Venezuela Is Out of Food: Heres What an Economic Collapse Really Looks LikeBy Daisy Luther After several years of long lines, rationing, and shortages, the socialist country does not have enough food to feed its population, and the opposition governmenthas declared a nutritional emergency. This is just the most recent nail in the beleaguered countrys slow, painful economic collapse. Many people expect an economic collapse to be shocking, instant, and dramatic but, really, its far more gradual than that. It looks like empty shelves, long lines, desperate government officials trying to cover their tushes, and hungry people. For the past two years, Ive been following the situation in Venezuela as each shocking event has unfolded. Americans who feel that our country would be better served by a socialist government would be wise to take note of this timeline of the collapse. In 2013, many began to suspect that theoutlook for Venezuela was grim when prepping became illegal. The Attorney General of Venezuela,Luisa Ortega Daz, called on prosecutors to target people who are hoarding basic staples with serious sanctions. Shortly thereafter, grocery stores instituted a fingerprint registry to purchase food and supplies. Families had to register and were allotted a certain amount of supplies to prevent hoarding. Then, just over a year ago, it became even more apparent that the country was falling when long lines for basic necessities such as laundry soap, diapers, and food became the norm rather than the exception.Thousands of people were standing in line for 5-6 hours in the hopes that they would be able to purchase a few much-needed items. As the situation continued to devolve, farmers in Venezuela were forced to hand over their crops last summer. They assumed control of essential goods like food, and began putting retail outlets out of business. Then,once they had control of the sales outlets, they began forcing farmers and food manufacturers to sell anywhere from 30-100% of their products to the stateat the price the state opted to pay, as opposed to stores and supermarkets. But that wasnt enough to keep the population fed. (Isnt it astonishing how much less motivated people are to produce food and supplies when they are no longer allowed to benefit from their hard work? Historically, collectivism and farming have never gone successfully hand in hand.) This January, the government told citizens that they would need to produce their own food. The Ministry of Urban Farming was created to oversee this. While self-reliance sounds great, it isnt so great in Venezuela. Just so the urban farmers dont get too self-reliant, a registry of the crops and livestock will be required. (And obviously, theyve already proven that they have no issue forcing farmers to hand over what theyve produced.) Now, it looks like all of the socialist measures and forced food production havent been enough to keep the people of Venezuela fed. The country is in so much trouble now that it isnt possible to cover it up with propaganda. According to Breitbart.com,lawmakers have learned nothing. Socialist legislators are hoping to manipulate the initiative in the other direction, and use it to expand government control of private food enterprises. Legislator Hctor Rodrguez has insisted that the economic emergency does absolutely nothing, and the government should impose itself on private enterprises. Another socialist legislator, Ricardo Molina, is calling for the government to expropriate Polar, Venezuelas largest private food corporation: we have to intervene on private sector enterprises. Venezuela previously forced a Polar food distribution center in Caracas to shut down in July, putting 12,000 tons of food, six million liters of soft drinks, and 2,000 jobs at risk. And now, the announcement of the nutritional emergency makes it official. Venezuela is out of food, and its only a matter of time before Venezuelans are quite literally starving due to a long series of terrible decisions by their leaders. Its essential to note as this all plays out that there is little people can do now to rectify their situations. If they arent already quietly prepared, they are completely at the mercy of their socialist government. It is absolutely vital to put back supplies well before the general public is aware that a crisis is pending. As well, consider the fact that many folks here believe that a socialist government is exactly what our country needs. They eagerly lap up the promises of free education and free healthcare. They warmly embrace a presidential candidate who is an unabashed socialist. It absolutely astonishes me. Theyd be well-advised to pay attention to how well the freebies have worked out in Venezuela. Socialism is not a sustainable economic model, something that has been proven time and time again, much to the detriment of the victims of the misguided notions. The game pieces here are already lined up to control the American people should our economic situation continue to worsen. For example, there are already laws in place to prevent hoarding. Remember a few years ago when President Obama signed an executive order thatgives the federal governmentauthority over every resource and infrastructure element in the United States? There are a lot of uncomfortable parallels that can be drawn between Americas financial situation and the disaster in Venezuela, and one thing is clear: self-sufficiency is the only way to protect your family.Even if you havent really begun to prepare, theres still time to become more self-reliant. Here are some steps you should consider: It is vital to practice OPSEC (Operational Security) by keeping your preparedness-related activities on the down low. Preparedness and self-sufficiency author Tess Pennington warns that in a crisis situation, things you said months or years ago could come back to haunt you. Aperson should think twice about telling others about any prepping investments they have made.If aSHTF scenario occurred, anything said previously can be used against that prepper. For example, if you tell your neighbor you have silver coins stashed away, if times were desperate enough, that neighbor could turn on you. Keeping quiet about what one does is second nature to some. But for others that are new to the idea of prepping, they do not see the whole SHTF picture. If one person tells another about their preps, one person could tell another person about what preps their neighbor has. Then, the word spreads throughout; especially when a severe situation occurs. People will remember what you have told them, and come to you for help (if they are unprepared). Helping a neighbor or family member in need is a noble deed. However,those preparedness items are an investment for you and your family; and therefore, no one outside of the family should know what you have (unless you want that person to know). (source) As people become more desperate, they behave far differently than they would in normal circumstances. You have to be prepared for the day when you might have to defend your home, family and supplies. When an economic disaster strikes, the one thing you can count on from the government is that they will not be prioritizing you and your family. In a situation like the one in Venezuela, you will be completely on your own at best. At worst, your supplies will be targeted for the greater good. Maintain your freedom by becoming quietly self-sufficient. Image Credit Please feel free to share any information from this site in part or in full, leaving all links intact, giving credit to the author and including a link to this website and the following bio. Daisy Luther lives on a small organic homestead in Northern California. She is the author ofThe Organic Canner,The Pantry Primer: A Preppers Guide to Whole Food on a Half-Price Budget, and The Preppers Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource.On her website, The Organic Prepper, Daisy uses her background in alternative journalism to provide aunique perspective on health and preparedness, and offers a path of rational anarchy against a system that will leave us broke, unhealthy, and enslaved if we comply. Daisys articles are widely republished throughout alternative media.You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. After several years of long lines, rationing, and shortages, the SOCIALIST COUNTRY does not have enough food to feed its population Thank you for your comment, I thought the same exact thing. Me Too! I recall long gas lines in the 70s. Was there a shortage of oil in the world? No, there was an engineered shortage, known as a price war. Likewise, shortages in Venezuela are not due to food shortages in the world but of an engineered destruction of the economy by the US, the CIA, and the right wing oligarchs who want to take the country back. JUst as the economic recession in Russia is a result of external economic warfare, Venezuela has been battling coups, assassinations, and economic sabotage since the socialists took the government back from the oligarchy. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. In a world which runs on oil, it would, excluding market manipuations, be one of the richest nations on earth, but a combination of US economic sabotage and Saudi price wars have pushed nations like Russia (with the worlds largest reserves of gas),which in a free market environment, would be wealthy nations, into financial turmoil. Gandhi defined economic warfare as slow torture. What we see today in Venezuela, is an example of that slow torture, and it is the US and its allies (like Saudi Arabia) who are punishing the Venezuelan people by destroying their economy, which in a world of free markets, would be booming. But the dogma that socialism leads to serfdom cannot be allowed to be refuted by success, so failure is engineered with sanctions, sabotage, and price wars which cripple a nation which by all measures should be wealthy, based on its natural wealth. So the people suffer in order to prove that socialism cannot work, while the CIA operates behind the scenes to subvert the economy and Saudi Arabian price wars cripple the economies of Russia and Venezuela. This too will pass, but in the meantime, it is important to remember WHY the nation with the worlds greatest reserves of oil is short of food. Great post! So ppl in Venezuela are starving b/c the country doesnt have enough soil to grow their own food? And if they could sell their oil on the world market, they would use the money to import food? Or are you just distorting the truth? People are not starving; food shortages have gone on for years and yet .despite the severe scarcity Venezuelans are not going hungry. The Food and Agriculture Organisation has said that the Latin American nation more than halved malnutrition indices to less than 5% since Chvez came to power. It gives partial credit to the government-run network of food distribution chains known as Mercal, which delivers subsidised food in shops across the country. theguardian.com There are many complex reasons for the shortages, including government programs which may have decreased production, hoarding to drive up prices, smuggling (between 10-40% The CIA has a long history of economic warfare (as well as assassinations, etc to destablize governments,even when democratically elected, that not not serve US corporate interestskeep in mind the revolving door between the CIA and Wall St, going back to its beginnings and the Dulles brothers),and there is reason to think one of their means of weakening government is through such means. In 1948, the organizatoin which became CIAs covert operation center was formed. The foods in shortage include milk,meat, and rice. People are not starving, in fact there is less malnutrition than before the Socialists were elected. Part of the anti-government propaganda is to create shortages and long lines to stoke discontent and to claim that the people are starving. This is akin to the lies about Iraq killing babies in Kuwait, having an active WMD program,and close ties to al Quada and similar propaganda intended to create pretexts for intervention and stoke fears. Propagandists have been claiming Venezuelans are starving for many years. It is a lie. The current food shortages are no different from those in 2011. Here is the kind of hyperbole that the Western media generates: Certainly dont doubt there is behind the scenes meddling as part of the economic soup of Venezuela but there are parts of the economic equation that can not be suspended, just because it makes ideologues butt hurt the parts predicated by simple math. All of us can bloviate ideologies right and left all day. But no matter what the political belief du jour of the moment the math is always a real bugger. There is NO civilization in history, that has survived the corrosiveness of government, and human hubris and political corruption. Not a one. You quoted the Guardian but failed to mention Mr.Oliverias comments, an economist at Ecoanalitica, in the same article. Other than oil, we produce close to nothing In my opinion, that is the only reason the socialist government was able to sustain itself, and yes, improve the situation for the short time it didit had oil and nothing else. And, it sold oil in the free-market with leftover machinery it seizedmachinery developed and produced in the free-market. Isnt this a contradiction to socialist? The fact of the matter is: Unless there was a free-market in which Venezuela could sell its oilit couldnt have done its socialist policy. But, it is naivete to believe that the Venezuelan government would have more virtue than the free market. Perhaps you could google 300 billion missing there and 30 billion missing here in Venezuela. Good greif, at least in a free-market there are laws businesses are accountable too. By the way, did you now that the word propaganda original meant to propagate the truth? One more thing. I despise the CIA as much as you. I also despise the NEA, the DEA and any other acronym of our socialists government. Nevertheless, the free market didnt produce the CIA. Democratic socialist governments did. Yet, you reel against it when, in fact, it is a product of your own philosophy. Venezuelan relied on importing the food instead of producing is , and paid for it with oil, as in the recent few years the oil price fell by as much as 70% , now they cant import enough food , and starting food production takes years Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world . Not true! It does. Second is Saudi Arabia. Maybe some day Venezuela can return the favor for crippling the Venezuelan economy with a price war. oh boy oh boy oh boy.blame the westblame the Jewsblame the rich.blame everyone else but their own incompetent former-bus driver school-dropout sad excuse of a president whos only legitimacy to office is that he is Chavezs favorite poodle. I am blaming both the Venezuelan govt, smugglers, hoarders, the right wing oligarchs, and the CIA, which has a history of economic warfare and covert efforts to destablize governments which it does not like, including proxy wars, assassinations, etc. Venezuela has fair elections; in case you didnt notice, the conservatives won the last one. You clearly believe State Dept propaganda and have no idea what is going on. There is no such thing as fair elections. Plus when you offer the dumb downed public FREE goodies of course you win. Then all the money dies up. There is no FREE LUNCH You have spent how many minutes researching elections worldwide? If a politician says to the poor, We will take back our oil reserves from foreign corporations and use the revenue to provide education and healthcare, is that corrupt? Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world? Why should the majority not benefit from this weatlh: having 20% of the worlds oil is like having a billion free lunches, if it is used to feed the hungry rather than pad the wallets of foreign billionaires. A fair election is one in which anyone can run and there is no intimadation of rivals, counting is honest, and majority rules. There are several organizations which monitor elections worldwide and report on their fairness. Venezuelan elections have been judged fair, and I think proof is that in the last election,the ruling Party lost to the conservatives. Its time to come up with new cliches. Oliver Stone did a documentary about Latin American countries locking out the IMF. The right winged oligarchs have been gunning to destroy these countries collectively since! Then why do 65 billionaires have more money than 3.5 billion? Could it be that the ruling class has NOT given free goodies, unless you consider education and heatlhcare, microoloans, and child care free,,,,,,,/he elections were free and fair and allowed the conservatives to win (the part against free goodies). . I am inclined to agree with much of what you are saying Dale despite my right leaning economics. It seems we all have a similar problem everywhere these days The well being of people and nations is FAR too important to leave up to politicians yet thats what we (and folks) do. Look up the import statistics. Venezuela imports its food. Imports are way way down since 2012. Although I dont support a Communist (or any, for that matter) government, for once Im actually mostly in agreement with you surprise surprise. Ive read many of Daisy Luthers other articles, and theyre usually great (to me), but this one does totally ignore the 800 lb gorilla in the room the purposeful destruction of the Venezuelan government. Come on man. The 800 pound gorilla is that there is no free lunch. When government policy ignores the basic human rights of life, liberty and propertyit will self destruct. And, that is what the democratic voters in Venezuela have supportedusurping the basic rights of others for their own gain. There is no outside, purposeful influence needed. They have brought this on themselves because of selfishness. Sounds just like the voters currently in the US of A now, doesnt it? Im in agreement with you, more or less (stress on the more part). Indeed, the people pick their so-called representatives, mostly based on what they can potentially get out of it, and of course, thats what happened in VZ. However, when the party, whichever one it is, promises this and promises that, its very difficult for the non-discerning individual to sift through the BSinstead, many hear nothing but youll get this benefit, youll get that benefit and all critical thinking stops. Its no different than the influx of illegal aliens into the USI dont knock these people for being promise a better way of life than what they currently had (even if it is BS)no different than votersfed a line of BS that they buy, and presto whamo, theyre in a communist regime that is swiftly buckling under their own insolvency. I would ask you to join the libertarian party since we are of like mind. Tom Woods has a very good daily podcast. The Mises institute also has some very good articles on economic policiesamong other things. Be well! Thank you. Im familiar with Tom Woods and the Mises Institute. Id join the Libertarian party if I was of a mind to votebut if voting ever accomplished anything theyd make it illegal. If I do wear the Libertarian label from time to time, it is Libertarian in that I believe in the doctrine of free will. However, since Ive had my eyes opened in 2008, I refuse to participate in any politics whatsoever. Instead, as I watch Rome burning around me, Im grabbing the marshmallows and hot dogs. I wish I could say I was enjoying the show, but Im notI just feel that this country has seen its better days and theres no turning back to them. Peace. My sentiments too. Why dont you deluded psychotics ever accept responsibility for anything that is ACTUALLY YOUR FAULT!. Oh, right , your deluded psychotics. The olLprice war not my fault! what proof do you have of your claim the US, the CIA and right wing oligarchs have destroyed the Venezuelan economy? You are crazy if you blame this collapse on the right. Its globalists. And if you are honest with yourself, you will realize they have only gained footing during the last 7+ years. You must be very young, Caroline. Meddling in Central America has been going on many many decades. Iran Contra Scandal. What a silly and ridiculous conclusion. Here is a simple one. When take away from people who are productive, like farmers that grow food, then give what they produced to those who did nothing to earn it, you reward those that did nothing and punish those who produce, therefore taking any motivation to be productive. Its why socialism will always fail. Ron, I hope that Joe Kennedy, Jr. will see fit to mobilize food banks for the Venezuelan people as a return gesture for the years that Hugo Chavez sent home heating oil to poor Americans. You cant talk about Venezuela without mentioning the fact that its been the target of economic warfare by neoliberal forces and right wing fascists. No, the reforms have not been perfect, but theres way more to this storey than the slanted one sided view here. I dont see anyone in the USA tripping over themselves to move to Venezuela. Anyone with the good sense that God gave a waterbug can see that the Socialists have utterly screwed the pooch and left their people to starve. Socialism works just fine until you run out of other peoples money. If you are going to defend the brand of Socialism that has existed in Venezuela for far too long, then you are going to have to address the observation made by Winston Churchill on the subject: Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. We are certainly seeing all of those factors in play today in Venezuela. Its not as if other nations have not themselves already been targets of economic warfare by neoliberal forces and right wing fascists. It is not those factors that have caused Venezuelas collapse, but the brand of Socialism practiced there. The widespread failure of the food delivery systems is a direct result of what passes for thinking among Socialists. Their gross incompetence and wilful ignorance of reality is going to cause a whole lot of Venezuelans to starve. And THAT has been the enduring legacy of Socialism all throughout its contemptible history: Starvation on a national scale. I think youre confusing me with someone making a full throated defense of socialism and/or the Bolivarian revolution. All Im saying is you cant have a discussion about this without bringing in all the factors in Venezuela, among them amply documented strategies by the west-backed opposition to undermine Venezuelas economy and cause these food and goods shortages on purpose. Its cause and effect, and the policy there is not in and of itself 100% the cause of these problems. Its not that I even disagree with you for the most part, Im mostly disappointed in activist post for running this piece. Its not up to their standards imo. Even there is no big deal, I love this site. Just making one small point. If you feel the need to beat up on truly retarded liberals theres plenty of sites I could recommend Mein Kampf is a masterpiece of beating up on liberals and blaming them for all evils. It was written by a Sociaslist. Socialist = Liberal. Swine Bumf: Fail Muf$s usual refrain, libtard heaven with the requisite leaven. Mein Kampf is a classic faccist denunciation of libealism, socialism (Hitler hated the Social Democrats), and democracy. I recommend it to all my fascist friends; I think you could learn a lot from the master of liberal-bashing, my friend. Student back to the drawing board: Copy edit, Mein Kampf is a classic Bolshevik creation with a capital Z. Eish, indeed. The disaster of literal thrashings. But you do seem to enjoy it so, male muf$. Hitler hated Communism. The first people sent to the death camps were Communists as well as other leftists. Mein Kampf is the mother lode of right wing ultranatonalism. You are original,if very stupid. LeftTits: Pull the other one, tis ripe for milking Hitler was part of the new deal to destroy Germany, Merkel now completing the WW2 scam, funded and handled by the Cabal puppet masters, his death faked, the death camps, so-called, a Hollyweird figment of your lame stream urine media infection, willful terminal ignorance your chosen race, or a bought and souled troll, I suspect the latter, such ignorance when there be so many empirical facts to dispel the hollowhoax fraudulent lie, eish indeed. so what if he hated communism. Hitler was a socialist? Hitler sent socialists to the death camps. Thats a fact. thats not an argument. Hitler was a German? Hitler Sent Germans to death camps. Thats a fact. Hitler was a Human? Hitler Sent Humans to death camps. Thats a fact. The problem is, the liberalism of yesterday is not the liberalism of today. And the fascism of yesterday is not the fascism of today. You arent a liberal. You are a progressive socialist. We are not fascist, we are capitalists. I do realize this is an oxymoron, but try to be honest. it truly is a socialist mASSterpeace. the left wing had it banned, and convinced the world hitler and mousilini where right wing. so that they ca continue the toxic ideology. but mein kampf is a socialist book, hitler and mousilini where socialist Good post. Nothing more than blame shifting. There are lots and lots of trade negotiations going on. There is lots of trade war going on. Against everyone. Venezuela is a resource rich country. They didnt capitalize on their resources. That is not OUR fault because we did. Its also not OUR fault because we wont trade with them. Cause and effect. They took actions that had an effect they dont like. Too bad. Think harder about your choices next time. I didnt make any choices. Venezuela did. Alls Im trying to say is look at the whole picture. This whole blame shifting thing, whatever, Im tired of repeating myself and having the anti-socialists here put words in my mouth. Over it. Since the socialists were elected,the level of both poverty and malnutrition have decreased significantly. Shortages of coffee,beef,and butter hardly means the people are starving, and keep in mind that the CIA covert operations include economic warfare. Hoarding is done to drive up prices,smuggling food out of Venezuela is widespread,and the Saudi oil price war as deprived a nation, which has the largest reserves of oil in the world,of funds to purchase some items. Economic warfare was called by Gandhi slow torture, and this is exactly what is taking place, but no one is starving. Surely some are starving. Stay tuned this will be coming to America Surely, you have no evidence for that. Stores are short of beef, sugar, butter. I have not eaten any of that for 20 years and I am very healthy. Venezuela has nearly eliminated malnutrition with its programs to help the poor. The remaining malnourished (about 3%) are in remote rural areas, according to recent studies. Corn has been a staple of native diet for thousands of years, and there is no shortage of corn. The shortages (15-20%) are mostly among imported foods not needed to keep from starving: poultry, beef, butter, sugar. If you dont eat these foods, you will in fact be healthier. Here is a study from 2012 (food shortages have been reported long before): The rate of malnutrition in children (under five years of age) in Venezuela has reduced by 62% in 13 years, from 7.66% in 1990 to 2.90% in 2011. This is shown in a study carried out by the National Institute of Nutrition (INN). The central feature of this reduction is the government School Feeding Program (PAE), which aims to ensure food and nutritional care to the population of children, adolescents and youth that are part of the Venezuelan education system. Among the meals offered by the School Feeding Program is the guarantee of a breakfast, lunch and snack in the Bolivarian early education centers and schools, where children take part in up to 8 academic hours. Malnutrition is also bad in the US where According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2,000 to 3,000 elderly adults die each year as a result of malnutrition .More than 30 million Americans experience hunger regularly or are at risk of going hungry, according to the Child Welfare League of America. Some 8.5 million Americans, including nearly 3 million children, experience hunger on a daily basis. Reported June/2015 in the Economist: .. UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had given Venezuela a diploma for its notable and exceptional efforts to curb hunger. Heres the real deal: because neo-liberal ideologues and US corporations cannot allow the world to learn that socialism (ie programs to help the poor) has benefits, especially for the neediest and most exploited, any evidence of success, as in Venezuela, is subverted by the CIA, which was founded to conduct covert economic warfare (and assassinations,proxy wars, propaganda, false flags, etctheres a reason these operations are secret) over 60 years ago. In addition, the sabotage (to thwart economic success of helping the poor) is abetted by hoarding (to raise prices) and smuggling (estimate 10-40% of food supply). In addition, Venezuela,which has the largest oil reserves in the world ( a key to great wealth) is being crippled by the Saudi oil price war. Thus, its problems, as in Russia, are externally engineered to destroy the economy. Propaganda about people starving is then piled on to prove that socialism cannot work. In fact, if it had not worked to reduce poverty and curb malnutrition,there would be no need for economic warfare and inflammatory propaganda. lol crazy vegetarian liberal over here. just because you can handle not eating sugar,poultry and beef does not mean everyone else can. Also poultry and beef gives you protein which people eat. If we were not meant to eat it than it would not have the necessary nutrients we need. No one is going to read your list of propaganda. Also statistics can be made to appear how they like. Videos and online posts and commentary from actual Venezuelans show the mess the socialists put them in. I would rather trust real suffering people and videos than statistics from biased people. Fact: the 3 largest and longest term diet studies (Oxford, China, and Loma Linda) all demonstrate that a plant based diet leads to better health and a longer life. The more sugar and beef you eat, the earlier you die. So proceed. You prefer youtube videos; I prefer peer-reviewed scientific studies. I havent eaten meat in over 20 years and You can get protein from many places other than meat. You do realize that there are many ways to get protein besides eating meat, dont you Sammy? Check it out Its not hard to find information about going vegetarian. You actually will be much healthier and live longer. Thats just the facts. You can google it. The real war is not against socialism but for socialism and than communism which leads up to it. The elite liberals are communists and so are corporation owners. They love socialism it takes them closer to communism. Socialism gives goverment more power so CIA love it as well. Your making up crazy claims that their is some kind of crazy decades long war on socialism in the world. If that was the case the last century would not have see hundreds of millions die under communism which rose up from socialism. The end goal of socialism is always communism that is a fact it can not be changed. Their is no reason to risk what we experienced last century. Mmmm enjoy that Monsanto Corn Venezuelans! Thanks again food saviours for giving everyone good nutrition. Perhaps only a socialist, and a cruel one at that, would try spinning starvation and deprivation as healthy Its like when North Korea spun its blackouts and electricity rationing, all due to an absolutely deteriorated electric capacity, as good for the environment and energy conservation. What people eat is not for you or the government to decide, its for the consumer to decide. I doubt youve ever visited Venezuelayoud see people, even children, starving on the streets of Caracas, others queuing for hours just to get a bit of milk, butter or meat (if its even available), others ROBBING food from trucks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=147GjxbPNT4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vj4kCK8efM), http://notihoy.com/saqueo-de-un-camion-de-comida-en-venezuela-dejo-un-muerto/, food riots (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEBMe3yxJ8wspfreload=10)Is this really the sign of a country not wrestling with food problems? Youre quoting chavista propaganda sources, or sources which use those sources, and old ones at that (2012? Seriously?) as if they were true and disinterested (the chavista government stopped publishing food statistics in 2013, by the way) More recent polling (2015) by three different agencies paints a different picture: -90% of responders say they buy/find less food than before; And that was before oil prices crashed. The Economist was actually criticizing the FAOs decision as ludicrous: In his speech to the FAO, Vice-president Jorge Arreaza cited the governments claim that 95% of Venezuelans eat three meals a day. But in a survey carried out last year by three leading universities, more than 11% said they ate just twice a day or less. The FAO said it saw no reason to doubt the statistics it used. But many of the numbers needed for a full evaluation have not been published for years. The central bank has issued no monthly inflation or food scarcity figures for 2015. In November, even by official accounts a minimum wage only bought 76% of the food required for the average family. Independent estimates suggest three-and-a-half minimum wages are now required. About 40% of those in work get the minimum wage or less. Also: -2,000 to 3,000 elderly adults is less than 0.00001%much lower than the most probably made-up 3% quoted by the chavista government INN -Socialism only works until theres no money left, or people are enslaved, truly enslaved, by the governmentsomething many Venezuelans are only now learning (despite it happening many times in the past). -A person who isnt working cannot be said to be exploitedaside that exploitation only exists when work is unwilling -Smugglers/hoarders exist because price controls exist.they buy at the chavista government-set price and sell at the real (black) market price at a 500% profit or morethey are a consequence of price controls, and happened in all former communist/socialist countries -Stocking warehouses to prepare food for distribution is not hoarding, despite the chavista government trying to define it as such .otherwise food would have to be sold/consumed/distributed as soon as it was made -Its easy to blame shadowy conspiracy theories without any basis or evidence, and much harder to face the music of socialisms failure. -You seem to forget that no one country controls the price of oilits set by the marketthe US developing its own capacity is one of the reasons, and it has more to do with gaining energy independence (from dictatorial/unfriendly regimes) than anything else. Where do you get your statistics from the Venezuelan goverment or maybe socialist institution? Venuzela under socialists have far more poor and far less rights thats what socialism does best. Its the system to blame for most of the problems stop being so liberal! Yes apart of it is oil but socialism is not helping! From the UN.where do you get your unsupported opinions? I stopped being a liberal in 1969 and have been independent since. You dont like the facts. Where do you get your facts? The Mainsteam media; right wing websites? Tell us what your sources are. Poverty since 2000 in Venezuela has been greatly reduced by using reveneues from renogiated oil contracts to provide education, healthcare, nutrition, and loans to open businesses to the poor. What is your source that poverty has increased to counter UN reports? Or did you just make it up to match your dogma..hahaha. Somehow socialism was work very well in Hitler Germany. Hitler put the socialists, the social democrats, the liberals, and the Marxist in the concentration camps. He was as socialist as the Democratic Republic of North Korea is democratic. His system banned leftists parties, jailed labor leaders, and made deals with the Catholic Church and the leading corporations to use slave labor to produce weapons for the war effort. omg you are so funnny. you are TRULY BRAINWASHED look at the evidence Apparently, youre not very familiar with economic warfare by neoliberal forces and right wing fascists. I am lot more familiar with how Libtard Whackadoodle Douchebags invariably and predictably claim that every failed Sociaist sh|thole only failed because it was sabotaged by [fill in the blank]. If I am wrong, then please point to a Socialist nation that failed but *not* because it was sabotaged? If you are claiming that all Socialist failures are always somebody elses fault, then you are just another Libtard Whackadoodle Apologist, who is such a twit as to believe that anyone else would fall for that tragically comical routine anymore. Go ahead and indulge your fantasies by blaming the CIA boogeymen, the wealthy Neocons, the fracking space aliens from Mars, or whoever happens to be popular to blame this week, for sabotaging What was that you said? I couldnt hear you, primarily because Im still waiting patiently for the Scandinavian countries to collapse. Its funny that you detractors always point to the hellhole banana republics but you usually avoid bringing up any Nordic countries because they make it much harder to defend your propaganda. Meanwhile, the capitalist countries are teetering on the brink of financial disaster, with the central banks so desparate that theyre opting for negative interest rates. Hows that free market working for you now? Your dogmatic beliefs about socialism come straight out of the fascist catechism. Social democracies like Germany, Sweden, Japan, and Canada have the freest economies and highest standards of living in the world. Since the socialist were elected, the poor have risen in income and basic health and education. Tell the Norwegians and Swedes that they are starving! Socialism is the expansion of democracy into the economic realm. The most successful societies with the freest economies are all social democracies. 19th Century denunciations of socialism are not only dated; they are dead. Without defining your terms, your dogma is meaningless; they are hundreds of strains of socialism, all share the core value of equality but range from state socialism to libertarian socialism,which rejects the state as the tool of the ruling class. In between, scores of hybrid systems. Venezuela is experience food shortages (sugar, butter, etc) but no one is starving. That is propaganda, like Saddams WMD and killing babies. Democracy is three wolves and a sheep debating what to have for dinner. Democracy amounts to mob rule, and is an evil to be avoided and a fools errand to be discouraged. A Constitutional Republic, however, is one where the mob does not get to vote on certain rights that the people retain regardless of which party of venal psychopaths happen to be in power at the moment. The intent of a Constitutional Republic is to *limit* the power of government, not make it limitless. In case you missed that day in high school Civics class, the United States is a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy. The ultimate outcome of every Democracy that has been attempted throughout human history has been that each has devolved into despotic Tyranny. That is just as true in the economic realm as it has been in the political realm. Socialism, being an extension of the incredibly naive concept of Democracy into the realm of economics, is just as much an evil to be avoided and a fools errand to be discouraged. Thats exactly what Hitler and all fascists have said. Democracy, understood as a deep culture, includes as a foundation: basic inviolable rights (going back to Locke, Mills, Jefferson, etc), independent judiciary, a free and diverse press, and an informed citizenry, as the basis on which majority rule is based. Socialism is the expansion of this democratic culture, including the rights of women, minorities, the disabled, etc. into all spheres of life, including the workplace. The 2000 yr old theory that democracy evolves into tyranny is about as reliable as 2000 yr old science. Genuine democracy, as detailed above, is the defense against tyranny. The fact that the nations with the freest economies (according to the Heritage Foundation Index of Free Economies)and rankings of civil rights are almost all the most socialistic nations refutes your dogmatic claims. We are bored with the old dogmas. You do not define your terms so it is impossible to have a rational discussion with you. Stop wasting our time with undefined terms and dogmatic assertions which are easily refuted with empirical evidence from existing social democracies, the freest and most prosperous nations on earth. the freest and most prosperous nations on earth. Well, if thats not dogma, what is? Just because you proclaim it does not make it true. You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts. It is not a 2000-year-old theory, it is historical fact. Google it. Better yet, Google Alexis de Tocqueville . You might learn a thing or two. Jefferson never proposed a Deomcracy for our nation, mosly because he understood what an incredibly stupid idea it was. I have no doubt that you would like to see Socialist agendas forced upon every aspect of our lives, all spheres of life as you put it. Pardon me if I find that thought utterly at odds with the ideas of self-reliance and personal responsibility. You wish to substitute the power of coercion by the state in the place of the power of self-determination. Everyone knows that as the truest form of tyranny, and calling it anything else is pure Bovine Scatology. Socialism does not make one more free, unless you count being free from having control over your own life. Excuse me if the thought of becoming subservient to the collective does not appeal to me in the least. Calling my position a dogmatic assertion is a distinction without a difference. All positions are dogmatic assertions varying only by degree. You are bored with the old dogmas? Oh, how terribly tragic for you. Being bored with Reality does not change it. You are perfectly capable of ignoring Reality if you wish, but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring Reality. Just because you happen to disagree with the last 2000 years of human history does not mean that you are entitled to declare it all null and void simply because you say so. Claiming that I do not define my terms is a bullsh|t artists scam, since you would only debate the definitions instead of the assertions. Call me Provincial, but I am not going to follow you down that bottomless rabbit hole. All of the terms used have already been defined, and need no debate merely so that they can be re-defined to your liking. Since you did not respond to my question about your own credentials, I will assert that you must not have any that can measure up to my own. Having already earned a degree in Political Science, I already know the definitions of the terms. If you do not know the definitions, then you have just admitted that you dont know what the he|| you are talking about. If my assertions are so easily refuted, then show us one example of a Socialist nation that has failed economically on its own, without being sabotaged by your imaginary boogeymen. You have already failed to respond that to that challenge, which tells us that you are actually claiming that Socialist nations never fail on their own, and that their failures are always somebody elses fault. How convenient. How stupid. How. dogmatic. Social democracies like Switzerland, Germany, Sweden,Norway, Japan, and Canada ARE among the most prosperous natoins, without dispute, and according to the Heritage Index of Free Economies, among the freest; and all rank at the top in all ratings of civil liberty and rights. Its true because I say it but because objective criteria demonstrate it. Its not an opinion that Switzerland, or Germany, or Canada are very prosperous and with highest degrees of civil liberties. Over 2000 yrs ago Aristotle claimed that democracy (by which he did mean the deep democracy of the modern tradition but mere majority rule by those who were not women or slaves) degrades into tyranny. I have a world class education from the top universities, under the most respected scholars, in political science and philosophy. Aristotle in his Politics first announced this theory. Aristotle was an aristocrat who believed that slavery was natural, that craftsmen should not be allowed to vote, etc. I have studied de Tocqueville; the society he described has long since vanished. He observed a nation of small farmers, craftsmen,and widespread equality. Today, the US is the most unequal of all advanced nations. The Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson, founds the right of armed revolution on the key democratic principles of equality and consent of the governed. Here is his endorsement of the idea democracy: It must be acknowledged that the term republic is of very vague application in every language Were I to assign to this term a precise and definite idea, I would say purely and simply it means a government by its citizens in mass, acting directly and personally according to rules established by the majority; and that every other government is more or less republican in proportion as it has in its composition more or less of this ingredient of direct action of the citizens. Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, 1816. The Democratic-Republican Party was the American political party in the 1790s of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Jeffersonian democracy (sometimes capitalized), named after its advocate Thomas Jefferson, was one of two dominant political outlooks and movements in the United States from the 1790s to the 1820s. Wiki I define the kind of socialism I advocate (libertarian socialism) as the expansion of democracy into all spheres of life. This is neither state socialism nor state capitalism but the alternative: enterprises owned and controlled by the workers, schools run democratically, governments which are operated on democratic principles,with all votes being equal and with consent of the governed, as pronounced in our founding document. Libertarian socialism is also called voluntary socialism because it rejects coercion both by the state and private/corporate interests. Your ignorance is deep, my friend. Democracy cannot be forced, since it is the same as self-government. It involves inviolable basic rights, an independent judiciary, a free and diverse press, and an informed citizenry uncorrupted by money or propaganda. Majority rule, under these conditions, cannot repeal fundamental rights, and if you find yourself in the minority, you have the right and opportunity to become the majority. If you have a more just system, what is it? If you do not believe in basic equality under the law and consent of the governed, you are left with oligarchy, dictatorship, and fascism. In a democratic workplace, the workers make the decisions, choose their supervisors, align wages, etc. This replaces the authoritarian structure of corporations, which then compete to destroy each other. Socialism that I support is simply the extension of democracy, as I have defined it, into other spheres of life, based on equality, consent, and inviolable rights. I find your commentary totally irrelevant to my concept of libertarian socialism, which rejects the tyranny of the state and private interests. I suggest you do some homework. I agree. Socialism is a failure. Its based off of taking money from one sector of society. And giving to another. And the portion of society that is on the receiving end is usually the ( loser ) section of society. Kinda like what we have here in America. People who would rather play video games and watch cartoons all day. And listen to mainstream media. And believe everything the government says. And not even think to go check the facts. Its the reason that people keep saying Trump is a racist. When we all know he really isnt. These are the type of people that believe in socialism. And they are fools. That are wasting what life they have left on nonsense. And are a drag on our society. And have any of you noticed that the people in government. That promote this idea are rich themselves? They preach this crap. But when the rubber meets the road. Theyll NEVER share any of the wealth they have. They promote that stuff so these people will vote for them. But they themselves dont believe in it. So for all of you that believe in this. Get rid of the video game controller. Turn the cartoons off. Lose the comic books. Stop sitting in your parents basement spanking the monkey. And do something with yourself. Cause its your life. And you are in control of it. And nobody owes you anything. That complete breakdown of the vidiots ever being able to break away from their idiot boxes is one of the main reasons why my wife and I made the conscious decision to look for a place to live away from the big cities, where we could be self-sufficient, grow our own fruits and vegetables, and be secure in our own home. We moved out of the Phoenix area in 2008 and we now live on several wooded acres up in a very rural part of the Arizona mountains. It would be so difficult to get within 20 miles of our community after the cars stop running that we dont expect *anyone* to be able to make it up to our place after the feces impact the oscillating ventilator. Which suits us just fine. We have stocked up on enough long-term storable food for the two of us for two years. We have been planting vegetable gardens every summer for the past five years. The property immediately adjacent to ours is a cattle pasture where our neighbor has been raising organic beef cattle for decades. We have seeds, good soil, a long growing season, plenty of sunshine, and an abundance of above-ground flowing water (a rarity here in Arizona). A year-round spring-fed creek supplies fresh water 247 to a gravity canal system that was built before statehood in 1912. That canal system brings water to many of the properties in our little unincorporated community, including to ours. Our community produced such a bounty of fruits and vegetables last season that our neighbors were giving away what they could not sell, can, or eat themselves. We wont be going hungry. Since that canal is on the uphill side of our property, bring it downhill to our vegetable gardens and to our pond has been a simple matter of laying enough PVC pipe. That pond and the canal attract all manner of wild game to our property, including Javelina, Mule Deer, Elk, and all manner of other tasty critters. We have moved to where the air is clean, the water is pure, and the people are not nearly as crazy as they are in the urban areas. We stay in great physical shape from all of the chores that we have to do ourselves because there isnt anyone else who is going to do them for us. We chose not to have a landline phone installed. We have cable Internet, but not cable television. Cell phones dont work for dung up here. So we have taken control of our own lives in a way that we could only have dreamed of ten years ago. We are not yet completely off the grid, but we are working on that, too. The best thing about the way that we live now is that NOBODY tries to tell us how to act or how to live. They probably want to, but they dont want to drive all the way out to where we live just to tell us that. We go into town about once per month to shop for groceries and other supplies, and to pick up our mail from the mail drop that we rented. The Post Office wont send their delicate trucks to where we live, but that suits us just fine, too. When the feces finally impact the oscillating ventilator, we probably wont even notice it until we go into town again. When it happens, we will sit tight at home and we will be just fine. Oh, yes, I have heard all of the armchair commandos claiming that there will be marauders who will come to our house to take from us by force. If those douchebags can even *find* our place, and make the long hike to get here, then they will have traveled a very long way for a very short end. This is Arizona, not one of the Libtard-infested states. We live in what is arguable the most well-armed county in America. Our life now is about more than just nobody owing us anything. It is more about the fact that we dont owe anybody else. Interesting that you are doing all of this and I was really agreeing with you as I am doing the same thing preparing my own organic, sustainable community on land with multiple springs, a river and fruit trees in an area that is hard to get to unless you are prepared where I can be safe with my family right up to the part where you mention the Libtard-infested states. I am a Democratic Socialist, voting for Bernie. The reforms have been disastrous. Venezuela has good weather for agriculture and economic growth, a long-established petroleum industry and good fishing resources. It is their leftist dictators who have squandered the countrys wealth. Think about brainless Bernie Sanders without the horrible Brooklyn accent and you have Venezuela. I have spent a lot of time in Venezuela, and its absolutely true what you say. There is so much natural resources and excellent farmland that has never been touched. Its a very rich nation ruined by totalitarian collectivism. The Saudi price war on oil might have something to do with lack of revenues, dont you think, since Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world? Saudi Arabia has far fewer resources. In fact just about the only resource that SA has is oil. So how is it that Venezuela is failing because of what another country is doing? Oh what is that other country doing again? Thats right, communistically controlling prices. Do you not see the irony? overview Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for roughly 96% of export earnings, about 45% of budget revenues, and around 12% of GDP. Fueled by high oil prices, pre-election government spending helped spur GDP growth in 2012 to 5.6%. Falling oil prices has destroyed the economy, where only 4% of other than oil accounts for export earnings. Here is an analysis by reporter Roland Denis: This countrys gross domestic product (the development of its productive activities) continues percentage-wise to be land owned by the bourgeoisie (basically importers and bankers, with a small industrial and agricultural portion which is being increasingly consolidated by the Polar foods monopoly and transnational corporations), and the third market (comprised of the service economy, telecommunications and merchants) where the State is heavily involved percentage-wise, exclusively due to the weight of the petroleum corporate economy (the State capitalism), in the hands of the PDVSA (the state oil company). -The economic data shows that, in summary, not only has the basic structural scheme of the rentier economy not changed, but it remains in the hands of the corporate-petroleum, monopolistic and oligopolistic capital. On the contrary, the perverse and unequal character of this scheme has increased. The model of rentier-consumer development is the same, preserving all forms of agricultural and industrial sovereignty. Maintaining the daily movement of millions of rentier wealth into the hands of capital, whose evolution is in a position that abruptly favours importer parasites and banking capital. In other words, it is the failure of socialist transformation to make inroads (other than lifting the poor) that has created turmoil in Venezuela, which without at least moderate oil prices has no govt revenue to project its program of reducing inequality and raising the ordinary family into a decent standard of living. Price controls are an attempt to restrain inflation, which hurts the poor the most. The US had price controls during WWI and WWII. If not for the Saudi oil price war, Venezuela, with the largest oil reserves in the world, would be growing at the rate it was before the price war (over 5%). Was the US communistic in WWI and II or insuring affordablity of food and other basics? There is no irony when economic turmoil is externally engineered, as in Russia or Venezuela. There is just suffering. Very thoughtful and interesting views. Thank you Any Left vs Right either/or is just propaganda. Yes Venezuela, along with most of the rest of Central America has been the subject of globalist elite subjugation, largely led by U.S. Foreign Policy objectives, i.e. military as a proxy force in multinational corporate business objectives But that doesnt leave crappy failed Socialist ideological experiments off the hook either. When you suspend simple math, and basic market economics and pretend the ideological magic wand du jour is just the thing to fix everything and lead to utopian paradise, you end up with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats that will eventually resort to violence and totalitarian statism to suppress the truth of their destructive policies. Whether its left or right ideology (ideology = not based in reality) is another issue altogether. Venezuela does have the largest oil reserves, the quality of the oil is Venezuelas problem. It is of such low grade ( not their fault ) that it is exported, mainly, to the USA. Since the USA has been fracking, the demand for this oil has dropped thus, their revenue has dropped. With infrastructure development, Venezuela could refine its own crude oil, but with the Saudi oil price war, revenues are down (less from underproduction than from the price dropping by 2/3). Revenue losses are much more due to the low oil prices than lack of demand. Production is actually above 2010, before the oil price war. Venezuela costs for a barrel of oil are $20, so with oil at $30, it makes $10 a barrel, whereas a few years ago, it was making six times as much per barrel; this explains the loss of revenue, as production has been flat for the past 10 years. Venezuela exports most of its oil not because it is low grade but because it consumes only 1/3 of what they produce. If it refined its oil, it would still export most of it.The oil price war is costly, endangering the social programs which have reduced poverty and malnutrition since the Socialists were elected and thus eroding their popular support. Price wars have not only economic consequences (to lessen competition and ultimately raise prices) but political consequences. However, Saudi Arabia is also very vulnerable to social upheaval if it continues to raise costs (domestic energy up 50%) and cut social programs, on which its public support is based. Russians and Venezuelans know their revenue deficits are externally caused but the Saudis have no one to blame but their own government. My source is:https://www.eia.gov/beta/international/analysis.cfm?iso=VEN which is a proxy in the oil markets for the U.S. Neo-Facists take over the Ukraine and Putin wont just roll over and play ball so the U.S. runs a blame Russia scam in the world media and launches a resource war against Russia with oil price manipulation Saudi Arabian price war also has a lot to do with Iran. Saudi Arabia = foreign policy proxy of the U.S. they dont have any leftists or they would share with the people not horde it at the top The Socialists have taken oil revenue and shared it with the poor, reducing malnutrition and poverty. The hoarding is being done by those with commercial interests in selling at higher prices, or smuggling. Back up ..I never heard of Venezuela having any such problems until Chavez and his goons took over. You sound like youre still in Jr. High School, Oliver. Brainless Bernie Sanders and Horrible Brooklyn Accent? Bernie has done amazingly well in his run for president. Bernie has more fans than you or I ever will and is extremely popular in his home State of Vermont, because he has done an excellent job for many, many years. Bernie is trying his best to work for the good of all the people not just the top 1%. (Most of the candidates are working to get the approval of the top 1% because thats where they get their money to run for president.) While you may disagree with some of his views it does not make you look good to call him brainless or make fun of his accent. Its no worse than a Texas accent or an English accent just different. They based their government spending on the price of oil, which has lost 60+% of its value in the last year. When your entire economy is based on the price of oil, and oil suddenly is worth a lot less, youre not going to have as much money for programs. Same thing happened in Arkansas recently; their tax revenue has dried up due to its reliance on American oil production, which has also been mothballed. Bolsheviks dead centre, then the rest be about right. That is exactly what Hitler said. You HAVE read Mein Kampf and learned well! Fail Doff: The shafting built in to the design YOU have had the Cabals playbook firmly inserted and secured, reading not required when yee be a rear-ended willing sheople. To be sure. Smart asserery as a substitute for rational discourse?Im bored with your games. Dont waste any more of your juvenile nonsense on me. Ruffed Up: The Eagle tends to have that effect on mindless cretins. When you enter the canyon, I suggest at least training wings, dull ruff, your tail gunner troll like posts aint fooling those who well know The Cabalian show. Its not a target of economic warfare. Its having side effects of Natos oil war on russia. However socialism is not helping the country. Its only giving corrupt goverment more power and making it harder to get out of poverty. Venezuela is the target of stupidity and greed alone. And stupidity and greed of the socialist ruling class has taken it down. When they turn to the free market they will right the ship. A facist is not right wing by definition. Those to the right want liberty and the free market. Facist leftists want full governmental control so they can pick over the dead bodies of the people. It is simply slavery vs liberty. Their choice. The Conservatives just won Parliament. The left is always fought the fascists, in Spain, in Russia, in France, and elsewhere. Leftists believe in equality; fascists believe in hierarchy and power. Nearly all the freest economies, on the Heritage Index of Free Economies, are social democracies; they also have the highest civil rights rankings in the world. Your false choices confuse fascism with socialism, liberty with free markets. There will never be liberty for ordinary people until we complete the American Revolution, which was based on equality and consent of the governed. Today, we have neither, but rather the rule of wealth, oligarchy, whose agenda is to transfer public funds to private pockets through austerity and privatization. Liberty and equality are twins; inequality means a master/slave society, the opposite of universal liberty. Im sure you know what youre talking about. Its always something else if socialism shows its ugly truth. The CIA, the neocons, people with free will, liberty, etc. Sorry to shatter your world if thats even possible, but socialism is an inherent flaw of economics. Because governments can not produce anything effectively and what they spend is what they stole from the people first! If they start producing anything its bureaucracy, rules and more rules and so on till the country and economy is in gridlock of a monopolist government trying to rule everything and everybody! Yeah right blah blah blah. Read the thread. My one and only point is considering all the factors. Thats it. Blah blah blow me. Kook. I agree, the way they do socialism is way different from what Bernie Sanders is proposing, this scenario seems more likely to occur if Trump get elected, minimum wage remains below poverty level and people cant afford to prep because theyre living hand to mouth and check to check, already, and I speak from experience, By now I would have 3 or 4 years worth of food, water and supplies stored in a secure, hidden location and many more weapons had the Bush administration not disastrously effected the economy. No, the reforms have not been perfect Really? Bet you just cant wait to vote for Bernie. Okay I give up, you got me, I lied, Im a Chavista troll and a Bernie campaign manager and I want to steal your money and give it to one legged black lesbians, flood the country with immigrants, erect statutes of Lenin and put all economic activity under control of the government. And thats just for starters. well thats what socialism gets you. all socialist states end up starving once they take over food production. just like stalins russia or communist china. history is full of examples of why state controlled economies always fail. Northern Europe has the most socialistic states; they have the greatest median wealth and the highest civil rights rankings. Stalins Russia (by which you mean the USSR: Stalin was not from Russia, and the USSR had twice the population) was not socialist but a form of state capitalism, where the state owned or controlled all the capital, with a ruling class. Real socialism is when the workers own and control the means of production and capital, the opposite of both the USSR and the US,which has a different form of socialism for the rich, whereby the wealthy control the state and economic policy. Communist China today is a form of market socialism, a hybrid your 19th Century economics makes you incapable of understanding, but it has, as a matter of fact, shown the most successful transition from abject poverty in history, with 300 million rising out of poverty in a little over 20 yrs, and China now having the largest economy in the world. To say that China has failed is to ignore reality; they own trillions in US debt, where the median wage has fallen over 40% since 1989, and household income is down over 10% since 1999. chinas economy flourished due to capitalism. particularly in hong kong. its not market socialism. its free trade and free markets. and yes your right american income is in decline, maybe its due to all the statist policies and economic controls in every aspect of our lives along with all the insane regulations and taxes? when the government regulates things down to what kind of toilet i can buy. it also doesnt help that the federal reserve is artificially lowering interest rates to zero and printing the dollar into obivion. but go ahead and tell me how more state control of the economy under socialism is going to save us from the bourgeoisie. stalin wasnt russian this is not an argument. he still was the dictator of the soviet union and enforced socialist policy leading to the deaths of millions of people. lol ussr was capitalist yes because price controls, forced redistribution of wealth, and total control over all economic transactions are totally capitalist. i love the scemantic gymnastics i hear when people tell me their no true scotsman fallacy concerning historical failures of socialist policy. you cant be logically consistant and say thats not true socialism! when historical examples are presented, then turn around and point at corporate fascism in a statist economy and say thats what capitalism really is! i dont think you know what im advocating for, but i come from the austrian school of economics. ya know, free markets and voluntary transactions? not using violence to coerce people into giving up the fruits of their labor. Your lack of knowledge disqualifies you from being taken seriously. its not market socialism. its (SIC) free trade and free markets. Wrong! From Fortune,July 2015: Chinas Global 500 companies are bigger than everand mostly state-owned First, the top 12 Chinese companies are all state-owned. They include massive banks and oil companies that the central government controls through the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the ruling State Council (SASAC), which appoints CEOs and makes decisions on large investments. Of the 98 Chinese companies on the list, only 22 are private. With the government as their largest shareholders, Chinas state-owned enterprises (SOE) enjoy massive state support, which fosters growth and insulates them from competition. That is not capitalism;it is market socialism, or,if you prefer, state capitalism,in which the state owns and controls most of the capital and the markets. state capitalism? State capitalism is usually described as an economic system in which commercial (i.e., for-profit) economic activity is undertaken by the state, where the means of production are organized and managed as state-owned business enterprises (including the processes of capital accumulation, wage labor, and centralized management), or where there is otherwise a dominance of corporatized government agencies (agencies organized along business management practices) or publicly listed corporations of which the state has controlling shares wiki To see rich socialists might mean that socialism does not lead to poverty, as proven by the richest social democracies in Northern Europe, and even Canada, where the average person has more wealth than in the more capitalistic US. It might also indicate fake socialists. It depends on context and definition. As for Chinese imperialism, while China has invaded no one and has a defense budget 1/7th the side of the total US defense budget, and unlike the US, is not bombing 7 nations nor has it started 3 or 4 criminal wars in the past 15 years. Accurate reporting about state capitalism is hardly a defense of communism. My coherence is that if its true, I support it. Truth knows no nationality nor party. Does your keypad not have caps and punctuation? I cannot take you seriously. im a voluntaryist. the trillions in u.s. debt isnt mine. i owe nothing to the state. it has no right to rule me. and no man not a politician nor group of men in a socialist utopia is ever entitled to the fruits of my labor. i own myself. Irrelevant. If socialism was so great they wouldnt need the economic support of countries around them. They can not wage their own economic warfare and expect there to be no consequences. I guess they can expect people to continually blame their failures on someone else. I would bet you have never read one book on socialism by a socialist or taken one class taught by a socialist, meaning your entire perspective is based on ideas from people who oppose socialism. I urge you to educate yourself. Our greatest intellectuals, from Einstein to Orwell, have been socialists. You are unaware that our greatest American intellectuals are also socialists because they are banned from mainstream media. fascism is left wing. learn unbiased history. and dont spout bullshit because everytime you repeat this lie you reinforce it left wing policies are cancerous, throughout history they FAIL! and after their failure their propaganda machine rises and say ooh wait it was a vast right wing conspiracy. Thank you I needed a good laugh yes, you are brainwashed! fascism is nothing more than national socialism with a strong military force. mousilini was in the Italian socialist party. he thought they should be more nationalistic and and be for more military action. so he started his national socialist part with was for use of military force and called it fascist party. so laugh all you want. if you take a cheese sandwich and at tomato and cucumber to it its still a sandwich. Here here! The liberals have been in control for 18 years .the people just woke up late last year, but it looks as if its too late ..nothing can be done Venezuela is a failed state. While I agree the right wing has something to do with the collapse, you cannot avoid the fact that eventually, the incentive to produce goes down the toilet if there is no profit. Yeah Im not advocating socialism, less from an ideological opposition than from the fact that a total centrally planned economy just wont work, for that reason (profit motive) among many. Tying your entire budget for social expenditures to the price of oil probably wasnt the best idea either. That said, theres no denying Venezuela has been the target of economic warfare by the US and co. Look at all the factors is all Im saying. You see when the left takes everything from the people and destroys a country they blame the right every time. EVERY TIME. Economic warfare.what does that even mean? If anything, the government declared economic warfare on the private sector, expropriating thousands of businesses both big and small, domestic and foreign, sometimes without compensationand creating price fixing laws, exchange controls, and other anti-market legislation.the chavista government has no excuse Economic warfare. Youve no idea of the concept? Its a thing. Its a big thing. For Almost ever. So, if you dont even know wtf that is, then you dont know wtf youre talking about. You have to consider all the factors that led to the sh*t situation in Venezuela, thats all Im friggin saying. Govt policies, absolutely. Maybe the collapse in oil prices? And THEN theres the economy being sabotaged by the US and friends. Im afraid youre the one who doesnt know wtf theyre talking about. Economic warfare is a BS excuse made up by the chavista government to scapegoat their own socialist failure, mismanagement and ineptitude; they make a bunch of propaganda accusations without concrete basis, while their failure is plain as day for all to see Its easy to spout off with capitalist rhetoric without knowing anything about Venezuelas oil history or the impoverished living conditions *prior* to the arrival of Chavez. He was forced to exert more control over their oil industry because the *private* managers who were running it were cooking the books and basically robbing Venezuela blind. Prior to the arrival of Chavez, only about 15% of oil profits made it to the state. The rest ended up in foreign bank accounts or the in U.S. He managed to raise royalties to around 40% or 50%, which is why Chavez is so popular with the Venezuelan poor and unpopular with U.S. govt. The oil industry is enormousand the only entities with enough capital to run it are the huge oil multinationals or foreign governments. Third world countries are logically attracted to the government option because their private sectors cannot come close to competing with large established foreign corporations who route profits back to their country of origin. Blame aside, I think the only way to survive as a country, with our independence intact, is for more people to grow their own food. I know its not practical in an urban setting, but you can grow half your food in container gardens if you have limited room. Learn how to be more self sufficient and your dependence on the system is lessened, giving away less control of your life. selfnews Post: Look at the readers comments about this right-wing slanted article. Youre damaging your credibility publishing propaganda like this. It bears repeating selfnews Post: selfnews Post: Look at the readers comments about this right-wing slanted article. Youre damaging your credibility publishing propaganda like this. This article is propaganda, and fraudulent. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I agree: the Western World has NEVER intervened in the affairs of other nations. It just doesnt happen. I join in your fake laughter.hahahahaha. Socialism doesnt work, prepare people something is coming especially when negative interest rates come into affect I DEMAND better that this! selfnews Post you KNOW why Venezuela is out of food. The same reason gasoline is so low and we have deals with other countries to do one thing and one thing onlybut! Sadly that one thing is hurting millions. Whats that one thing? Russia. We (NATO) is trying to break Russia by flooding the oil market and indirectly doing the same thing to Venezuela- break them. Will NOT work with Russia. I read in these posts that some people think this is left wing propaganda. Well, think again. Our Congress passed a law back in 2010 that people couldnt grow veggie gardens in their own yards. This is how people survived during the great depression. As children my parents lived through the depression Our Congress passed a law back in 2010 that people couldnt grow veggie gardens in their own yards The other 95% of the food is exported, thats how. Do the math, if we produce only 5% of our own food, it means the rest is exported, and 95% of ours is IMPORTED. Socialism doesnt work, and democracy is just as bad, when 51% tell 49% what to do. You flunked math, didnt you?. If a country produces 5% of its food, it doesnt mean it exports 95% but that it imports 95%. news.discovery.com reports: Even in a drought year, such as this year, the U.S. produces enough corn to meet domestic needs and export over 1 billion bushels, Hart said. We are also self-sufficient in sorghum, rice, soybeans, eggs, dairy, pork, chicken and turkey meat. And depending on the year, the U.S. is sometimes self-sufficient in beef. Some years we are a net importer of beef, some years we are a net exporter. Democracy is not simple majority rule but a culture which includes basic rights, independent judiciary, a free and diverse press, and an informed and engaged citizenry, as the foundation for majority rule. Do you think minority rule (ie tyranny) is preferable?. You might want to read Mein Kampf, which contains an excellent criticism of democracy. Mussolini also made some great speeches denouncing liberalism and democracy. Were coming for you Dale. Actually, Im very good at math, but even the best of us have a brain fart from time to time. Yes, we IMPORT 95% of our food; but, indeed, we actually grow enough in this country to feed the entirety of our population without having to resort to imports, which is really what I was trying to get out, i.e., we EXPORT most of what we grow. an estimated 15 percent of the U.S. food supply is imported, including 50 percent of fresh fruits, 20 percent of fresh vegetables and 80 percent of seafood. foodsafety.gov Q. How much of its agricultural products does the United States export? A.American farmers export 45 percent of their wheat, 34 percent of their soybeans, 71 percent of their almonds, and more than 60 percent of their sunflower oil. USDA the U.S. agricultural trade surplus widened to $38.8 billion in 2014. USDA (ie US exports more than it imports). The US exports food value at 135 billion; the total value of US food production is about 400 billion (source Statista.com).Imports are about 100 billion. Conclusion: US provides 3/4 of its own food and exports about 1/3 of its production. Congress has made no such law. The author blames socialism for Venezuelas problems, not currency or other financial attacks by international speculators, who are capitalists BTW. While it may or not be a good idea to prep to the degree espoused in the article, it might be a good idea to understand the basic facts of economic warfare, the lack of which undermines credibility. Venezuela has made her OWN BED. Now shes reaping the rewards of embracing her totalitarian philosophy. This is the prize for toleratingnoEXTOLLINGscum such as Hugo Chavez, and then Maduro. When you embrace evilevil embraces you. Venezuela has fair elections; you may not have noticed but the conservatives won in the last election. Chavez brought millions out of poverty and stood up to foreign exploiters, sharing the nations oil revenues with the poor.Why do you embrace lies? Were going to KILL you Dale. Venezuela previously forced a Polar food distribution center in Caracas 6 million liters of soft drinks sounds like the socialists stopped a chemical warfare attack against the population since it is not specified, Im guessing the 12,000 tons of food were potato chips. even if soft drinks and potato chips are unhealthy doesnt liberty mean we can be free to eat it NO! This is what happens when the US overthrows your government! Corporations want the oil!!! Chavez stood up and was poisoned with cancerand the corporatocracy beat goes on. Socialism is the biggest con game for getting people into slavery. You can bet all the fat cats in government and the political elites arent starving or are facing any shortages. Anytime the government tells farmers how to do their jobs and regulate them to death you will affect the food chain. Looks like Greece will be next. Socialism works until you run out of the fruit derived from the Capitalism efforts of other peoples money Store up as much as you want. Thats more for your neighbors and other thieves. At least some of them will have more ammo than you or may catch you off guard when youre sleeping or not at home. You can only help yourselves by helping others. Hunkering down is death. HERE IT COMES! Lets ignore all the countries where capitalism fails (Kenya, Nigeria, etc) and lets ignore all the countries where socialism works great (all of Western Europe, Canada, Australia). There we go. Now we can all live in a conservative bubble where Western Europe doesnt exist and Venezuelas problems are due to socialism rather than massive corruption. Of course, selling the peoples gold isnt corruptionits just elected privilege. Lefties are dumber than a box of rocks. Any system can fail with corrupt leaders. Also Europe,Canada and Australia dont have pure socialism they have a mix of capitalism and socialism. thats different and plus its easiar their where the population is smaller than the USA. The real problem is pure socialism and communism. Socialism has only made Venezuelans problems worse. Socialism does not work its purpose and end goal is always communism. Thats a fact seen through history. Only success stories are countries mixed with capitalism and socialism. In the end any system will fail under corrupt leaders people commenting want to learn the hard way what socialism will do to America. They probably want bernie sanders to give them free everything which will cause bigger debt and greater control for the corrupt goverment. Why cant people learn from history. How about fighting greed and corruption in our current system than promoting socialism. I saw a documentary about Cuba after the Bay of Pigs. When they were boycotted the govt employees were forced to pick up hitchikers and take them to work. Busses became three lengths long like snakes, and everybody became solar heat and energy experts. Women were given the farm money and jurisdiction over what was grown. Put on by city planners- I worked in city planning fora while. The US is doing the same thing to Venezuela that it does to any government it doesnt like, squeeze it until submission or collapse. The same is done with Cuba, Iran, and Russia. The West uses its choke-hold on the global economy to sanction and attack certain governments, then mocks those same governments for being incompetent. Venezuela is selling there food for there national debt! This will be here soon! Socialisms great till you run out of people to pay for it! This is a great shame. This is when people have to start saving their paper money into gold bullion. It is possible to save in small increments. Build your wealth. Theres no shortage, only mismanagement of supply Venezuela is not, currently, a socialist nation and its decline has nothing to do with being socialist. If you want to trace the problems to their root, it began with an idiot military dictator named Chavez who then handed the rains to an uneducated bus driver, Maduro. Unfortunately, mentalities like things will fix themselves have gotten Venezuela into its current situation , along with the lack of support from other nations ( Venezuela has little to no national debt due to its nationalized oil, so world powers, like the US, who invest in the world bank have no interest in helping to stabilize the country * Im not saying its wrong, Im just stating the facts). There has been civil unrest for years, aggressive civilian to military confrontations, and citizens fleeing the nation in the past few years like never before. This is the opposite of what was happening in the nation before chavismo, you rarely found Venezuelans out of their home country due to need. Did Chavez possibly reign in more votes at beginning of his seize for power due to offering more help to the poor? yes. But lets not forgot that socialism in a nation rich with oil isnt a negative and that I know of things like social Heath care help a country in the long run. Or are healthy, happy workers something negative for a good economy? Those oil dollars were meant for better things than foreigners and outsiders getting wealthy on Venezuelan soil and taking that wealth abroad. That oil money was intended to be used to provide healthcare, education and services to better the country. Again, socialism is not Venezuelans economic problem, crap dictators and leaders with hidden agendas are the problem. National Socialism is just Socialism with an added racist twist.no different than Bernie or you, they just dont hide their racism behind rhetoric. Explain why the Nazis put the socialists in the death camps. National Socialsim is as socialist as the Democratic Republic of North Korea is democratic. Bernie and myself would have been sent to the death camps as social democrats by Hitler. He would have given you a medal. how do you explain his domestic policies? All this talk about economic warfare and Saudi oil wars etc. So why does Chile, a country lacking vast natural resources, oil being one of them, have the third highest standard of living in the Americas? Yes, it has copper but that isnt a massive cash cow. Why doesnt Chile have Venezuelas problems despite having a lack of natural means to provide wealth? Other examples include Hong Kong and Singapore, small countries which lack natural resources but dont have Venezuelas problems. The typical dying cry of a socialist. If only we had more. If only people did oppose us. If only Its never the fault of a failed ideology. Oh no, its always someone else. Robert Byrd served much longer. And he was a KKK Grand Cyclops. There is nothing special about Bernie, it just proves that Yankees will vote for any idiot. In addition recovery programs we call it the if onlys. You are so correct, its always someone elses fault. The cry of the faithless. You are articulating the defense of the bully: it wasnt my fault. It wasnt Bushs fault that half a million civilians were killed in the criminal war on Iraq, it wasnt ISISs fault that infidels are beheaded, etc. Blame the victim: the utlimate defense of brutality. Whose fault was it that 4,000 Americans were murdered by Moslems here at home? .and whose fault was it that Moslems attacked US barracks in Lebanon killing our marines, whose fault was it that Moslems bombed the USS Cole .whose fault that was it that Nidal murdered fellow soldiers in Fort Hood and whose fault it was for the San Bernardino murders? Whose fault was it? Bush, who was warned and did nothing? The CIA which knew about most of these hijackers and contact with several? The US for warring on Muslim nations. resulting in creating enemies and a desire for revenge? Who lied about 9/11? Who killed half a million in Iraq, a war based on lies? I totally agree, Dale. And whose fault is it that many Muslim countries are being bombed and the people killed? War is war and there is plenty of blame to go around. If we try to help and understand the differences in each other no matter the religion or sexual orientation or whether they have something we need or not the world is going to be a better place. If however, we have angry people making all kinds of wild claims that the Muslims did this or that or the socialists or the Christians we will continue to kill. Wow.have another glass of wine. I am waiting for the day Americans wake up and realize the country is run by false prophets and religious extremists. I find it appalling that victim nations on their own soil are labeled religious extremists with leaders in the USA invoking God all mighty to justify their lies. Do you deny that the deliberate price war by Saudi Arabia has reduced government revenue in Russia, Venezuela, not to mention Canada, Nigeria, and the US? Do you deny the CIA history of economic sabotage? Do you deny that economic warfare is intended to cripple the economy? BTWl, Robert Byrd apologized a thousand times for his youthful involvement in the KKK and served 45 years as a champion of civil rights with the highest rankings of the NAACP. He joined the Klan in 1944 and quit in 1952. He said he joined because it was anti-communist. He opposed the Klan and fought for civil rights for 58 yrs until he died. Bernie went to jail for civil rights over 50 years ago and has had a consistent progressive message and action, including 25 years in Congress. He was voted a top major in the nation by Newsweek, founded the Progressive Caucus,. has championed veterans rights, minority rights, womens right, gay rights, etc. consistently. He voted against the criminal war on Iraq. He attracts the young and the educated and the progressive. You might be more interested in the KKK, since it has been so opposed to communism. i deny that the saudi arabia had intentions to hit russia or venezuela with the oil price and dont worry, that the cia economic war cant even touch the cocaine fields that chavez defended to badly, cause they are a southern american tradition Carlo, You are pathetic. Try and learn something from someone who is giving you a new educated perspective for what is going on in the world. I cant believe Dale is still hanging in there trying to talk sense to you. I, on the other hand am completely tired of your nonsense and am going to stop. I hope I dont run into your nonsense again. It wastes my time. i hope i will not read your insulting nosense stupid troll Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves .thats something to brag about. Very well said. I agree. Most wealth in Venezuela is still in the hands of the banks and oligarchy. The Conservatives just won Parliament. Oil is 45% of govt revenues and has been decimated by the Saudi oil price war. High murder rates are a result of poverty, which the Socialists have reduced but economic sabotage by the CIA, smugglers, hoarders, and the oil price war have crippled the progress. BTW.the murder capital of the world is Honduras, a nation ruled by the right wing. In 2009, a constitutional crisis culminated in a transfer of power from the president to the head of Congress Countries around the world, the OAS, and the UN formally and unanimously condemned the action as a coup dtat and refused to recognize the de facto government. A mildly leftist President was ousted, and a military dictatorship took over. Rigged elections followed. US continues to offer military aid to the brutal Honduran police. I note you are an anti-semite, anti-leftists: may a recommend the classic on that topic: Mein Kampf? all my reply dont appear, very funny, lets try again and no, to ruin a country economy they way you blabbering, you would need to create a black market for hundred millions the very theory that selling food at lower price can ruin your economy is so hilarious that i have no words BTW honduras is the country with the higest murder rate, caracas is the capital of murders, the city with the higest rate in the world So rich people dont kill people? I dont feel compelled to defend a statement I didnt make. Rich people do kill, usually hiring someone else to pull the trigger. Aristotle nailed it over 2000 yrs ago: Poverty is the parent of crime. All studies show that violent crime is correlated to poverty, whatever the race. Easy access to guns makes the violence more lethal. Nice retort to CarloHGRs comment. you are a total fking moron. Get the government definitions right. Left wing is total control of government. Anarchy or lack of government is the extreme right. A moderate government is a Constitutional Republic like we used to have in the past. The Republican party has many in it who are progressives/socialists and leftists. People who are for a moderate form of government are the small minority in the United States Congress. Price wars are meant to harm all competition. Venezuela, with the largest oil reserves in the world, is obviously competition to Saudi Arabia. The price was is meant to cripple ALL competitors, from Russia, to Nigeria, to Venezuela, to Mexico, to Canada, to the US. Socialism in Venezuela has taken power from the oligarch elites and spread the wealth to the mass of people, including food, education, healthcare, micro-loans to open businesses, and self-government. I honestly think Bernie Sanders is the first candidate in my long life to challenge the status quo and lead by example by refusing to take Big Money. Political revolutions may take a long time (the Civil Rights Movement finally succeeded after hundreds of year trying to end legal segregation by race) but you have to start to begin the process: Sanders is the start, not the end. He is leading. You can either follow or get out of the way. Without defining your terms, denouncing socialism is meaningless, since there are hundreds of strains from state socialism to social democracy to libertarian socialism, which rejects state intervention. If you want to discuss with me, you must define your terms. Voltaire I am a libertarian socialist, going back 400 years to the Levelers in the British Civil War. We reject state and private tyranny. Very well written. You have a lot of great points. I agree with you about Bernie Sanders as well. Your friends in Venezuela do not represent the majority of people. I do not listen to racists who advocate gassing inferior races, as Sir Winston did. There is something wrong with the food supply system in Venezuela: it has been controlled by the oligarchy, using smuggling and hoarding. The wealthiest nations on earth are social democracies. A nation which is sabotaged by the CIA and mostly controlled economically by the oligarchs has to struggle hard to overcome centuries of explotiation, especially since its main source of revenue has been crippled by the Saudi price war. If socialism were the problem, northern Europe would not the wealthiest areas of the world, nor would Canadians have more wealth than Americans. Blaming socialism which is being subjected to a price war (oil) and economic sabotage (CIA and oligarchy) is like blaming the doctor for the disease, while handcuffing him. Get ready for what I believe to be at least part trolls accusing you, like me, of all manner of crazy sh*t , just for NOT blaming socialism for everything. That makes you a hardcore socialist apparently. Never mind its their country and what they voted for in Venezuela- if you dont despise socialism loud and clear, you are the anti-christ come to steal hard working peoples money. Oh, I am used to being attacked by people who are hung up on labels and dogmas. I am, in theory, a libertarian socialist, rejecting both state and private/corporate tyranny and control, but since libertarian socialists are banned from the MSM, most claim it is an oxymoron, tho it has existed for over 150 years and has roots going back to the 17th Centuryit is basically old school original socialism, meaning that workers own and control the means of production, the opposite of both Stalinist Communism and Western Capitalism. Libertarian socialist were the first to promote equality for women, workers rights, etc. I support any party or program which benefits the poor and the ordinary person and reduces the power of the privileged classes, whatever label is attached to it. I hold the view that so long as we are ruled by an oligarchy, we will not have freedom, which requires a basic level of equality to end the master/slave relationship that prevails in almost all economic organizations, corporations, as well as institutions, like schools, etc. My definition of socialism is the expansion of democracy into all spheres of life, democracy being not ust I promote non-hierarchical institutions like non-profits (credit unions, which over 90 million clients), workers coops, ESOPS, and labor unions. I support Bernie Sanders because alone among candidate in my long life, he refuses to take Big Money and is relying on individual contributors with small donations (and some labor unions, which I also support). I reject corporate news propaganda, dogma, and labeling schemes. I refuse to honor arguments using undefined terms like socialism, liberty, tyranny, etc. I support politicians, policies, and programs which help create more equality and more freedom for ordinary people, in a world where 68 billionaries have as much wealth as 3.5 billion people. Wealth is created by society, essentially by labor, and until it is distributed in a way to reduce inequality, socialist parties will likely be in the forefront of the struggle, tho there are many fake socialists as in France and Greece. Today, we have socialism for the rich; I promote socialism for the rest of us, meaning economic programs which benefit all classes of society and most especially the exploited, the poor, the immigrants, the minorities, based on democratic self-government. Democracy is more than majority rule, but a philosophy based on inalienable basic rights, an independent judiciary, free and diverse media, and an engaged and informed citizenry. I promote democracy in all spheres of life, which I define as basic socialismin the community, the workplace, the school, the family. I take being attacked for my independent views as a badge of honor and note that most attackers repeat the fascist dogmas of the past and have no knowledge whatsoever about socialism or alternatives to oligarchic capitalism and its political twin, fascism. (the merging of state and corporate power), glued together with a war economy, repression of alternative views, and massive media/state propaganda as means of control. I read widely in the international press, independent media on the left and right, and actually read books to deepen my knowledge. Those who cant refute me with evidence or logic resort to insults and hacking (as in basketball). I take that as an admission of defeat on their part. I find the more evidence and logic I provide, the more I am attacked, because a strong argument provokes cognitive dissonance in the un and misinformed and thus a strong reaction. On the other hand, I have had up to 106 likes for my posts..so I take the good, the bad, and the ugly with equanimity, as my goal is to learn, to report, and to expose lies and unearth truths, to the best of my ability. I thank you for your comment. I wonder why when Chauves (please excuse misspelling) was in power Venezuela was doing just fine. Could it possibly have something to do with the dark cabal? CIA, Bush and friends? if he was not a socialist how do you explain most of his domestic policies let me name a few. so yeah hitler was a flaming leftist/liberal/socialist KKK is a creation from the leftist parties in america so dont worry about that I hear the Berns saying its because the collapse of oil prices. Why is the success of socialism dependent on FREE MARKET oil prices? If socialism worked it wouldnt be dependent on Capitalism. Geez these people are idiots. what free market? you think that families that have billions of dollars of personal wealth and control of entire markets and entire industries and entire governments are going to subject themselves to any kind of free market? This article is so manipulative. Please, get your facts straight about Venezuela instead of spreading the lies neocons need you to believe. this dude is so out of realty: neocons neocons everywere the only war to democracy is being made by maduro the fact that people like you belives that maduro is democratic is hilarious CarloHGR right, cause you were doing soo great with the neocons that caused the Caracazo. Go spread your lies elsewhere. Ohh and lack of toilet paper aint that big of a drama. Siria and Mexico are dramas. neocons? you speaking about videogames kid? LOL you make no sense With neocon Jaime Lusinchi 1989 so explain how thats socialist to steal from the farmers sounds like fascists to me Crimes are ongoing, bombing in 7 Muslim nations, support for fascist dictatorships in Ukraine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. Most of your post is incoherent, not to mention full of a dozen language errors. im not american, im italian, and writing with a small phone, so mistakes can happen ALCEDO MORA, communist, revolutionary, fought toghether with chavez since 1992, KILLED the moment he said that the local government had corruption problems is this incoherence? i call it proof of dictatorship Carlo yes you are racist. And yes, you are almost incoherent. And yes you are anti semitic! You keep interrupting in the middle of an interesting exchange between people who are knowledgeable, with your utter nonsense Ok English teacher Crimes are ongoing, bombings in 7 Muslims Nations .Is that proper written English? It is if you look at the entire sentence. Be sure to misrepresent an elliptical sentence and ignore the content. I have no idea what you mean. I have been fully grown up for 55 years! Say what you mean or dont waste our time. Then you should know what I mean.experience is the great teacher. Did you read the article? The wisdom that comes with a long life of learning teaches me that your coded bigotry masks thoughts you are too cowardly to express clearly and that you are both rude and ignorant. Coded bigotry? Give me a break. Re: cowardly, rude, ignorant. You are supposed to act like an adult and say clearly what you mean. Guess you didnt read the article Wow, to compare Venezuela to the US, which has the strongest economy in the world, is pathetic. I wont be expanding my pantry any time soon. you need a doctor kid, seriously Venezuela is not a socialist Govt. They can call it whatever they wantbut realistically the US govt is closer to be socialistic than Venezuela. Venezuela is a crony corrupt Govt. Thats where their real failure is. capitalist, socialist, fascist, crony really, it all ends the same. Genesis 47:13 Now there was no [s]food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaohs house. 15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph [t]and said, Give us [u]food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money [v]is gone. 16 Then Joseph said, Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money [w]is gone. 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them [x]food in exchange for the horses and the [y]flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he [z]fed them with [aa]food in exchange for all their livestock [ab]that year. 18 When that year was ended, they came to him the [ac]next year and said to him, We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the [ad]cattle are my lords. There is nothing left [ae]for my lord except our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for [af]food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for [ag]every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaohs. 21 As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypts border to the other. You display not only your inability to write in grammatical form but your ignorance of history: China invaded Tibet in 1950. The Chinese war with Vietnam in 1979 lasted one month was provoked by the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and the Soviet-Vietnam mutual aid pact. Comparing a one month war with perhaps 60,000 casualties with the US involvement in Vietnam with 3 million casualties is hardly relevant. Venezuela, which now has a Conservative Parliament, does not have total control over its own industry In fact, most of its industry is controlled by oligarchs, and current oil prices are dictated not by the government but by the Saudi oil price war. Smuggling of goods in Venezuela is not a conspiracy theory but a fact. You are truly ignorant. economist.com: VENEZUELAS western border is a smugglers paradise. Everything from rice to cement finds its way over the frontier into Colombia. The most lucrative trade of all is in petrol reuters.com: Driven by a deepening economic crisis, smuggling across Venezuelas land and maritime borders as well as illicit domestic trading has accelerated to unprecedented levels and is transforming society. bbc:Could smuggling be to blame for Venezuelas food shortages? I did not say democracy leads to poverty, tho the richest nation on earth, which claims to be a democracy (but in reality is an oligarchy) has the highest rate of poverty of all 35 advanced nations. I find you both illiterate and ill-informed and full of insults. Please do not waste my time. Hugo Chavez and Maduro were and are heroes of the poor people of Venezuela. Its the wealthy elite, supported by much of the media and, of course, the US (who has declared Venezuela a threat to our National Security) who have trashed the countrys economy. Yep Yep .they only have to keep them poor and happy. I once lived under Democratic Socialism and this was the result long lines trying to get food and when you find it the prices were tripled. When I hear Democrats and Bernie Sanders supporters talking, I get really mad. In Venezuela this past week the price of petrol skyrocketed by 5,000 percent (five thousand percent) and they were once an oil rich nation. I am warning Americans .there will be food fights which police will have to break up with tear gas .fight over flour and sugar .just basic stuff. We have over 327 million people here it will not be prettyif Obama, Bernie and Hillary get their way. Gas will be rationed too and you all will be driving around with your little gas container just in case you see gas at a gas station and you can stop and get a little and of course you will be sold a limited amount like say 2 gallons. Its worth mentioning (again) that the Venezuelan currency long ago lost all value beyond their borders. Obviously, foreign suppliers are not willing to trade goods for worthless pieces of paper. Meanwhile, Venezuela is now trading their gold, not for desperately-needed food or medicine, but to service their debt to European bankers. The bankers obviously dont care if people are starving, because debts must be paid. The truth is, there is no difference between the Venezuela currency and the yen, euro, or US dollar. Were just still pretending our colored paper has some intrinsic value. This is not socialism. And the US is a Democratic Socialist State. Like every other developed first world Nation. By their very nature, Dictators are not, and never have been, leftist. There is no difference between the powerful, in this case, a former General, using the poor and stupid to obtain power by promising them a free meal and the Trumps, Kochs and Murdochs of this world, using the poor and stupid, to try and get power, by promising them they can have a modern society with all the trimmings without paying taxes. It takes a brilliant man to be in Congress? You seem to be approaching that level of brilliance. Did you ever consider running for office yourself? Troll alert. It takes a brilliant man to defy the norm, challenge the status quo, be the only democratic socialist in Congress, and survive 25 years as well as leading the nomination process in states that vote Democratic. No member of Congress has ever done this, shunning the money of banks, big corporations, and lobbyists to remain uncorrupted. It takes brilliance to survive as the ONLY uncorrupted anti-establishment nationally elected official for a quarter of a century. Your insulting response ignores the basis for his unique genius as surviving in a corrupt system without being corrupted. You should honor that rare example of honesty rather than waste time with petty insults. Fingerprints for food? Is that true? Please stop the phony comparison between bad government in Marxist-style socialist Venezuela, and Bernie Sanders proposals of things like universal health care insurance for all Americans, paid college tuition, and a minimum wage high enough to survive on. No valid comparison. Yet to this day there are residents there that blindly and strongly support the socialist regime. I imagine the same will be the case in the US if it ever happens here. Some people cant admit theyre on the wrong path till it literally kills them. Socialism doesnt work like communism doesnt work. Not because the theory is flawed. But because people are greedy and corrupt. The ones slicing the pie will always give themselves a bigger slice. People suck. People are NOT starving in Venezuela. This is right wing/CIA propaganda as part of the campaign to mask the successes of socialism and exaggerate the problems which have been created mostly by economic warfare, US funding of right wing opposition, and propaganda. Gulf of Tonkin hoax (Vietnam: 3 million slaughtered); Saddams WMD program (a million slaughtered based on lies); Afghanistan (100,000 slaughtered tho Taliban offered to h and over bin Laden for trial); Libya (most advanced nation in Africa destroyed based on fake humanitarian crisis and lies); Syria (US supports ISIS: 300,000 slaughtered, 5 million displaced) and now, people starving in Venezuela (lie) and the pretext for a coup (conservatives just won legislature, quite rare in a totalitarian dictatorship, eh?) or military aggression to save the starving masses. Just another lie to justify another series of crimes. Welcome to Socialism Always be a light that is .shininginthedark. You need to clean up your grammar before you start telling the rest of us what to think. Actually Democratic Socialism is working well in many countries in the world. Perhaps you would like to read up on how well many Socialist Democratic countries are doing in Europe. Thats exactly what Bernie Sanders is proposing. you need to understand that grammar is a thing, and politic is another Im not impressed with your visiting the USSR and Venezuela. I have visited 83 different countries and lived in 8. You are right, what is important is not your grammar, but the idea that because you have visited Venezuela you now know exactly what went wrong there. Thats a problem. Sanders is not a Communist. He is not even a Socialist. He is a Democratic Socialist. Democratic Socialism is working well in many European countries. I live in Bali currently and have many Australian and Canadian friends who are quite happy with their Free Health Care Systems as well as Free Education. (Thats what Bernie is talking about. If they can do it and its working, lets have a look and try it out ourselves. We are not talking about whether the US should have the exact same kind of government that Venezuela has. (And of course we are not talking about Hitler I hope you arent comparing Democratic Socialism to Hitlers regime.) What we currently have in the US is obviously not working for the poor and the middle class. It does work exceptionally well for the top 1%. But a lot of the rest of the US is suffering. I do not want to live in a country where the Koch brothers and the Waltons of Walmart fame, have figured out how to control our politicians, our banks and our money supplies. I want to live where anyone can work a full day and earn enough to live and support his/her family. I dont want to pay my taxes to support more wars where we can send out young people to kill other peoples children in other countries No, I want my taxes to support free education and health care for all and I dont care what you call it Democratic Socialism or whatever for me, anyone who is down on their luck, we work together to help them back up. NO WAR! But education and a healthy population YES. It s best for our country and its best for the world. Incidentally, Carlo, like you I have traveled extensively in Venezuela. please maybe there is a misunderstand Of COURSE Sanders is a miserable communist. All it takes is a little research and you can see this old senile weirdo was giving speeches to a CommunistPartyUSA front group in the 80s WHILE the Cold War was still going on. This group swore an allegiance to the Soviet Union and the triumph of Soviet power in the U.S. Sanders also had a USSR flag hanging up on his wall for a DECADE in his office while mayor. Sanders, also worked for the communist led UnitedPackingHouse Union (temporarily of course because he was a loser who had no job until he was 40). And he also took his bag lady wife to the USSR on their honeymoon. Who the **** in their right mind takes their wife to the USSR on their honeymoon if you arent a communist? And ALL these other examples prove he is a communist. He wants public takeover of the utility companies, oil companies. He even wants to regulate UBER of all things. Who the **** is this guy where he wont even let people voluntarily except rides from people offering them in exchange for money? Who the **** is this guy to stick his nose in it? Bernie and all his followers need to mind their own damn business. Leave the people alone. We dont care if you are too stupid to put food on your table. Id sooner see you die than have government confiscate my money in the name of helping all the stupid clueless people who cant hack it in the real world. But in the end the govt doesnt even give a **** about your riffraff, they just use you to give you crumbs while they take most of the money. When the sovereign debt crisis and currency crisis hits. It is going to be hilarious watching you idiots starve. Because thats the end game govt has for you useful idiots. Starvation. Do you even hear yourself? Bernie Sanders wants your children to have an education so they comprehend the difference between democratic socialism and COMMUNISM. They are 2 very different systems. Trickle down economics aka crony capitalism is what you have in the USA. According to Princeton, the USA is an OLIGARCHY not a democracy. Not that the US ever was technically a democracy as its a republic. I have read you claim Americans are fat slobs. This is true. However, many Americans like yourself lack brain cells, critical thinking skills and suffer from cranio rectal inversion. Doing the same thing repeatedly which is what people like yourself root for will NOT yield different results. You are braindead. Socialism doesnt work. Freedom and capitalism works. Just ask Lenin, the goal of socialism is communism. Sanders wants my kids to have an education? HAlike the education kids are getting today? Stupid social justice issues with stupid gays stupid racial issues, white privilege nonsense, and stupid gender studies classes that they are teaching kids? Newsflasheducation doesnt come from government. The greatest country in the world was built in less than 130 years with virtually zero government involvement in education. And even people today with money send their kids to private schools instead of the piss poor joke public government schools. Just look at Chicago public schools. ONLY 20% of 8th graders are proficient in reading! And you want government in education? LOL You are right that what we have is crony capitalism. And you know how you get rid of crony capitalism? Follow our great founding fatherss document of the constitution and get government out of the economy with 0% income taxes. Our founding fathers were a lot smarter than you, and communist Bernie. Crony capitalism is banks getting bailed out and corporations getting subsidies, right? WELLit is GOVERNMENT giving it to them. If we took the power out of government by following the constitution, and 0% income tax rate then it would be impossible for banks to be bailed out and it would be impossible for corporations to get subsidies. See how easy that is? The blueprint is already there for us. So people like you are so brainwashed..you actually want bigger government and more taxes, when that is precisely the reason the things you complain about happen. You cry about crony capitalism which is socialism, government paying off banks and corporationsyet you want to make government even more big and powerful. See how backwards you have it? If you made the government small and powerless which is the entire point of America, then the dirty political money stops and no banks or corporations would donate money to politicians because the government wouldnt have the power to dole out money and favors in return. And then the only way banks and corporations could make money is by making responsible loans and offering products that improve peoples lives that they voluntarily give their money to companies for. I sincerely appreciate your post. Its nice to know there are SOME Americans left with an ounce of sanity. I just find it ironic the masses with an IQ above that of a rug moved out. What countries are doing well? Denmark? Sweden? These socialist governments are letting in millions of inbred muslims who are raping their women in the streets. A sweden police chief just told girls Do not go out after sunset or youll be raped. The NY Times (not exactly Fox News) just wrote an article suggesting that Denmark, Norway, and Germany should offer a class to new muslim migrants. The topic of the class? Rape is wrong and unacceptable. These muslim animals dont even understand rape is wrong yet their socialist leaders are currently allowing the next Holocaust in these nordic countries by letting these vermin muslims in. Also, economicallywhen you compare a place like Sweden to the U.S. it is completely stupid. Sweden is smaller than the city of Chicago. Their country is microscopic in size. They have a homogenous culture of like minded people who arent fat slobs like many Americans. They also create absolutely nothing in Sweden or do anything great like Americans do. So what can sort of kind of work in a tiny place like Sweden isnt going to work in a country of over 300 million in America. But it isnt going to work anymore anyway. They are out of money. And they are catering to these filthy disgusting 7th century barbarian muslims who are raping and pillaging. That is what happens when stupid Europeans trust their safety with the government and give up their guns. These nordic countries will be no more in a few years. Now only the inbred muslims and the government have the guns. The next Holocaust has already begun. Most swedes live in big cities, like Chicago. Sweden is also an adavnced, high-income nation. Venezuela is not out of food; nor is Sweden. You missed my point. I was saying that Swedens population is VERY TINY. Swedens population is the same as the Chicagoland area. So what sort of works in Sweden economically, with a like minded, homogeneous, tiny populationisnt going to work in America where you have 330 million people. Many of who are fat slobs, unlike in Sweden. Question? How many of those coutries have millions of illegal aliens?Do other poor countries next to them send their poor with maps on how to get in and apply for assistance? Dale, I agree with and find fascinating your commentaries on what is going on in Venezuela. However, I would disagree with you that all members of Congress are brilliant. Think Texas, Oklahoma and many, many others. They didnt get elected for their smarts! the fact that this ecnomic model didnt work in venezuela doesnt mean it is not going to work in America. Besides what is happening in venezuela has not only roots in its government but in numerous problems, political failures and corruption. Obama is the only one who feels that socialism will work! which is why he forces the American people to pay for medical insurance. Venezuela is not and never was a socialist country. The old oligarchs are still rich. The new rich are new oligarchs too. There was and still is probably ongoing an immense embezzlement of at least $300,000,000,000 (!) , probably much more. Venezuela imports most of what it eats. Imports have plummeted since 2012. US policy has been to do whatever it could to end oil imports. This was made clear over the years. No one in Venezuela who could have done anything to prepare, such as lock up embezzlers, start saving money and build up agriculture did so. Why are there still oligarchs who can distort the economy after 16 years of a socialist government in a country rich in oil, gas, gold, diamonds and coltan? Because whatever you want to call Venezuela, with its whacky for ex system and all, it is not and has not been a socialist country. Shouldnt one pay its debts? Certainly, when I pay my debts it hurts mine own personal economy. Nevertheless, it is simply a matter of justice to give what is due. For one thing odious debt doesnt have to be repaid. There was and still probably ongoing a massive embezzlement from the Venezuelan State and national oil company. Some Venezuelans want a public and transparent audit of the debt. But lets assume that the entire debt is legitimate. Most people will feed their children before they pay off a credit card.Bankruptcy courts would agree that feeding children and buying anti retro virus medication for someone who has AIDS would have priority over any debt. Creditors generally add a risk premium to the interest rate that they charge a borrower on a case by case basis. This reflects the creditors assessment of the possibility of default or of having to take a haircut on a debt renegotiation. Big creditors expect that some portion of the money they lend out wont be repaid in full. Thats part of the game. I, as a creditor, am not playing a game. The basis depends upon the cardinal virtuesin which justice is one. To give a man his due. That is: what is owed to him whether through contract or word of mouth. What is more is that justice is a right because of our human nature. Indeed, there is inherently a risk in lending and most creditors spread that risk over to HONEST debt holders. Nevertheless, lenders (and those who invest) have their own mouths to feed and paying back ones debts according to the terms agreed upon is living up to our nature of justice. There are defaults, bankruptcies and debt renegotiation every day all over the world. Even Donald Trump has utilized the bankruptcy laws to escape from and reduce debts owed by some of his enterprises. We have an entire court system dedicated to debt forgiveness and reduction. Russia and Argentina have defaulted on debts and have lived to tell the tale. Borrowing and lending is a game of sorts. To be guaranteed a winner, dont lend out money. Haha, yesdont lend. Its good advice for you and others. Bankers and bond traders on the other hand, undertake risk in order to make gains. They understand the risks. If they do their due diligence and set their rates accordingly they make out quite well even with a few bad bets, like betting on Venezuela. Id still urge Venezuela to put feeding its people and providing medicine for its Ill and infirm on a higher level of priority than paying these debts, which as I mentioned are at least in part of questionable morality and legality.If I were responsible for the governance of Venezuela I would make sure that not a dime went towards paying an odious debt.I think we each understand the others viewpoint. Is there anything left to say? I dont think so. Actually, I was showing a bit of charity towards you. Is there anything left to say? Well, of coursepay your debts. Indeed there is a risk in lending BUT they lendaccording to law with the expectation that it will be paid back. How hard is that to understand? You borrowpay it back. It is not Venezuelas duty to feed its peopleit is the people themselves duty. They have hands and feet to go about their own business. I dont know where you get this idea of a governance should provide. Where does this idea come from? Perhaps, the Venezuelan people should suckle from your breast until they are weaned. We have life, liberty and a right to property. Nobody has a right to infringe upon that. End of story. Those who lent to Venezuela knew or should have known that virtually all foreign currency that enters the country is via the national petroleum company, which by the way was nationalized long before the advent of Chavez. They knew or should have known that Venezuela had no savings. They knew or should have known that the government allocates the dollars that enter the country. They knew or should have known that the Venezuelans dont produce their own food. They knew or should have known that the United States was determined to become energy independent on that spelled disaster ahead for Venezuela. And so they added a risk premium to the interest rate they charged. Meanwhile both the Socialist government and the opposition agree with you that paying the debt is more important than feeding the people. The problem will arrive for the creditors when Venezuela has sent its very last dollars out of their country. Or perhaps now that the government has set up a new system, since this article was written. The new system gives the governing party direct control over who gets the little thats still being imported. This might cause the pro US opposition a problem as their own supporters start starving to death quite literally while government supporters still eat. You assume the banks arent committing huge fraud with these so-called loans. The 1933 bankruptcy of United States changed everything. There is no money. Your promise to pay is supposed to be the payment. If the banks werent criminal then it would be so. The banks are defrauding people daily by not playing according to the real rules. Please read the Walker Todd affidavit. Let a FED attorney explain to you how the system is supposed to work. You can also read Modern Money Mechanics. People assume the system is functioning like its supposed to. Its not at all. If you are in the lending business you are going to have a loss now and then. You dont understand odious debt. Look it up. You assume that the banks are legitimate. Thats a huge assumption to make. You need to research the criminality and fraud of the central banks. Check out the Walker Todd affidavit. There is no money. All of this talk of debt is a fraud. Its central banks shuffling to defraud the people of more of the worlds wealth and real assets. A quick review. Venezuela was once controlled by the rich, just like the US is today, while at the same time, the country also suffered one of the highest poverty rates of any 2nd-world modern nation. Did we all read that the State of California, 37 million people, has a poverty rate of 23.8%, almost as bad as the poverty rate was when Lyndon Johnson passed his Great Society program back in 1965, and also a rate more than double what the rate was when Bill Clinton left office? Did we all know that California also is home to 131 billionaires too? The problem when you have a limited money supply is that for every billionaire more than 100,000 people must live below the poverty line Now back to Venezuela. Under President Chavez the government of Venezuela nationalized their oil industry and made some other changes that forced the neoliberal wealth addict crowd to pay their fair share, which caused many of Venezuelas wealthy to move offshore. Even so President Chavez did an amazing job running a socialist economy as poverty was nearly eliminated under his guidance. However, all those neoliberal wealth addicts offshore teamed-up with the US government and with Hillary Clinton to try to crush Venezuelan socialism and hopefully retake the oil fields there. This is the same crowd that imposed murderous military dictatorships in Brazil and Chile in 1964 and 1973 respectively, as well as in Guatemala in 1954, and in Iran in 1953, as well as even eradicated liberal capitalism in every other country in Central America too, in several, repeatedly in-fact. Anyway, to make a long story much shorter, the magic that President Chavez instituted came to a screeching halt after the US, working with its Arab OPEC partners, managed to crush the wholesale price of oil, not only in Venezuela, but also affecting Russia and several other countries very dependent on oil sales, all because our wealth addicted neoliberals are still mad that Venezuela hasnt been ground into the mud yet nearly enough. Our wealth addicts want the citizens of Venezuela willing to lick their neoliberal boots and beg for neoliberalism to come back and throw half the countrys citizens back into giant ghettos, just to end US neoliberal-imposed hunger and deprivation, and so far the people of Venezuela arent buying it, so my guess is that we will see this problem continue to worsen, especially if Hillary Clinton, neoliberal herself, is elected to our Presidency. I have learned many things from reading all the comments. Not sure what the real truth is but to see the possibilities of plausible reasons is food for thought. All I know on a personal level are the 4 children from 2 families who were in my summer camp(it was free) who left Venezuela they said because of the lack of food. I never got discuss with the Mom, as I do not speak Spanish. 