, they did just that. Then every aspect of Socialist Government did what they always have done, they took that money and spent it on themselves.
When the people complained, they killed them.
Socialism does not work as the individual rights are necessarily taken from the individual in order to mandate collective rights. The inescapable result is absolute power by a single person or entity, which is corrupt. Human nature dictates this which you cannot change. Socialism is the step prior to communism and always ends in loss of individual human lives.
Young people believe that socialism has the ability to take our current society and only make it better. What they don’t realize is that our society in its current shape would have to be dismantled and many people killed for insubordination before the socialist utopia can even begin to be implemented. So, again I ask, what is worse: An evil employer that you can’t walk away from or an evil Government that kills you for complaining?
The people here think they want socialism, once it happens there will be no going back. The ones who want it never lived under it a single day off their lives. I find people here so out of touch. Why do you want hordes of undocumented people in your country? How can you not see partisanship has taken over parts of your government, and the parties come before the country?
To be a socialist dictator you must find the money to do so.
They can’t tax the rich and industry 70% to get their funds to prop up socialist programs so they have to take over, nationalize, industries and kick the people that built those industries out of the country. Then they milk those industries dry without with no reinvestment. Then as the industries fail they are forced to curb those social programs that lead to failure of the socialist system. Joe McCarthy was right, Hollywood and Washington are filled with communists. They are now very worried that our current President is causing Americans to see them as they are. So they are on the attack.
They are victims of capitalism and we are evil.
They call us racist, homophobic, misogynist, xenophobic, etc. This is to take the focus off their communist goals and policies. You might want to read the goals of the “Open Borders Foundation” which Mr. George Soros founded in 1985? The foundation funds over 2.300 liberal groups like “Planned Parenthood”. Soros has given about $40 Billion to the foundation since it opened. “No Government, Borders, or Religion, with the ‘Elite Billionaires’ in control”! Soros owns the Dems and liberal media.
A large part of the country is asleep to what is happening but, desperate and lazy for all they can get. Socialism just creates people to be dependent. Capitalism empowers people to be independent. This is what Bernie, AOC and anyone in an elected party from a Socialist standpoint brings. Marx was a German philosopher, not an economist. But he had a drinking problem. And when he drank, he pretended he was an economics expert (to hustle for free drinks, I suppose).
Most of what he knew about economics, Much like AOC, most of what he learned came from barroom chitchats with drunks. If he were alive today, he likely would be an expert on sports, as sports are the main discourse in bars today. One day, the gullible son of a rich man overheard one of Marx’s drunken, barroom pontifications; bought into Marx’s ramblings hook line and sinker; and gave financial wings to a new economic theory (philosophy?). And unthinking people lined-up and followed them down dead-end roads.
The only place Marxism ever worked was in Marx’s and Engels’ imaginations.
(Plus, Marxism has a penchant for corruption, violence, and repression.) Marx tried to meld Frederick Hegel’s ideas (Hegel was another German philosopher that some call “the father of Fascism”) with socialism. Socialism had only been tried on a tiny scale before, but it completely captured the drunken philosopher’s impaired imagination. Marxism envisioned both a revolutionary stage followed by an adjustment period when the government would have immense dictatorial powers.
But since absolute power corrupts absolutely, no Communist nation ever got beyond the dictatorial stages of development. Plus, no one had ever paused to figure out how the government would work after the repressive dictators supposedly stepped down of their own accords.
It will happen. It has always happened.
Socialism sounds like the magic bullet to fix all the problems the millennials see in America, the high cost of education, homelessness and healthcare for all. The problem is they don’t see the cost of all of it, which is that the people that actually work have to fully support those that do not or will not. Taxes will automatically go to the 60-70% range for middle income earners and even higher for top earners. You lose the freedom of choice under socialism.
Socialism and Communism have always failed.
It was the massive black market (capitalism) in the USSR that kept it going as long as it did. The much ballyhooed Scandinavian countries gave up cradle-to-grave socialism because it does not work, and actually have market economies. Lenin said, “Socialism is the gateway to communism.” They both will end up going one of two directions – to dictatorships like Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Chavez, Castro, Mao, etc., or back toward market economies and freedom. Why not just stick with what made this country the greatest country on earth? Liberty, freedom, individual responsibility, market economy, and governed of the people, by the people, for the people, under a Constitution that was designed for a people of morals and good values, who recognized the importance and providence of God.
“Bad men cannot make good citizens.
It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. ” Patrick Henry
“Our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams
“Only virtuous people are capable of freedom.
As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” Benjamin Franklin
“No government can continue good but under the control of the people; and . . . . their minds are to be informed by education what is right and what wrong… ” Thomas Jefferson
The only way to get this factual information
through to a person that buys into Socialism is at their funeral.