7-29-18 No Lesson Learned in Venezuela

Nearing Midnight: No Lesson Learned in Venezuela - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

 

The worst way to run an economy is one based on socialism. The Soviet Union killed 30 million trying to make it work. China murdered an equal number of people under the socialist banner. Once China turned to capitalism, its economy began to boom. Many European nations have experimented with socialism, and the typical result has been economic stagnation.

 

"I would rather be subjected to the few failures of capitalism than the few successes of socialism." -Unknown

 

The nation of Venezuela is the most current example of socialism's destructive nature. About 40 years ago, Venezuela was the richest country in South America. It has the world's largest reserve of oil. According to OPEC's 2015 figures, Venezuela has the most proven crude oil reserves in the world, with over 300 billion barrels. That puts it ahead of Saudi Arabia (266 billion barrels), Iran (158 billion barrels) and Iraq (142 billion barrels).

 

The Rise of Hugo Chávez was the turning point for Venezuela. Chávez kicked out all the Western oil companies that he claimed were stealing the nation's wealth. He used the oil money to provide free goods to people. For a short time it appeared that Chávez had finally proved that socialism can be made to work.

 

The socialist dream began to turn into a nightmare when oil revenues began to decline.

 

Immediately after the state kicked foreign oil firms out of the country, the production of oil began to decline, going from 3.1 million barrels per day to 1.6 million barrels per day.

 

Chávez was so focused on filling his pockets with money from the oil, he neglected to reinvest back into the national oil company.

 

When global oil prices declined from $140 to $30, the Venezuela economy completely unraveled. There have been numerous food riots, and people stand in line for hours to buy whatever is available.

 

Venezuela's Marxist government made matters worse by seizing private businesses. In 2016, Venezuela's new leader Nicolás Maduro took over a plant belonging to US-based hygiene products manufacturer Kimberly-Clark. The plant was turned over to the workers. Venezuela quickly ran out of toilet paper because the workers at Kimberly-Clark could not obtain or hadn't the incentive to find the needed raw materials.

 

Last week, the socialist Venezuelan government seized a closed Kellogg's factory. Maduro, who has previously accused the United States of waging economic war against his government, called the factory closure "absolutely unconstitutional and illegal," even though his policies are the ones which caused the closure of the factory to begin with. Most people won't work long without being paid, and if Kellogg's cannot find supplies to produce their infamous cereals, it's unlikely the workers will be successful.

 

No new business will want to invest in Venezuela. The firms that remain in the country are likely looking for the exit.

 

Life for the average Venezuelan citizen has become extremely difficult. A domestic survey of Venezuela's living conditions found that over 73% of the population lost an average of 19 pounds due to food shortages in 2015 and 2016. The IMF forecasts that inflation in 2018 will likely top 13,000%. Prices rise an average of 4% each day. One woman told a reporter that a single banana now has the same worth her house had five years ago.

 

The hardships have not been enough to force out the socialist government. Nicolas Maduro has just won re-election with 67.7% of the vote. The election was a sham. The mainstream opposition called for a boycott, and turnout was 46 percent compared with 80 percent in 2013's presidential election.

 

Now that Maduro has a "mandate" to continue destroying Venezuela for another six years, citizens are buying bus tickets for a mass exodus. According to Reuters, some Venezuelans have saved for months to buy a bus ticket out of the country. Nearly one million Venezuelans have left their country over the past two years.

 

There is no lesson to be learned from Venezuela's attempt at socialism. Most media outlets ignore the hardships that are taking place in the nation. The few reporters that do cover Venezuela blame the poor economy on U.S. sanctions. John Oliver of the HBO show "Last Week Tonight" blamed Venezuela's problems on "epic mismanagement."

 

The fact that we almost had a communist as the Democratic candidate in the last election just shows how deception has taken over in these last days. If people can't notice what should be an obvious truth, they will be no match for a cunning lie.

 

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13).