Venezuela was my home, and socialism destroyed it

[Warlord]

https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1098626025792176130

 

[Anti Globalist]

Socialists in America be like "That wasn't real socialism."

 

[timosman]

Socialists in America be like "That wasn't real socialism."

Do as we say, not as we do.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Socialists in America be like "That wasn't real socialism."

Exactly. Always the lame excuse. Plus they like to redefine terms.

 

[angelatc]

Socialists in America be like "That wasn't real socialism."

Liberals on RPF be like "He's a CIA plant."

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Venezuela was my home, and socialism destroyed it. Slowly, it will destroy America, too.
While neither 'Medicare for All' nor a wealth tax will turn America into Venezuela overnight, all it would take is a series of catastrophic policies.

The first time I couldn’t buy food at the grocery store, I was 15 years old. It was 2014 in Caracas, Venezuela, and I had spent more than an hour in line waiting. When I got to the register, I noticed I had forgotten my ID that day. Without the ID, the government rationing system would not let the supermarket sell my family the full quota of food we needed. It was four days until the government allowed me to buy more.

This was fairly normal for me. All my life, I lived under socialism in Venezuela until I left and came to the United States as a student in 2016. Because the regime in charge imposed price controls and nationalized the most important private industries, production plummeted. No wonder I had to wait hours in lines to buy simple products such as toothpaste or flour.

And the shortages went far beyond the supermarket.

My family and I suffered from blackouts and lack of water. The regime nationalized electricity in 2007 in an effort to make electricity “free.” [They are trying to do this in California. - B4L] Unsurprisingly, this resulted in underinvestment in the electrical grid. By 2016, my home lost power roughly once a week.

Our water situation was even worse. Initially, my family didn’t have running water for only about one day per month, but as the years passed we sometimes went several weeks straight without it.
...
The welfare programs, many minimum-wage hikes and nationalizations implemented by their regimes resulted in a colossal government deficit that the central bank covered by simply printing more money — leading to rampant inflation. Now, prices double every few weeks, and the standard of living continues to plummet.

I watched what was once one of the richest countries in Latin America gradually fall apart under the weight of big government.
...
Though so many of us Venezuelans fled to the USA to escape from the destructive consequences of socialism, liberal politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. José Serrano, D-N.Y., have praised the same kind of policies that produced famine, mass exodus and soaring inflation in Venezuela.
...
Additionally, many congressional Democrats support Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, proposals that would nationalize the health insurance industry, guarantee everyone who wants it a job and massively raise taxes, increasing government intervention in the economy like few countries except Cuba and Venezuela have seen before. Proponents think that they can give all Americans quality health care, housing and everything for free and that somehow, politicians can do a better job at running a business than the business owners themselves.

These proposals would skyrocket the budget deficit and national debt, which just reached a record $22 trillion. If that is not enough, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed paying for the proposal by asking the Federal Reserve to print money. This is exactly what produced Venezuela’s nightmare.
...
More: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opin...-bernie-sanders-ilhan-omar-column/2861461002/

 

[juleswin]

I love this line the most

I can assure Mr. Krugman that I’m neither uninformed nor dishonest

Because if he was uninformed or dishonest, he would know this and let us in on it. A man wh was born during the so called socialist regime has no historic context to judge the situation. I am sure a similar teen who supports Chavez can write such a dishonest article where he doesn't mention anything about socialism and only talks about US and its sanctions expecting me to believe the garbage.

Anyone that talks to you about mixed economy Venezuela without mentioning US meddling(sanctions, multiple coup attempts etc) is a fraud, ignore everything they have to say about Venezuela and move on. They are trying to bamboozle you.

 

[Swordsmyth]

I love this line the most



Because if he was uninformed or dishonest, he would know this and let us in on it. A man wh was born during the so called socialist regime has no historic context to judge the situation. I am sure a similar teen who supports Chavez can write such a dishonest article where he doesn't mention anything about socialism and only talks about US and its sanctions expecting me to believe the garbage.

Anyone that talks to you about mixed economy Venezuela without mentioning US meddling(sanctions, multiple coup attempts etc) is a fraud, ignore everything they have to say about Venezuela and move on. They are trying to bamboozle you.

"It's not real socialism"

Right on cue.

 

[Anti Federalist]

"It's not real socialism"

Right on cue.

"He's a CIA plant"

Right on cue as well.

I know more than few people in the oil business who have had a front row seat to the swirling toilet bowl of Venezuelan socialism.

 

[AngryCanadian]

Sanctions destroyed Venezuela before socialism polices could even take roots. Sanctions had being place on Venezuela three times.

on't believe me?
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/programs/pages/venezuela.aspx

Its clear Rand Paul is not like his father when it comes to regime changes, when in fact Rand Paul is on supporting a regime change in Venezuela.

 

[juleswin]

"It's not real socialism"

Right on cue.

You know, I have liberal friends who tell me that we have tried capitalist healthcare system in this country and it has failed, they say its time to try socialism. They say the same thing you tell me when I try to explain to them that what we had is not real capitalism, it is a mixture of socialism and capitalism.

You should know better but I have to say that I am not surprised that you are just as ignorant and partisan as my liberal friends. Carry on believeing that Venezuela doesn't have a mixed economic system, I don't think I have the mental fortitude to cure you of your ignorance.

 

[juleswin]

Sanctions destroyed Venezuela before socialism polices could even take roots. Sanctions had being place on Venezuela three times.

on't believe me?
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/programs/pages/venezuela.aspx

Its clear Rand Paul is not like his father when it comes to regime changes, when in fact Rand Paul is on supporting a regime change in Venezuela.

Rand Paul is at best average when it comes to foreign policy. This is a man who to this day still believes that the historic feud between shia and sunni is the main cause of the Syria war, a man who voted for Iran sanctions. The man looks good on foreign policy only because just about everybody else is horrible on the issue. I would hope Rand works on eradicating the socialism in this country before trying to stick his dirty nose in a places it doesn't belong.

Unfortunately for all of us, Rand Paul is definitely no Ron Paul and nt even close

 

[Swordsmyth]

You know, I have liberal friends who tell me that we have tried capitalist healthcare system in this country and it has failed, they say its time to try socialism. They say the same thing you tell me when I try to explain to them that what we had is not real capitalism, it is a mixture of socialism and capitalism.

You should know better but I have to say that I am not surprised that you are just as ignorant and partisan as my liberal friends. Carry on believeing that Venezuela doesn't have a mixed economic system, I don't think I have the mental fortitude to cure you of your ignorance.

Pure capitalism is capitalism, anything else is some degree of socialism.

But Venezuela isn't even a "mixed economy" if you want to invent that category, they are a socialist country with small amounts of vestigial capitalism, even the USSR and Mao's china had vestigial capitalism because life just doesn't work without capitalism.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Sanctions destroyed Venezuela before socialism polices could even take roots. Sanctions had being place on Venezuela three times.

on't believe me?
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/programs/pages/venezuela.aspx

Its clear Rand Paul is not like his father when it comes to regime changes, when in fact Rand Paul is on supporting a regime change in Venezuela.

Socialism was destroying Venezuela long before there were any sanctions, they have been socialist since Bolivar, Chavez and Maduro only made things much worse and even the sanctions on them didn't do nearly the damage that socialism did, they had plenty of help from Cuba, Russia, China and other anti-western countries to compensate for the sanctions.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Socialism was destroying Venezuela long before there were any sanctions, they have been socialist since Bolivar, Chavez and Maduro only made things much worse and even the sanctions on them didn't do nearly the damage that socialism did, they had plenty of help from Cuba, Russia, China and other anti-western countries to compensate for the sanctions.

LOL

Angry Commie negged me for daring to disagree with him.

 

[juleswin]

Pure capitalism is capitalism, anything else is some degree of socialism.

But Venezuela isn't even a "mixed economy" if you want to invent that category, they are a socialist country with small amounts of vestigial capitalism, even the USSR and Mao's china had vestigial capitalism because life just doesn't work without capitalism.

Isn't it awfully convenient for your side to categorize everything with a hint of socialism as socialist while nothing system is capitalist? sort like the 1 drop rule but with economies. Sorry but the same way a half golden retriever, half alsatian dog cant be called an alsatian, that is the same way a mixed economic system can't be refered to as capitalist nor socialist. Everything doesn't have to be black or white.

So when people say Venezuala is not real socialism, there is a good reason for that.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Isn't it awfully convenient for your side to categorize everything with a hint of socialism as socialist while nothing system is capitalist? sort like the 1 drop rule but with economies. Sorry but the same way a half golden retriever, half alsatian dog cant be called an alsatian, that is the same way a mixed economic system can't be refered to as capitalist nor socialist. Everything doesn't have to be black or white.

So when people say Venezuala is not real socialism, there is a good reason for that.

I covered that argument:

But Venezuela isn't even a "mixed economy" if you want to invent that category, they are a socialist country with small amounts of vestigial capitalism, even the USSR and Mao's china had vestigial capitalism because life just doesn't work without capitalism.

 

[angelatc]

"He's a CIA plant"

Right on cue as well.

I know more than few people in the oil business who have had a front row seat to the swirling toilet bowl of Venezuelan socialism.

I meant Rand.

 

[juleswin]

I covered that argument:

But Venezuela isn't even a "mixed economy" if you want to invent that category, they are a socialist country with small amounts of vestigial capitalism, even the USSR and Mao's china had vestigial capitalism because life just doesn't work without capitalism.

What percentage is that? and what is the cut off?

 

[Swordsmyth]

What percentage is that? and what is the cut off?

You tell me, you are the one who wants there to be such a thing as a "mixed" economy.