Let’s start by pointing out Bernie Sanders is not a socialist, even though he bills himself as one. That’s a slogan, maybe the opposite of saying “Let’s Make America Great Again” with capitalism. Sen. Sanders does not advocate the state seizing the means of production from private enterprises. He is merely a garden variety Communist-leaning Democrat who wants to raise taxes to levels never seen before. His fans like that because they don’t make much money to be taxed and never will.
To see true
socialism, look to Venezuela, three decades ago the strongest and most
prosperous economy in South America thanks to abundant natural resources such
as oil, nickel, gold and diamonds. Economists call that “the curse of plenty.”
Richard Fernandez at PJ Media picks up the story:
The
resource curse duly gave Venezuela the expected success of corrupt and
incompetent governments. But when the Venezuelans sought relief from the ordinarily
corrupt governments in a Marxist named Hugo Chavez, they found it was possible
to go from bad to worse. A Marxist government, disastrous in itself, was
supercharged by the culture of corruption and the availability of ready money.
… Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro, with money to back them, were able
to embark on a lavish program of insanity. Chavez controlled prices, showered
Cuba with aid and borrowed billions from China will simultaneously destroying
the ability of businesses to operate.
Now the
people of Venezuela must endure shortages of everything, from electricity to
beer to toilet paper. More from Mr. Fernandez: The lights didn’t go out in
Caracas all at once. The wiring was stolen bit by bit; the turbines had been
neglected year by year: the engineers had departed plane by plane …
That is the
“paradise” socialists create for their children.
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