Venezuela falling apart

[Omnitheo]

While the title of the thread is about Venezuela falling apart, the substance of the thread is to blame it on the left, and then continue to blame the left for other problems. Therefore if the argument is that "the left" made Venezuela fall apart and does so elsewhere, then arguments about the left not making other countries fall apart or right wing policies also contributing to countries falling apart are fair game.

[The Green Barbarian]

Zimbabwe is also falling apart. Ruled by an extreme right-wing, racist leader.

Mugabe is right wing? Seriously?? Zimbabwe fell apart the minute that the extreme left installed Mugabe as leader.

[The Green Barbarian]

As I said in my earlier post, to run a balanced country that promotes the best for all people living there it needs to have a balance in political ideologies. Too right or too left will create issues.

This we can agree on. Just curious how there are people here who support Bernie Sanders, and yet when you see his policies being implemented in real life in Venezuela, and how those policies destroyed the country, how can you guys still support Sanders? It makes no sense!

[The Green Barbarian]

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[The Green Barbarian]

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[The Green Barbarian]

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[The Green Barbarian]

Venezuela: how the socialist paradise turned into debt and hyperinflation hell

They call them bachaqueros. Venezuela’s army of black market shoppers descend every day at dawn outside Caracas’s biggest stores.

Named after the bachaco leaf-cutting ant that carries several times its weight, the men and women queue alongside hundreds of other Venezuelans for food, nappies, milk and other basic goods.

They stand for hours in the blistering heat, motivated not by hunger, but profit.

Half-empty shelves in most shops means goods bought at government-controlled prices can be sold at a significant mark-up.

Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, has described them as “human beings turned savage”.

But in a country where hyperinflation is quickly making the cash in people’s pockets worthless, it has become the only way to survive.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... nd-hyperi/

[d0nb]

It seems to me that Left and Right have very little utility as descriptors. Is the real dichotomy not between authoritarianism and libertarianism, collectivism and individualism?

While the State can be an agent for good, history shows that it is also the greatest threat to our well-being. We forget that at our peril.

[occasional thoughts]

You are of course on to something. Unfortunately, "right" and "left" are the only analytical variables that some are able to comprehend and use. Chavez very quickly started to show his true "absolutistic" and/or "authoritarian" colours, and he had to start buying friends and allies with cheap oil. While I don't usually wish anyone dead, I sadly think the world was better off that he passed.

[d0nb]

The ongoing consequences of bad government.

Of note:

Greece has not been performing well economically since the bailout. Though the Bloomberg consensus forecast predicts a 0.7 percent drop in economic activity this year and the European Commission forecasts a 0.3 percent drop, in the first quarter of this year, Greece's gross domestic product shrank 1.2 percent. Unemployment is stuck above 24 percent, as it has been since the deal. Tax collection has improved somewhat, but government spending has grown faster. The trade balance hasn't improved. There is no evidence that any kind of recovery is starting and that Greece will be able to sustain itself without further aid after 2018.

http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/ ... forgive-it

[occasional thoughts]

Greece is about as good an example as I know of that "democracy" and "democratic process" are not in and of themselves perfect. Islamic-dominated countries that are pushed into "democratic" elections seem to always use it to establish sharia law. And that's democracy; majority prevails, unless some other modifier (dare I say "liberal democracy" e.g.) is being applied to the process.

[d0nb]

Greece is about as good an example as I know of that "democracy" and "democratic process" are not in and of themselves perfect. Islamic-dominated countries that are pushed into "democratic" elections seem to always use it to establish sharia law. And that's democracy; majority prevails, unless some other modifier (dare I say "liberal democracy" e.g.) is being applied to the process.

True. Without a well considered, respected and enforced constitution that is based on fundamental principles of freedom and respect for the rights of the citizens, along with an effective outline of the functions permitted to the State, democracy is just mob rule.

[The Green Barbarian]

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[icanthearyou]

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[The Green Barbarian]

Greece is about as good an example as I know of that "democracy" and "democratic process" are not in and of themselves perfect. .

For reasons unknown, my post was deleted as "off topic". I assume that is because idiots keep reporting every post I make. So I will say it again, just as much as Greece is an example (which seems to be "on topic") so is the Canadian federal election a great example of a non-perfect process. Just as Venezuela and Greece went down the toilet economically, so too have Canadians now elected a drunken sailor spending us into oblivion. Venezuela and Greece are examples to all of what not to do, and as we now have elected politicians with similar mind-sets to these countries, we need to be ever vigilant and hold our own politicians to account. A lot of damage can be done in four years, as the government of Ontario is showing everyone right now.