Starvation, horror in Venezuela

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

13 minutes ago, Eodmatt said:

Oh and by the way, the latest physics thinking is that mass is just strings of energy (google eyed smiley).

Dang, I'm having a really hard time keeping up with the competing Science and Universe Theories these days.

[Eodmatt + 114]

But you have some very persuasive arguments! 

[Epic + 390]

19 hours ago, Eodmatt said:

*Own up. How many of you searched for naked yoga on youtube after reading that?

I don't dare!  With my luck, what would pop up is a 300 lbs. hairy dude named Chuck doing down-dog...and there is no "unsee" button on my keyboard. 

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

2 hours ago, Epic said:

I don't dare!  With my luck, what would pop up is a 300 lbs. hairy dude named Chuck doing down-dog...and there is no "unsee" button on my keyboard. 

So you did the search?  LOL!  Now, don't think about a purple banana, ok?

[Eodmatt + 114]

Heh heh, you too, Dan! 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

I submit that the implementation of Socialism was the primary cause for the downfall of Venezuela.  

Some parts of this article I generally agree with, some I don't, but though it was interesting.

The Pundits Still Don’t Understand Venezuela

There is no denying that Venezuela was more stable in the past decades, but the seeds of its very undoing were planted during those glory years. Ultimately, creation of the petro-state helped facilitate this decline.

From Free Market Oil to State-Owned Oil

Contrary to popular belief, Venezuela’s previous prosperity was not just based on its oil endowments. From the early 1900s up until the 1960s, Venezuela enjoyed high degrees of economic freedom — low regulations, low taxes, sound property rights, and a stable monetary policy. These factors played a major role in cementing Venezuela’s status as one of the richest countries in the 1950s on a per capita basis.

But several troubling trends emerged after 1958, when Venezuela returned to democracy. First, the Venezuela government established a new constitution which granted the State considerable powers over economic affairs. This political order would be cemented through the Punto Fijo Pact — a bipartisan agreement between the two political parties Acción Democrática (Democratic Action) and COPEI (Christian Democrats).

Both parties believed that the State could take petroleum revenues and channel them into generous welfare programs. For them, Venezuela would not be a truly independent country until the government had complete control over its oil reserves.

... Although oil nationalization did not result in an immediate collapse, it opened the door for Venezuela’s economic decline.

... The problem lies in the institutions themselves, which destroy the profit motive and lack any meaningful system where proper economic calculation can be made.

[Eodmatt + 114]

And then there was Peru. In the case of Peru it was sugar and things. And the government nationalised everything and "gave it all to the people". And the government saw that it was good Marxism. And lo, the whole country went to hell in a small bowler hat and the chief export became poverty.

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

On 8/23/2018 at 10:04 PM, Jan van Eck said:

You people are reading Breitbart News?   For real?  

Not for long, it seems.  Breitbart is being targeted for censorship by the far left Mainstream Media.  Yes, I do indeed consider CNN to be "far left Mainstream Media" - those are my own words for CNN, and obviously many will disagree with me.

CNN Targets Breitbart As 'Hate News,' Pushes Advertiser Boycott

"CNN has set their sights on Breitbart after successfully getting Infowars banned and deplatformed from nearly all social media last month.

CNN host John Avlon Sunday on "Reliable Sources" suggested Breitbart was "hate news" and conducted a glowing interview with Sleeping Giants founder Matt Rivitz who has allegedly managed to get 4,000 advertisers to pull their ads from Breitbart's website.

... CNN has likely been the number one benefactor of Big Tech's mass censorship of right-wing and independent news sources as Google, YouTube and Facebook have rigged their algorithms to help artificially inflate their reach.

... 

Just last month, CNN opinion contributor Rafia Zakaria said the banning of Alex Jones and Infowars was the first step towards criminalizing "hate speech" as "a form of terrorism."

Zakaria said the decision to ban Alex Jones was "a step forward in recognizing that hate outlets, such as InfoWars, are complicit in domestic terror."

While these fake news propagandists love to act like President Trump is threatening the free press, CNN, Big Tech and the rest of establishment media who back these Stalinist purges are the greatest threat to the free press America has ever known."

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

6 hours ago, Tom Kirkman said:

 

Just last month, CNN opinion contributor Rafia Zakaria said the banning of Alex Jones and Infowars was the first step towards criminalizing "hate speech" as "a form of terrorism."

 

Tom, you Are getting way off topic.  This thread discussion is about "Starvation, horror in Venezuela."  Drifting off to CNN, Zakaria and Alex Jones is getting way afield. 

The issue that remains is: how does the West  (which boils down to the USA) deal with the failed state of Venezuela?  Or, does the West do nothing  (as it did with Sarajevo), watch thousands or millions die, and then watch the rebuild cost vast sums of fresh capital? 

The West could say:  "Not my house; you go fix your own house; you want to elect that bus driver and sit around as he and his Cuban pals loot the treasury, hey, your problem, not mine."   OK, the West can say that.  But then what?

The vast flood of refugees out of Syria does not inspire much confidence.  How are the Americas going to cope with twenty million refugees streaming out of Venezuela?  It cannot manage even with only ten thousand.  These are serious questions for the West to address.

I propose to in effect split the country, take over the East which is lightly defended, and let the example of intervention and restoration motivate Caracas to throw off the Chavistas.  Maybe that works; maybe not.  Either way, a lot cheaper than going in later.  Does the West wait until the place is totally reduced to rack and ruin?