They elected the fucker. Another experiment in socialism down the toilet. No more listening to the radio with coffee in The People's Paradise.
When the price of oil drops, Comrade Hugo's gotta find some way to pay for all the millitary toys and wealth redistrubtion. Problem is, nationalized businesses are bound to go bust and must be constantly subsidized, worsening the stream of revenue that prompted the takeover in the first place. Do the Chavez!
I see this and I wonder how actual humans can be so stupid, and yet it gets more common every day. This is a perfect example of why we're all fucked and should get used to the idea.
You guys are looking at this all wrong. Too many Venezuelans don't have access to quality coffee. Everyone who is satified with their brand of coffee can still buy it. In fact, coffee will now be cheaper for all, and taste better too!
I'd have thought Wordforge was well aware of my dislike for corprate capitalism by now. I don't think corporations should run the economy, particularly when they act against the public interest.
Yes, because all of those great examples of government-run economies in the past show us how well the public interest has been served by the state. Populations that become poorer and poorer, loss of liberty, loss of free press, loss of fair adjudication of disputes, oil production output that drops when the state takes over despite record-high oil prices, toilet paper shortages, an expensive nuclear buildup achieved over decades, but at the small cost of an environmental nightmare that affects millions for years . . . Meanwhile, the best criticism to lay at feet of capitalism: rich get richer faster than the poor get richer, i.e. the 'wealth-gap' grows. Compared to the perils of state-run economies, that's just boo-, fuckin, hoo.
That's not the criticism, just your straw man. The criticism is that for a long time, the economy was not being run in the way the Venezuelan public wanted, and that that had resulted in living standards for the poor stagnating, a trend that has only recently changed.
I suppose that could be true. After Chavez impoverished everyone in the country, it became much easier to make them all richer (only took him 10 years, woohoo). That's a great formula- destroy wealth - then rebuild. Then you get those great comparisons versus the now-lowered bar (just like corporate earnings in the free-world this year, compared to last).
GDP per capita has been growing consistently in Venezuela over the last 10 years, except during the latter half of 2002 when there was a US-backed coup and oil strike. There has been no wholescale impoverishment. Quite the opposite - a large number have been lifted out of poverty due to new social programs.
Nah, I'm just fuckin with you Henry. In truth, I wish state-run economies were adopted in more places. In fact I think it's a great idea for pretty much everyplace except America, America-lite, and maybe Britain.
