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In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

nytimes.com

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Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#51

Post by namlem »

seibelj wrote: post #4

When the solution to every problem is more government, more redistribution, and higher taxes, this is the inevitable result. A tragedy caused 100% by politics

Cuba is a socialist country, and while they have plenty of problems, you don't see the kind of situation we're seeing in Venezuela. I don't think socialism is a good system, but we should at least try to honestly understand the reasons for what is happening in Venezuela, rather than blindly chalking it up to some loosely understood specter of "socialism".

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#52

Post by BjoernKW »

WJW wrote: post #6
mmirate wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how socialism always seems to require the amount and kind of force provided by a dictatorship...

Like in most of Western Europe?

There's no socialism in Western Europe, at least not by common standards. It's called social democracy. In contrast to socialism the means of production are largely privately owned and there's no single-party system.

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#53

Post by cdancette »

whistlecrackers wrote: post #17
ekianjo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dictatorship is the only natural course of Socialism. Removing/alienating private property go hand in hand with the destruction of elementary freedoms.

Removing private property is the destruction of an elementary freedom.

That's your belief based on current societies norms.

Don't you think that the first tribes, before the agricultural revolution were not free? And yet they didn't have private property.

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#54

Post by PeachPlum »

mmirate wrote: post #5
cdancette wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not socialism. That's a dictatorship and corruption.

Funny how socialism always seems to require the amount and kind of force provided by a dictatorship...

New Lanark (formed before Marx was even born), where the term socialism was coined, didn't need at kind of force.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Lanark

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#55

Post by rayiner »

gaius wrote: post #14
seibelj wrote: post #4

When the solution to every problem is more government, more redistribution, and higher taxes, this is the inevitable result. A tragedy caused 100% by politics

It takes a special kind of talent to impoverish countries as blessed with natural resources as Venezuela and Argentina.

Not really. Most resource-rich countries are terribly governed. Google “the resource curse.”

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#56

Post by matte_black »

RubenSandwich wrote: post #21

The amount of comments on this thread decrying 'socialism' with very pithy comments is concerning. I guess the whole internet is infected with trolls now, especially political ones...

When would it be appropriate to decry socialism? If ever?

I want to be ready for when that day comes.

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#57

Post by worldsayshi »

Banthum wrote: post #35
rootusrootus wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, this is the result of corruption. We should be worried in the US, this could be our future.

Corruption can only harm you to the extent that corrupt organizations have power over you. e.g. You worry about the cops being corrupt; you don't worry much about a local restaurant owner being corrupt because you can just eat somewhere else. This is why small government, freedom and individualism are very simple and effective antidotes to corruption.

Small in size doesn't imply small in power to me. The smallest kind of government only governs the military and nothing else.

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#58

Post by cdancette »

tuna-piano wrote: post #50

This whole situation is so sad, because it is 100% human caused. This is not a natural disaster! Socialism does not work and it is not moral. Hundreds of millions of people have died and suffered under this economic and governmental system, and many more will die in Venezuela to re-learn this lesson. And yet, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, the appeal of socialism still somehow permeates to otherwise succe…

So you think that the huge inequalities we have today in developed countries are a "huge success"? When the richest man in the world has 100B$, and yet 12% of Americans live under the poverty line?

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#59

Post by thesmallestcat »

rayiner wrote: post #55
gaius wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes a special kind of talent to impoverish countries as blessed with natural resources as Venezuela and Argentina.

Not really. Most resource-rich countries are terribly governed. Google “the resource curse.”

Argentina isn't even resource-rich, it's just large. Great for ranching, few mineral or energy resources. And it's not exactly a secret that petro states like Venezuela have fallen on hard times in the past decade.

Re: In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

#60

Post by mmirate »

RubenSandwich wrote: post #21

The amount of comments on this thread decrying 'socialism' with very pithy comments is concerning. I guess the whole internet is infected with trolls now, especially political ones...

Err, why do you assume that everyone with a certain opinion must be a troll?
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