Posted on 01/28/2019 8:56:52 AM PST by george76
In the age of A.O.C., the lesson must be learned again.
Conspicuous by its absence in much of the mainstream news coverage of Venezuela’s political crisis is the word “socialism.” Yes, every sensible observer agrees that Latin America’s once-richest country, sitting atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves, is an economic basket case, a humanitarian disaster, and a dictatorship whose demise cannot come soon enough.
But … socialist? Perish the thought.
...
the Venezuelan regime’s admirers used to speak of “21st century socialism,” as it was dubbed by Hugo Chávez. The late Venezuelan president, said Britain’s Jeremy Corbyn, “showed us there is a different and a better way of doing things. It’s called socialism, it’s called social justice, and it’s something that Venezuela has made a big step toward.” Noam Chomsky was similarly enthusiastic when he praised Chávez in 2009. “What’s so exciting about at last visiting Venezuela,” the linguist said, is that “I can see how a better world is being created and can speak to the person who’s inspired it.”
...
New York University professor Greg Grandin opined, “the biggest problem Venezuela faced during his rule was not that Chávez was authoritarian but that he wasn’t authoritarian enough.”
At least Grandin could implicitly concede that socialism ultimately requires coercion to achieve its political aims; otherwise, it’s human nature for people to find loopholes and workarounds to keep as much of their property as they can.
...
in the age of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez it has to be explained all over again. Why does socialism never work? Because, as Margaret Thatcher explained, “eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
...
Twenty years of socialism, cheered by Corbyn, Klein, Chomsky and Co., led to the ruin of a nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This is from the NYSlimes? How did that happen?
And Bret is a HUGE ANTI-TRUMPER!
Yeah, but she and burnee know how to do it the “right” way.
But that is not REAL socialism. Socialism hasn’t been done right yet.
Holy cow I just read that in the New York Times, that socialism is bad - the censors must all be out with the flu today.
Bret Stephens is their token “conservative.” He’s not really conservative but he’s not a socialist either. And every now and then he writes a piece like this to remind folks.
No, no, nobody understands. It was just that the RIGHT people were not in charge of the socialist transformation of Venezuela.
They needed an enforcer like Che Guevara to set the system up right, and stick to the program. These half-measures of proceeding at less than full-on suppression of the bad behavior of the Resistance that does not accept the true benefits of Socialism are doomed to failure, every time.
Power grows out of the barrel of an AK-15. Chairman Mao said that, so it must be true.
I think it is head fake.
Like when all the newspapers endorsed Romney instead of Obama.
My first thought.
Calling it a socialist catastrophe is redundant. Would the NYT call China and Russia catastrophic after murdering a hundred million between the two? Or are they the success stories?
Screw Venezuela and the New York Slimes, ya can’t rehabilitate socialists.
Even the NYT is smelling the smell.
Anyone got any fresh VZ quotes from Penn or Glover?
You are Hugo Chavez.
You are an Officer in the Venezuelan military.
You take stock of your life.
You’ve gone about as far as you can go in the Venezuelan military.
What has this given you?
An economy car, an apartment, an unhappy wife.
You would like a private plane, a mansion, and a wife who is too busy gloating about being rich to notice your girlfriends.
You want more stuff.
Just this morning, some jackass in an old beater pulled out in front of you and flipped you off when you honked the horn at him.
You can make Soldiers do push-ups, but you can’t drag this scrawny bird-waver out of his old wreck and put a bullet through his brains because he dared offend you.
You want more power.
Government shutdown.................
There is someone over there at NYT who once in blue moon has a glimmer of understanding of when the NYT is about to look really stupid to all but the farthest fringe and says something to disassociate NYT from the screaming Bolsheviki..
So how do you, Hugo Chavez, get more stuff and more power?
You could invent something.
Not likely.
You could rob a bank.
On the run forever. Nope.
You could develop a new way of living that everyone would pay you for.
Nope. They didn’t teach that in school.
You could start blasting people you don’t like.
They might blast back.
You have to come up with a way to acquire wealth and power without ending up in jail or dead and with lots of people helping you.
Hmmmmmmmm?
Yeah, but she and burnee know how to do it the “right” way.
Whether it was the Soviet Union (including the murderer of literally millions—Stalin who was supported by the black singer Paul Robeson), the mass murderer Mao in China (whom the antiwar and hippie crowds idolized and carried his stupid Little Red Book), the bloodthirsty Fidel Castro ( a Pete Seeger and Greenwich Village folkie favorite with posters of him and Che on dorm room walls), or Venezuela and other various socialist workers paradises around the world———that communism or socialism just needs a little tweaking.
Ignorant little Millenials and suburban college graduates have been taught all these decades that white supremacist males ruined our country and need to be weeded out. “The Future Is Female” and “Don’t listen to Men” are on placards in marches.
The Jaycee creed says, “We believe that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise.” This is the basic fact one needs to learn about economic justice which the socialist have begun to refer to as social justice. It is the absolute truth in this simple statement that enabled the United States of America to surpass all other nations in the standard of living afforded its citizens. Compared to the lengthy history of the world, this was accomplished with lightening speed. It is also the reason why so many millions want to gain entry (legal or illegal)into our nation.
There is only one flavor of socialist ice-cream, and that’s shit-flavored.
But the likes of AOC and Sanders will offer it in cones, cups, dishes, with whipped cream, etc... and tell you its something new.
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