What’s Wrong with Socialism? (PragerU Videos and More)

Rafael Acevedo is Founder Director of Econintech, and teaches at the Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado in Barquisimeto. He is also Director of Politics of the Venezuelan Freedom Movement.

The longer speech by Rafael Acevedo of which the above is a truncation is HERE. Dinesh D’Souza’s wife ,Debbie D’Souza, a native Venezuelan, did a PRAGERU video as well:

Before delving into the below videos, one should keep in mind that what socialism does is produce giant monopolies. THAT is the theme you see in all socialist countries. Criminal, governemtn, or corporate monopolies — Milton Friedman:


We’ve read and watched the news of Venezuelan society collapsing under the weight of socialism. But how bad is it really? See this firsthand account from documentary filmmaker Ami Horowitz.

Many of America’s legal and illegal immigrants fled nations that were ruined by corrupt politicians and failed government policies. But once here, they support the same things. Why? Gloria Alvarez, Project Director at the National Civic Movement of Guatemala, explains. (Here is her interview on Dennis’ radio program.)

Is Bernie Sanders right? Are people living under socialism better off? Brazil is a good case study. Felipe Moura Brasil, a journalist and Veja magazine columnist, explains how his country has fared under socialism.

What is democratic socialism? What makes it different than regular socialism? Has it been tried? Could it work in the United States? Comedian and political commentator Steven Crowder, host of Louder With Crowder, explains.

Which is better: socialism or capitalism? Does one make people kinder and more caring, while the other makes people greedy and more selfish? In this video, Dennis Prager explains the moral differences between socialism and capitalism, and why anyone who wants a kind and generous society must support one and oppose the other.

Some people are not aware of the following idea… that is, that the Nordic countries can afford many of their wellfare programs in the past BECAUSE they do not pay for their defense. We do. (If you do not know much about this, see my post on “SCANDINAVIAN SOCIALISM“):

Was America once socialist? Surprisingly, yes. The early settlers who arrived at Plymouth and Jamestown in the early 1600s experimented with socialist communes. Did it work? History professor Larry Schweikart of the University of Dayton shares the fascinating story.

“The Progressive Income Tax” is one of those economic terms that gets bandied about, but few actually know what it means or how it works. This tale of three similar brothers with three different incomes (but one shared expense) helps explain the tax system under which we live. Adapted from an article by noted investor and economist, Kip Hagopian, and narrated by actress Carolyn Hennesy of “General Hospital” and “True Blood” fame, this animated story will change the way you think about how you pay your taxes.

Dennis Prager first read from an AP story about Jamie Foxx visiting the death hole known as Venezuela (see the Free Republic post: http://tinyurl.com/z8phhkz). Later in the show he actually gets a call from Caracas, Venezuela. I teared up a bit during the call, as did Prager apparently. Good stuff Maynard!

Here is Dennis’ Facebook comment:

Actor Jamie Foxx will pay no price for his visit with Venezuela President Maduro. A rare combo of doing evil — supporting a brutal dictator — and being stupid. Foxx will get picked up by a limo and go home to his mansion in California while the people of Venezuela starve and wait in line for toilet paper thanks to the socialist revolution.

Leftists don’t care about people, they care about ideas. This is Jamie Foxx. He care doesn’t care about the Venezuelan people. He cares about an idea. He loves the idea of equality. It’s painful. Just painful. Will there be a price paid for such radical stupidity? There is nothing a a left-winger could do that would elicit criticism.

Is capitalism moral or greedy? If it’s based on greed and selfishness, what’s the best alternative economic system? Perhaps socialism? And if capitalism is moral, what makes it so? Walter Williams, a renowned economist at George Mason University, answers these questions and more.

Cultural depictions of capitalism are almost all negative. There’s the Monopoly guy with the top hat and cigar. There’s Gordon Gekko saying, “Greed is good.” And, most recently, there’s the hedonism of the “Wolf of Wall Street”. The message is clear: capitalism is selfish. Socialism, or something like it, is selfless. In fact, the opposite is true. Renowned social critic George Gilder offers this startling insight: capitalism, at its core, is first an expression of altruism; that is, of giving. An entrepreneur can only succeed by satisfying a customer’s need. This is why capitalism, and only capitalism, can create the prosperity that all societies crave and why all other economic prescriptions are doomed to failure.

This election season there’s a lot of talk about corruption, about politicians being “bought and sold”, and about “crony capitalism”. What do those terms mean? Why should we care? Is there a way to reduce corruption and restore our trust in government? Author Jay Cost, staff writer at The Weekly Standard, answers these questions and proposes a solution that every society could benefit from.

Small businesses employ over 57 million Americans. And yet, the government’s taxes and regulations overwhelmingly favor big businesses at the expense of small ones. Why? Find out in this short video.

How big should the government be? And what is its proper role in the daily lives of Americans? The Left and Right have opposite answers.

From transportation to energy, and everything in between, should the government invest money in as many promising projects as possible? Or would that actually doom many of those ventures to failure? Burt Folsom, historian and professor at Hillsdale College, answers those questions by drawing on the fascinating history of the race to build America’s railroads and airplanes.

With the smartest experts and the best economists, could the federal government run the U.S. economy? Could it keep America’s $17 trillion economy going like a well-oiled machine? Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, explains why no one person or group can “run” the economy, and why any attempt to do so can only make things worse.

The Venezuelan Diet!

See: Bernie Sanders Socialist Paradise!

Using an ancient Soviet method, 75% of Venezuelans have lost an average of 19 pounds and so can you! Who needs human rights and free press when you can get back to your old college weight? Watch the video and let Remy show you how it all works.

Jamie Foxx “Hearts” Socialism (Plus: Caller From Caracas)

Dennis Prager first read from an AP story about Jamie Foxx visiting the death hole known as Venezuela (see the Free Republic post). Later in the show he actually gets a call from Caracas, Venezuela. I teared up a bit during the call, as did Prager apparently. Good stuff Maynard!

Venezuela is Feeling the “Bern”

I love Gay Patriot’s clear take on things. I hope all my conservative evangelical readers head over to support such clear thinking and thank him:

In 1999, Venezuela was taken over by Socialist who promised that he would punish big corporations and redistribute wealth to “the people” to provide health care, education, infrastructure, and even out income inequality. (Sound familiar?) The American Left cheered. Celebrities like Sean Penn and Danny Glover praised his Democratic Socialist economic measures. Chavez systematically nationalized the oil, banking, agricultural, food distribution, telecommunications, and power industries in Venezuela; because running them as social democratic communes would eliminate “greed” and give the people lower cost goods and services. The American Left praised him for “democratizing” the Venezuelan economy. When Chavez shut down opposition TV, radio, and newspapers the American Left defended it as necessary to protect the Revolution.

The American Left likes to pretend now that Venezuela isn’t a real example of Social Democracy; but up until the economy collapsed (as every sensible person knew it would) they were Chavez’s biggest cheerleaders, as the links above (or any Google search) shows.

When Hugo Chavez died, he left behind a personal fortune of nearly $4 Billion. Just sayin’

Anyway, the real legacy of Hugo Chavez is that the country with the second largest oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere can’t even keep the lights on.  But, Hey, it’s not their fault, you guys.

  • (Venezuelan President) Maduro blames the collapse on an “economic war” by capitalists.

Actually, it’s the economic war *on* capitalists that caused your problems, comrade….

(click over to sea what Maduro is legislating now)

Communism, Creating Equality Since 1848 (Venezuela & USSR)

This first video is of a Soviet grocery store filmed in 1986:

This second video is of a grocery store from Venezuela from this year (2015):

And as Libertarian Republican notes they are running out of beer:

First, it was shortage of toilet paper. Then, a shortage of food. Now, Venezuela is facing a beer shortage.

The official excuse is that the country isn’t able to import enough ingredients, and that the evil farmers are holding out. As Lenin said of those evil farmers, they are nothing but petite bourgeoisie. Why, they are the dung of the devil!….

DannyGlover Chavez and Penn Director
[From an older post] Protein Wisdom has this awesome post! Read the rest… linked at bottom:

In a move that will no doubt help further the Venezuelan government’s aim of establishing a socialist utopian republic, President Nicolas Maduro announced this week that grocery stores will soon begin the mandatory fingerprinting of customers. The peculiar initiative, which could be implemented by the end of the year, is meant to help combat the hoarding and smuggling of government-subsidized goods.

Venezuela exerts stringent currency and price controls on many products in an attempt to keep them affordable for its poorest citizens. Unfortunately, a staggering quantity of this merchandise ends up being secreted out of the country and re-sold at a profit in neighboring Colombia.

The oil-rich nation has been experiencing a chronic shortage of food supplies for a long while. Maduro, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez, accused the political opposition last year of engineering the country’s shortages with the help of the CIA in order to undermine his government.

[…]

Faced with empty store shelves due to the combination of price controls, currency restrictions, and smuggling, Venezuelans are having a hard time finding the basics they need to live. The crisis has spurred the development of an app called Abasteceme (“Supply Me”), which allows shoppers to document and share where they have managed to find products.

The fingerprinting proposal, which critics decried as an invasion of privacy

Privacy? PRIVACY??!!?? What an out-dated, bourgeoisie, imperialistic, patriarchal notion! Honest people have no need for privacy!

Harruuummmmph.

and an attempt to institute a Cuban-style rationing program, would be similar to an anti-fraud system Venezuela currently employs during elections,

Voter id is only valid in Progressive socialist nations to keep enemies-of-the-people from reactionary crimes. Those of you in countries that have not repented of your oppressive capitalistic crimes must never, ever use ID of any kind when it comes to voting.

– See more at: http://proteinwisdom.com/#sthash.Idans5Q7.dpuf

You see… down deep all these “freedom of speech” guys who say they are libertarian or for freedom of thought — are really small tyrant down deep. The Left always falls into what is in their nature.

Venezuelans fighting over powdered milk:

Here is a line at a grocery store via Economic Policy Journal:

Ahh, the joys of socialism.

Need To Wipe Your Arse? Be Prepared To Be Fingerprinted (Venezuela)

DannyGlover Chavez and Penn Director

Protein Wisdom has this awesome post! Read the rest… linked at bottom:

In a move that will no doubt help further the Venezuelan government’s aim of establishing a socialist utopian republic, President Nicolas Maduro announced this week that grocery stores will soon begin the mandatory fingerprinting of customers. The peculiar initiative, which could be implemented by the end of the year, is meant to help combat the hoarding and smuggling of government-subsidized goods.

Venezuela exerts stringent currency and price controls on many products in an attempt to keep them affordable for its poorest citizens. Unfortunately, a staggering quantity of this merchandise ends up being secreted out of the country and re-sold at a profit in neighboring Colombia.

The oil-rich nation has been experiencing a chronic shortage of food supplies for a long while. Maduro, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez, accused the political opposition last year of engineering the country’s shortages with the help of the CIA in order to undermine his government.

[…]

Faced with empty store shelves due to the combination of price controls, currency restrictions, and smuggling, Venezuelans are having a hard time finding the basics they need to live. The crisis has spurred the development of an app called Abasteceme (“Supply Me”), which allows shoppers to document and share where they have managed to find products.

The fingerprinting proposal, which critics decried as an invasion of privacy

Privacy? PRIVACY??!!?? What an out-dated, bourgeoisie, imperialistic, patriarchal notion! Honest people have no need for privacy!

Harruuummmmph.

and an attempt to institute a Cuban-style rationing program, would be similar to an anti-fraud system Venezuela currently employs during elections,

Voter id is only valid in Progressive socialist nations to keep enemies-of-the-people from reactionary crimes. Those of you in countries that have not repented of your oppressive capitalistic crimes must never, ever use ID of any kind when it comes to voting.

– See more at: http://proteinwisdom.com/#sthash.Idans5Q7.dpuf

You see… down deep all these “freedom of speech” guys who say they are libertarian or for freedom of thought — are really small tyrant down deep. The Left always falls into what is in their nature.

New York To Feel the Pain (NY is the new `Red`)

From the “I bet you didn’t know this” files via Breaitbart:

Bill de Blasio is not the only red coming to power in New York City. He will also be joined by a “progressive” majority City Council. Here is a sampling of three of those he will be working with: 

 

Melissa Mark-Viverito,

top contender for City Council Speaker, went down to Bolivia to campaign for that nation’s marxist dictator, Evo Morales, in 2009. Records of the infamous red narco-terrorist organization FARC show that ties between that organization and Morales stretch all the way back to at least 2003, with meetings organized in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela between senior FARC operatives and Morales. That was two years before Morales’s Chavez-bought “election” in 2005, and the collaboration continues unabated. 

Additionally, in 2010 Mark-Viverito pushed for the release of a jailed leader of the extremely violent Cuban-controlled Puerto Rican terrorist-separatist group FALN, which in the 70s and 80s killed and maimed hundreds in New York, Chicago, and Puerto Rico. Until recently, Mark-Viverito refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance because of her support for Puerto Rican separatism.

 

Inez Barron,

a more quiet but equally radical sidekick to her husband Charles Barron. Their views, as voiced by Charles, include: “a special fondness for Castro because of the Cuban leader’s efforts to help several African nations, particularly Angola, in their march toward independence decades ago” (the late Bayard Rustin, a true civil rights champion and architect of the 1963 March on Washington, recognized the Soviet-Cuban rape of Angola as among the most tragic outrages in African history. 

Far from any form of “liberation,” the Communist invaders aborted the planned democratic process, plundered the wealth of Angola, and resorted to indiscriminate force and even used chemical weapons. An estimated one million people died in the Angolan civil war. “Robert Mugabe is my hero, and guess what, so is Muammar Qaddafi!” Charles Barron declared in November 2011. In addition to being a tyrant in his own right, Mugabe is sheltering the former Communist dictator of Ethiopia who murdered over one million of his own people–a regime that was defended by Barron’s other hero Fidel Castro, bringing the number of black Africans murdered with Castro’s help to over 2 million. No comment necessary on Qaddafi. He has also expressed hatred of Israel, which earned Charles, a former Black Panther, the endorsement of former KKK leader David Duke. 

 

Margaret Chin,

 former spokeswoman for the Maoist Communist Worker’s Party. She first ran for the City Council in 1991, but thanks to the activism of outraged Chinese-Americans and a man known to New York talk radio fans as “Jimmy from Brooklyn,” her attempt was defeated. In 2009, however, she returned and managed to win the election. It is a sad commentary on society that a longtime fanatical follower of the most tyrannical and bloodthirsty form of Chinese Communism–responsible for the death of some 70 million Chinese people and tens of thousand of Americans in Korea–could get elected on the 20 year anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre.

In 1983, Bill de Blasio took a student trip to the USSR. Now he and his allies are making the rest of us relive their youth.

Keeping People Submissive Through TP

A very interesting story over at Libertarian Republican:

Police raid illegal toilet paper warehouse

Venezuela now following in the footsteps of the old Soviet Union

by Clifford F. Thies

France 24 is reporting that the police in Venezuela have busted an illegal warehouse, containing more than 2,000 rolls of black market toilet paper, and also literally hundreds of diapers.

With flour, sugar, cooking oil and all kinds of paper products in desperate short supply, the socialist government of Venezuela, is doing everything it can to minimize the human cost, including price controls, rationing, takeover of business, and now focusing the police and military on black markets.

Across the country, middle class people and not just the poor wait for hours in line to buy precious commodities, often having to roam from one store to another when they discover that the store where they had been standing in line has run out. The regime accuses its political opponents of hoarding, and blames greed, capitalism, the Jews, and the United States for the slow collapse of the economy.

Everybody happy, products available, harvest bountiful in the command economy… N’yet!

All this is as predictable as it is pathetic. But, it does remind us of some nearly forgotten jokes from the days of the former Soviet Union….

…read more…

A `Man of Contradictions` ~ Venezuela`s Next Step and the Obama Admin (Outlook? Not Too Promising with a Democrat Admin) ~ UPDATED

posted at AEI, “Post-Chávez crisis an opportunity for Venezuela” ~ via Roger Noriega (Twitter: @rogernoriegaUSA)

Alas, Hugo Chávez will not live long enough to atone for his abuse of millions of Venezuelans nor to correct the corrupt and destructive policies that have wrecked the country he leaves behind. Moreover, although his cronies and their Cuban handlers are maneuvering to hold on to power, a Chavista succession is neither stable nor sustainable. With more audacious leadership among Venezuela’s democrats and intelligent solidarity from abroad, Chávez’s legacy might be buried with him.

The foundations of Chavismo are being shaken by an impending socioeconomic meltdown, a faltering oil sector, bitter in-fighting in his own movement, complicity with drug-trafficking and terrorism, rampant street crime, the inept performance by Chávez’s anointed successor, and growing popular rejection of Cuban interference, corrupt institutions, and rigged elections. Beset by these challenges and with Chávez no longer at the top of the ballot, the regime will use every advantage to engineer a victory in a special election to choose a new president.

A currency devaluation last month was too little and too late to break the fall of a Venezuelan economy that has been decimated by gross mismanagement, staggering corruption, and policies that were meant to strangle the independent private sector. The Chavista economic team is scrambling to stabilize the economy in advance of the election, but its incompetence is evident as it ratchets up restrictions that will stifle production and commerce. Inflation, food shortages, power outages, and crumbling infrastructure are taking a terrible toll on the quality of life of all Venezuelans.

Unlike in the past, Venezuela will not be saved by a windfall of oil revenues, because production is greatly diminished and oversubscribed. Contrary to official numbers, actual production is 2.4 million barrels per day, far below a peak of 3.3 million before Chávez. And sweetheart deals with China, Russia, and Iran as well as giveaways to Cuba and other client states in the Caribbean and Central America are bleeding Venezuela dry. Although China loaned about $28 billion to Chávez in the last 18 months, Beijing has closed its checkbook because of the questionable legality of the interim regime and the simple fact that Venezuela has no crude oil left to sell. As a result of this mess, there are reports that Venezuela is actually importing gasoline to satisfy domestic demand. In short, Chávez politicized the state-run oil company and treated its revenue as his petty cash fund – now the company is ruined and the till is empty….

…read more…

Rich Lowry recently “eulogized” the media stronghold regarding Chavez at Politico:

Let us pause and reflect. The left’s favorite self-aggrandizing thug has shed this mortal coil. Hugo Chávez, R.I.P.

All the country’s least reflective and most reflexive ideologues of the left immediately issued warm farewells — Sean Penn, Michael Moore, Oliver Stone and, of course, the nation’s 39th president, Jimmy Carter.

Carter praised Chávez for his commitment “to bring profound changes to his country,” which by installing himself as the effective president for life, he certainly did. Carter noted his “formidable communications skills,” a quality that is not unusual in successful populist demagogues. In the gentle tone of someone who regrets that his good friend sometimes cheats at bridge, Carter allowed that he did not agree “with all of the methods followed by his government.”

Such is the appeal of the socialist caudillo that ThinkProgress had to take a break from blogging about the latest Republican idiocy, real or imagined, to warn off its allies with a piece titled, “Why Democrats Shouldn’t Eulogize Hugo Chávez.”

It didn’t get to New York Rep. José Serrano in time. He rushed to praise Chávez: “He understood democracy and basic human desires for a dignified life.” As a technical matter, Serrano is right: Chávez understood democracy exceedingly well, if by that you mean he understood how to exploit its forms while hollowing out its institutions to entrench himself in power in perpetuity.

He displaced a corrupt, conscienceless oligarchy when he took power in 1999, and replaced it with his own corrupt, conscienceless rule. In a recent report, Human Rights Watch detailed how “the accumulation of power in the executive and the erosion of human rights protections have allowed the Chávez government to intimidate, censor, and prosecute critics and perceived opponents in a wide range of cases involving the judiciary, the media, and civil society.”

[….]

The night of his death, Rachel Maddow had Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson on her program to discuss Chávez. She asked Robinson in a voice heavy with sarcasm whether Hugo Chávez was really “the monster” he was made out to be. Robinson explained that Chávez bonded with the poor and had lots of popular support. Maddow very gently prodded Robinson to address criticisms of Chávez for not advancing freedom, “even as he did advance economic populist aims.”

Unable to muster any of the denunciatory venom he lavishes on Republicans once or twice a week, Robinson issued forth with a strangely tortured construction, “he was not what we would call a lover of democracy as we would like to see it practiced.” Eric Cantor must wonder why Robinson doesn’t similarly mute his criticisms of him. Robinson noted that Chávez gerrymandered electoral districts, but, hey, “that happens elsewhere as well.” All in all, he was … “a man of contradictions.” You know, like Disraeli or Gladstone.

…read more…

I have followed the actions of Marxists in Venezuela for quite some time (here as well as at my old blog), and the craziness Hollywood supported Hugo Chavez with. I wish to post again a blogger from Venezuela, and her clear statement of the travesty our Left embraces… from The End of Venezuela As I Know It:

Chavez died today…. When I heard the news, these past fourteen years passed by me in an instant. My adolescence, my youth, all that fear, all that disappointment, all those street demonstrations, all those stories, all those lives that were lost in the way not by cancer but by the sound of a trigger. I wrote to my friends, to all those people who accompanied me during all those years when everything was about Chavez. All those people with frustrated dreams and hopes. Everyone who saw in this fourteen years a definite ruin of what we once called home. Pain, that is Hugo Chavez legacy.

(`The Morning Answer` Memorializes a Dictator ~ Chavez)

One should keep in mind that this destruction of human life for a “conceived of” utpoia is what the Left will sacrifice. That is, lives for an ideal. Here is an older informal poll showing that Chavez was more popular than Kerry (via Breitbart):

In an informal poll in 2004, the populist progressive site Democratic Underground took a reader poll asking who they respected more: Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez or then-Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Chavez won, 70% to 30%.

So the type of help needed in South America/Venezuela is not one that will readily coming from our current administration. Another horrible effect of the past election, or mandate — “loss of lives traded for an unproved ideal.” Another “thank you Dems” is needed.

In fact, one of the largest financial supporters to the Democratic Party — the SEIU — held a candlelight vigil for Hugo Chavez:

Marching Marxists… SEIU Holds Hugo Chavez Memorial Candlelight Vigil and March in Times Square

The SEIU radicals organized a Hugo Chavez memorial march and candelight vigil in New York City on Friday. Global Dispatch reported:

[….]

A memorial vigil was held Wednesday at the Venezuelan consulate in Manhattan, but the union march is raising eyebrows.

“Bring candles will walk to the statue of the Liberator Simon Bolivar in Central Park.” – instructions included in the hispanic announcement which reached out to Fidel Castro supporters as well.

[….]

A Celebration and procession for the life of our comrade Hugo Chávez, an extraordinary human and revolutionary. Your energy, love and example will not be forgotten.

The revolution will continue until there is liberation for all.

And again, the Marxist/National Socialist connections at he SEIU have been confirmed a long time ago:

I have long contended that the US’s largest and most militant labor organization the Service Employees International Union, is allied to, or subordinate to the country’s largest Marxist organization – Democratic Socialists of America.

Here is proof of this connection, from the latest edition of DSA’s Democratic Left, Winter 2011/2012, page 11

Continuing:

Detroit DSA leader David Green wrote in Democratic Left, Spring 2007

Our goal as socialists is to abolish private ownership of the means of production. Our immediate task is to limit the capitalist class’s prerogatives in the workplace…In the short run we must at least minimize the degree of exploitation of workers by capitalists. We can accomplish this by promoting full employment policies, passing local living wage laws, but most of all by increasing the union movement’s power…

Through SEIU, DSA has 2.1 million paid lackeys to do just that.