As horrible as these socialist /communist dictatorships are, they breed sameness and mediocrity On May 30, 2016 10:38 AM, "Keith In Tampa" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Surprising article coming from DiLorenzo; I'm pleasantly surprised. I > concur with DiLorenzo's conclusions: "There has never been an example of > Socialism, Communism, Trotskyism, Marism, Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism, or > any combination thereof, that's ever been successful on any continent in > any era throughout recorded history", period. > > > > On Mon, May 30, 2016 at 9:44 AM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> >> *Meanwhile, in the U.S. hordes of “millennials,” the first PC generation, >> a generation that has been indoctrinated since kindergarten in the alleged >> evils of capitalism and taught to worship Big Government as their savior, >> are wildly cheering a 74-year-old communist who wants to be president on >> the promise of making America the next Venezuela. *May 30, 2016 >> >> *Bernie Sanders’ Sick Utopia: The Malicious Myth of “Democratic” >> Socialism *By Thomas DiLorenzo >> >> In my forthcoming (July 18) book, *The Problem with Socialism* >> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/1621575896/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_lc?tag=lewrockwell&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1621575896&adid=1QSSHFD6FMDZSE6EQGP4&&ref-refURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lewrockwell.com%2F%3Fpost_type%3Darticle%26p%3D590558%26preview%3Dtrue>, >> I describe how socialism is always and everywhere an economic poison >> regardless of the form of government. Socialism is socialism. As Frederic >> Bastiat explained in his classic, *The Law* >> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/1612930123/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_lc?tag=lewrockwell&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1612930123&adid=03Z30PMZ8T8934CG2GE1&&ref-refURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lewrockwell.com%2F%3Fpost_type%3Darticle%26p%3D590558%26preview%3Dtrue>, >> the imposition of one social “plan” or set of “plans” on all of the society >> – a defining characteristic of all varieties of socialism will have the >> same effects whether it is instituted by democracy or by a dictatorship. >> Obamacare is Obamacare regardless of whether it was imposed by democracy or >> by a dictator. >> >> All of history has proven that the effects of socialism are always and >> everywhere mass impoverishment; the destruction of civil liberties; >> tyrannical government; a population dependent on the state for survival; >> and the enrichment of the ruling class. Everyone is equally impoverished >> while the political elite live high on the hog, whether it is the Soviet >> Union, African socialism, Latin American socialism, or any other kind of >> socialism. >> >> At best, socialism turns people into spoiled children constantly >> demanding more and more freebies at the expense of . . . . who knows? At >> worst, it becomes a totalitarian nightmare where dissenters are mass >> murdered by the millions, as was the case with twentieth-century socialism >> all over the world. >> >> The latest display of the effects of the malicious myth of “democratic” >> socialism is the economic implosion of oil-rich Venezuela. When the proud >> socialist Hugo Chavez became president he nationalized industries; >> redistributed land and businesses to political cronies; imposed pervasive, >> government-imposed price controls; and made himself popular by giving away >> lots of free stuff – even houses. He was a Latin American Bernie Sanders, >> in other words. The entire socialist world spoke of the new “socialist >> paradise” of Venezuela. >> >> But socialism is always and everywhere economic poison because of several >> fundamental reasons. It destroys work incentives for one thing. It is >> also guided by the false pretense that a few politicians can somehow do a >> better job of possessing and utilizing the detailed knowledge that millions >> of consumers, entrepreneurs, workers, business managers, investors, and >> market participants who make real market economies work possess. And it >> foolishly asserts that rational economic decisions can be made without the >> benefit of private property, market prices based on supply and demand, and >> a market feedback mechanism that rewards those who serve their customers >> well with profits while punishing those who do not with losses. By >> ignoring these realities the economic implosion of Venezuela was perfectly >> predictable and inevitable. >> >> Venezuela has become reminiscent of the old Soviet Union where there were >> shortages of everything because of the economic chaos caused by the >> elimination of markets based on private property and prices determined by >> supply and demand. A May 21 article in *The Telegraph* by Szu Ping Chan >> about how socialism turned Venezuela into “debt and hyperinflation hell” >> describes how people there now routinely “queue alongside hundreds of other >> Venezuelans for food, nappies, milk, and other basic goods.” Everything is >> in short supply – or no supply – thanks to Chavez’s socialist price >> controls. Black markets are the only thing saving the Venezuelan economy. >> >> A recent “yahoo” news article entitled “Venezuela: Where a Hamburger is >> official $170” wrote of how stores are shuttered; restaurants are empty; >> “nobody is buying anything”; there are long lines of people waiting around >> stores for something – anything – that they can use to barter for things >> they actually need. This again is exactly reminiscent of daily life in the >> old Soviet Union. >> >> Venezuela has become one of the worst places in the world to do business, >> ranking 186th out of 189 in a World Bank index of “business friendliness.” >> Only Libya, South Sudan, and Eritrea were worse. Political corruption is >> rampant; of course. No one can be in business without paying the >> “appropriate” bribes to one or another political hacks and criminals. >> >> People in Venezuela “cannot afford to get ill because when you turn up at >> the hospital there is nothing,” says one Venezuelan cited by *The >> Telegraph*. Sick people are desperate for antibiotics, which are all >> but non-existent. >> >> Explosive government spending combined with declining oil prices made >> Venezuela a “debt hell” as Chavez and his successor, fellow socialist >> demagogue Nicolas Maduro, refused to admit the folly of their ways and >> resorted to massive money printing. Today a hamburger costs the equivalent >> of $170; a night in a hotel is $6,900; and middle-class monthly salaries >> savaged by inflation are worth about $35. Food prices more than tripled >> just in the past month; and *the annual inflation rate is 4,505 percent*. >> One Venezuelan interviewed for the *Telegraph* article said that he had >> to spend more than half his monthly income just on toilet tissue. >> Socialism has resulted in the Zimbabwe-ization of Venezuela. >> >> The Venezuelan government fails to perform what all governments claim to >> be their primary responsibility: maintaining law and order in society. >> Caracas is now the world’s most violent city *in the world* according to >> the Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, which computes such >> rankings. >> >> The drinking water in Flint, Michigan is like fresh, Rocky Mountain >> spring water compared to the drinking water in Venezuela, described by a >> May 29 *New York Times* article about the country’s “hunger, blackouts, >> and government shutdown” as “a brownish color” that makes people sick, with >> many Venezuelans contracting “skin irritations from showering . . .” One >> woman is quoted as saying that because she has been showering with this >> government water “her body is filled with small bubbles and they sting >> horribly.” >> >> Like all other socialist demagogues, Venezuela’s wealthy, >> living-lives-of-luxury, socialist political elite blame all the disasters >> they have created on various bogeymen, from “the American government’s >> efforts to destabilize the country” (according to the *New York Times*), >> to “a drought that has crippled Venezuela’s ability to generate >> hydroelectric power.” This last reason is reminiscent of how the Soviets >> blamed the results of their disastrous policy of socialized agriculture on >> seventy straight years of “drought.” >> >> Just about anyone who is able to leave Venezuela is doing so. So far, >> it’s a much easier task than leaving that other Caribbean socialist >> “paradise,” Cuba. >> >> Venezuela has joined a very long list of countries whose economies have >> been utterly destroyed by just a few years of socialism. Meanwhile, in the >> U.S. hordes of “millennials,” the first PC generation, a generation that >> has been indoctrinated since kindergarten in the alleged evils of >> capitalism and taught to worship Big Government as their savior, are wildly >> cheering a 74-year-old communist who wants to be president on the promise >> of making America the next Venezuela. (Like the Soviet communists who >> called their government the *U*nion of *S*oviet *S*ocialist *R*epublics, >> not the Union of Soviet Communist Republics, I don’t distinguish between >> “communists” and “socialists”; they’re all the same gang of looters, >> frauds, demagogues, and tyrants). >> >> https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/05/thomas-dilorenzo/sick-utopia/ >> >> -- >> -- >> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. >> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum >> >> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ >> * It's active and moderated. 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