Self-righteousness and force

Oh, that crazy Chavez!

From the Associated Press:

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez says there's too much capitalism on Venezuelan TV. So he's urging producers to start making films and TV shows that stress socialist values.

Chavez says producers should be making "socialist soap operas."

He said Sunday he recently visited Cuba "and they have soaps there. But they're not capitalist soap operas."

LOL!!!

20 Years ago--The Fall of Communism

Glenn Beck: Road to Socialism

Bailouts and nationalization. Mmmm.

Don't tell Michael Moore...

While Mr. Moore has been busy lobbying for an auto bailout, Moore's favorite example of socialized medicine--the nation of Cuba--has just celebrated 50 years of communist rule. Those lucky Cubans and their socialized medicine: It must be nice, eh? Or maybe not.

Words that a modern day Progressive may utter…

"We are enemies, deadly enemies, of today's capitalist economic system with its exploitation of the economically weak, its unfair wage system, its immoral way of judging the worth of human beings in terms of their wealth and their money, instead of their responsibility and their performance, and we are determined to destroy this system whatever happens!" ---Nazi ideologist Gregor Strasser

As oil prices fall, so does a socialist lament

Under Hugo Chavez and bouyed by high crude oil prices, Venezuala has grown into a petro-welfare state with cash to spare for political patronage and regional clout. But, since oil prices have taken a nose dive as of late, Chavez and Venezuela will have a very difficult time funding massive social programs and political promises made to countries and politicians (some in the U.S.) friendly to Chavez' leftist rantings. There is a lesson to be learned from Venezuela's situation as noted by Ian Vasquez of the Cato Institute: "When you have an economic situation that depends on wealth distribution rather than wealth creation you expose yourself to being in a very precarious situation."

More on Hugo Chavez

Jeff Perren wrote a very prescient article on Venezuela and Hugo Chavez. The article details the description of a young Venezuelan blogger who has started to witness her country crumble around her. Check out the picture of Hollywood elite Danny Glover hanging out with Chavez.

Jeff's blog is Shaving Leviathan.



Chavez announces decrees

In life, sometimes it’s satisfying to know that there is some predictability to rely upon. After all, if the bus that takes you to work in the morning doesn’t have a regular predictable schedule, you will end up late to work one time too many and may get canned. So, it comes as no surprise that the predictable nature of Hugo Chavez has once again affirmed that all is well with the universe. You see, Mr. Chavez has announced some new decrees that his poor and hapless countrymen will now have the headache of dealing with. As I predicted several months ago on this blog, I knew Mr. Chavez was not going to let a rebuff of his socialist agenda by voters in December crimp his master plans to turn Venezuela into a socialist basket case.

Curiously, many of Chavez’s best friends in Washington, and even Hollywood, have been oddly silent since that whole nasty episode with the FARC terrorists. Not a peep from Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, whose early support helped the strongman consolidate his power in Venezuela. Or even former President Jimmy Carter who had blessed Mr. Chávez's August 2004 recall victory, despite evidence of fraud. But best of all, there are the House Democrats from Massachusetts--Joseph P. Kennedy II and Bill Delahunt, who in a lame attempt to snub the Bush administration, got cozy with Mr. Chavez as he used free heating oil as a propaganda tool. Swell. It really tells you a lot about Congress when you see them support a tin pot loon like Hugo Chavez.

Free-market taxis in Cuba

While the U.S. is slowing moving leftward with big government bailouts and massive government programs, the Cubans are starting, albeit very slowly, to allow market reforms. The ban on private taxis in Cuba has been lifted.

The last Maoist collective in China goes capitalist.

It seems that the last bastion of the Maoist collective in China has called it quits and has moved to adopt capitalism. The idyllic village of Nanjie was a model of clean egalitarianism. It was noted for, “it’s well-kept apartments and spacious schools.” I'm sure that Progressives everywhere had their hearts swell with great satisfaction when learning of the fairness of Nanjie: The village provided “free housing, schooling and health care, supporting a standard of living so much better than surrounding towns.” But like most attempts at a collective society where everything is “free,” this workers utopia in central China was a bankrupt illusion.

No real changes in Raul Castro's Cuba

From the Christian Science Monitor

On Monday morning, Pollán and nine other Damas were roughed up by a mob and arrested near the offices of President Raúl Castro. "We are here to demand the release of our husbands and won't leave until they are free or they arrest us. We have waited long enough, we want to talk to the new president," Pollán said, according to Reuters.

Moments later, a bus pulled up and about 20 female corrections officers tried to arrest the women, who sat on the sidewalk, clasped arms, and refused to move. A mob of about 100 Cuban government supporters, mainly women from nearby government buildings, joined the fray, picking the Damas up, throwing them into the waiting bus, and yelling insults, Reuters reported.

Comment: While there have been some small amounts of liberalization in Cuba since Raul Castro took control from big brother Fidel in February 2008, the island nation continues to exhibit its brand of intolerant socialism. This is a reality check for those who believed that sweeping reforms would move quickly through the country once Fidel gave up the reins. F.A. Hayek once said: “Dictatorship is the most effective instrument of coercion and the enforcement of ideals.” Cuba remains a dictatorship until further notice. Stay tuned.

Chavez nationalizes cement industry

From the Associated Press:

"President Hugo Chavez on Thursday ordered the nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry, saying his government cannot allow businesses to continue exporting raw materials needed to help tackle a domestic housing shortage."

"Prior to Thursday's nationalization order, Chavez had already moved to nationalize Venezuela's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector, slap new taxes on the rich and impose greater state control over the oil and natural gas industries."

Comment: Well, it looks like Chavez continues to turn the thumbscrews on his economy and his people. Nationalizing the cement industry will have short term benefits but will create shortages, inefficiencies, and it will cost the government a pretty penny. This is just another item that Chavez has added to the public debt. How long do you want to bet that cement output starts to decrease after nationalization? Look how much oil production has dropped off after that industry went public and Chavez pushed out some of the private companies.

And in other news regarding Chavez from the Times Colonist:

"Venezuela is preparing a "windfall" oil tax to boost the OPEC nation's revenues from record crude prices, only months after leftist President Hugo Chavez's nationalization crusade forced out two of the world's largest energy companies."

"The move extends Chavez's broad campaign to boost state control over oil operations that led to legal battles with Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips and helped spark a wave of resource nationalism throughout the Andes."

'"Because of high oil prices, oil companies have excessive earnings that go beyond reasonable levels of profitability," Legislator Angel Rodriguez told state news agency ABN."

Comment: Chavez and House Democrats (and some Republicans too) have something in common when it comes to “windfall” profit taxes. Great minds think alike, eh?

Venezuela is a socialist utopia?

From The Christian Science Monitor

“The "hot corner" stands in the center of Caracas, in Plaza Bolívar. It's a makeshift booth papered with fliers that marks itself as the "launching point to the revolution." There militants rail against imperialism and greedy Yankees all day.”

“Until recently, they didn't have anywhere to go. Socialism was in retreat, "revolutions" scarce. Then along came Mr. Chávez and his gambit to forge a "21st century socialism." Suddenly, Caracas is the new leftwing petri dish. "This is the most interesting social experiment in the world taking place today," says Fred Fuentes, an Australian who moved to Caracas last July, as he sips from a mug with the government motto "Rumbo al Socialismo" (On the way to Socialism). "Venezuela is the key place to be observing."’

Comment: In the spring of last year university students started to turn on the Chavez regime with protests against the government decision to deny a popular television station its license. The TV station never got its license back but it spurned the students to turn up the heat on the regime with six months of demonstrations. Of course, the demonstrations didn’t stop Chavez from trying to mangle the country’s constitution by introducing a referendum later in the year. The constitutional re-write would have given Chavez dictatorial powers.

And then there’s the latest escapade regarding Chavez and the Colombian terrorist group FARC. It turns out that Chavez has been funding the terrorist organization and giving it additional support by allowing the group a safe haven in Venezuela. Several weeks ago, when Colombian forces bombed a FARC camp a mile inside Ecuador, Chavez quickly reacted as if the incident had happened in his own territory: He reacted before the Ecuadorians did. Chavez sent troops to the border and rattled his saber. It was all obviously an attempt to distract the Venezuelan population from the mounting issues in their country.

Inflation in Venezuela (2007) is roughly at 22.5%, the highest in Latin America, and far higher than the 17% mark the year before, despite state-imposed price controls. And due to the price controls, there is now food shortage. Such items as milk, eggs, rice, and beef are scarce and are to be found, in some cases, only on the black market. Crime in Caracas is at an all time high and garbage collection goes unattended.

Yet, despite all of these issues, there are plenty of radical romantics from the far left that will overlook these stark problems. Even if the situation starts to become ripe for civil unrest and suffering, these leftist radicals will continue to believe that redistribution equals justice and equality. The sclerosis that socialism has started to inflict on Venezuelan society is palpable. One hopes that Venezuelans rise up against the repressiveness of Chavez socialism and create a free private enterprise exchange economy: A system that they have never, in their history, enjoyed. And on that day, the leftists and their terrible ideas will go home forever.