Posted on 11/09/2013 10:52:02 AM PST by DanMiller
It's a shame, because Venezuela is a beautiful country. However, both stuff and freedom are in short supply and there appears to be more interest in stuff than in freedom,
My wife and I arrived at a splendid marina, Mare Mares in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela in (as I now recall) November of 1996 and remained there until we sailed to the island of Bonaire about a year later. We generally returned to Venezuela -- a pleasant overnight sail with the wind from abeam -- every six months or so to stock up on booze and fuel at very low prices. We then often explored inland for several weeks. Later, we lived in Puerto Cabello (aka Puerto la Grunge), while the Venezuelan Navy worked on our sailboat. Since we were stuck in Puerto Cabello for several months, we took advantage of the situation and did more touring inland. The prices at the navy base were not bad but the workmanship was grossly incompetent; nearly everything that we had done there had to be ripped out and replaced when we got to Cartagena, Colombia; the work done there was of exceptionally good quality and less expensive than at the Venezuelan Navy base.
While the Venezuelan countryside is beautiful and the people were generally pleasant, we saw the consequences of an extremely poor "education" system. A Venezuelan friend (an attorney and fellow sailor) suggested that the incompetence of the system was intentional. Learning was generally by rote and even then I sensed that most Venezuelans were more favorably disposed toward stuff than toward freedom; there were exceptions, but few. A difference between then and now is that then they had more stuff as well as more freedom than now.
Recently, criminal violence -- not a significant problem except in the barrios -- when and where we were, often in Caracas, has increased. This video is about a year old; the situation continues to worsen
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2uoMlBvp2k&w=640&h=360]
Hugo Chávez was elected President of Venezuela in 1999 and continued until his death in 2013. Beginning as rather a moderate, he became a whimsical if not insane dictator over time. I wrote about that here and here. This photo summarizes the situation.
It's MY little constitution and I'll do as I please.
[
This cartoon also makes the point. Venezuelans, who have been unable to buy even barely minimal quantities of toilet tissue for months, have about as many freedoms as they have pieces of toilet tissue. While in some cases they could use newspapers, newsprint has become very scarce.
Barinas-based newspaper De Frente on Monday informed readers it had run out of newsprint and stopped printing for a few days. The paper returned to newsstands Thursday, but its publisher says it only has enough inventories to print for another week.It's the fifth regional newspaper to stop printing since July as 50 percent inflation and restrictions on dollar purchases to stave off devaluation make it difficult to import paper and other basic supplies. Even better-financed national publications have had to reduce page count and number of copies sold.
Might they use the Venezuelan "strong Bolivar?" It's not much more valuable than toilet tissue or newsprint
All of the above brings us to a November 9th post by my favorite Venezuelan blogger still living there, Daniel Duquenal (nom de plume), who posts at Venezuela News and Views. The article is titled Desperation News and Views and the lede is as follows:
So what is a regime that got handed the news of 5% inflation for a single month, whose main "evil" opposition leader is received by the Pope, when a "spontaneous" multigathering protest is convoked for today, that cannot hide the increasing low key riots for food, to do? It decides to sack a major electronic store chain.Maduro ordered yesterday to seize the 5 stores of Daka, an overpriced, but then they all are, electronic/appliance chain. Allegedly the stores will be forced to recalculate their "costs" and sell all their appliances at "just price". We assume of course that the militia and Nazional Guard in charge of the organized semilooting will be served first. Maybe even for free. Which does not stop a country of "lambucios, from the regime or the opposition, to rush to the store to take a turn in the line and be the first ones to shop when they open again. Maduro conoce su ganado we would say in Venezuela, Maduro knows his cattle.
Please read the entire sad story.
Will the situation get better anytime soon or continue to worsen? Perhaps Zeus knows, but I don't.
The new Venezuelan Ministry for Supreme Happiness seems unlikely to help unless it plans to disband the Government and deport all Cuban "advisers." Although that seems quite unlikely, it is probably about the only possible source of even a modicum of happiness, let alone "supreme happiness," for most Venezuelans. The author of the linked article suggests,
In the latest move by the Maduro Government, the Vice-Presidency for the Supreme Social Happiness of of the Venezuelan people was created this week. While many have laughed at the idea, I disagree. I think this office was badly needed and will play an important role in celebrating life in Venezuela and making its citizens happy.While there have been no details as to what the office will do, I can think of so many ways that it can celebrate and promote the happiness of all Venezuelans, particularly by pointing out happy events around the country, of which there are so many.
As an example, the Vice-Ministry could make sure to interview on TV anyone who managed to buy a package of corn flour, which has become one of the supreme moments of any Venezuelan’s life in the the last few months. And even if you think that finding toilet paper is another such happy moment, the Vice-Ministry could celebrate not only the finding of the roll of toilet paper by those citizens that lacked it, but more importantly recreate the moment of supreme happiness that represents using it for the first time after not having any for a while.
That might help if at this point anything can. Still, I suspect that there will be even more "supreme" unhappiness until something better comes along. Strangely, stories of ObamaCare and losses of medical insurance coverage in the U.S. come unbidden to mind. I wonder why.
Even worse when it’s your own, right here.
Yes it is I will miss the United States of America too
My fear is that America is now the same way.
We’re liquidating our country for cheap stuff from China.
And our people aren’t educated enough to even realize it.
America is slowly dying and what’s left will be replaced by an oligarchy. What am I saying? America is being run by an oligarchy. We are being morphed into a banana republic without the bananas.
We make nothing here of importance and soon we’ll not only be sporting Chinese light bulbs throughout our homes, but our freezers will be full of Chinese chicken and pork.
Bump
I never thought I’d be hearing, or saying that in my lifetime.
A glimpse into our future.
Yes, it is. Venezuela serves as a horrible example and, to the extent that we fail to understand what happened there and how, the chances of something similar happening in the United States increase.
The inevitible outcome when you have THE NON-PRODUCERS trying to tell the PRODUCERS what to do. If you can imagine the FOREIGNERS LEFTIST REGIME having cart blanche power to ruin this country you have Venenzuela
Yeh a sneak peek at our own future I’m sorry to say.
It’s tremedously upsetting, and there really can be no mistake (”make no mistake”) that it’s a deliberate, orchestrated plan that isn’t going to be happy until the plan is complete. It isn’t a nudge.
DM you said:
“Venezuela serves as a horrible example and, to the extent that we fail to understand what happened there and how, the chances of something similar happening in the United States increase.”
I would rewrite that to say “Venezuela serves as a perfect example and, to the extent that half the population not only fails to understand what happened there and how, but actually welcomes and embraces it, the chances of something similar happening in the United States approach unity eg; a certainty.”
An interesting game would be to try substituting words, cities, or communities we are familiar with for "Venezuela" in the first sentence above.
Urban ghettos, Detroit, East L.A., Chicago South, Cleveland, Baltimore... it's too easy.
(and too disheartening)
What can we do? Our biggest problems are lack of
1) character
2)faith and attitudes
3)education and reasoning skills
of ~50% of our population
Without a major correction in all three areas, any political reprieve will be very temporary, and we will continue our downward slide.
So how do we correct these systemic problems within the American people?
Don’t be ridiculous. We are NOT becoming another Venezuela.
No, it’s Greece.
First of all: I consider correcting that much stuff to be darn near impossible. We could get into a long discussion here, but quite simply, faith and character are at root personal choices. Whether religion-based or karma based or however-based, individuals must ultimately make the choice as to whether they are going to leave their fellow man alone and be willing to tolerate small annoyances without going crazy, and hope that the other around him/her will extend the same courtesy....or are they going to be predators willing to kill or steal upon the slightest glimmer of opportunity. And it *is* a courtesy...unless it’s a commandment, as in the societal and behavioral dictates in a religious regime such as in an Islamic country.
We have Mark Levin’s suggestion as to methodology under Article 5. I have my skepticism as to whether that will be functional.
My suggestion? You’ll laugh.
Let’s take 5 non-contiguous states. 5 out of 50. In those 5 states, reduce regulations in favor of entrepreneurism and capitalism.
Abolish 0care and return healthcare as much as possible to a cash system. Roll back EPA regulations to about 1980. Abolish unions, in any case abolish public sector unions.
Enforce a balanced state budget. Etc; Those states would have to contribute on an ongoing basis to the social security fund and all the existing gov’t entitlement programs but only to the extent now extant, with a 1/2 of 1% p/a annual cap on expansion over any per capita increases. (I would imagine people would FLOCK to these states, but maybe I am delusional)
Those states would have elections, but there would be no Democrats on the ticket. It would understood: You live here, your leadership are 8-year limited Constitutionalists, period end of subject. Any Democrats living in those states would be eminent domained out and compensated at fair value for their land/businesses should they choose, or, they could stay, they would just have no (D) candidates to vote for.
And let’s just perform a ten year experiment with 10% of the states and see where we end up.
It would be a regulatory secession.
See-Argentina 1946-present
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