Is it wise to follow the Venezuelan utopia?

[defcon4]

It is scary to watch the left in the U.S. embracing Marxist-Leninist ideology believing that the failed system works if it is done by the right people.

"It’s debatable whether it was Einstein, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain or none of them who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. What isn’t debatable is the validity of the statement. Individuals, institutions and countries should learn from past mistakes, but they don’t. [...] Basic goods such as food, clothing, and gasoline became harder to find at the price set by the government. Black markets quickly developed. The very people whom Chávez wanted to help were those most hurt by his new socialism. His socialist successor, Nicolás Maduro, was elected president after Chávez died in 2013."

Venezuela: A warning on the limits of socialism

 

[sharik]

the left in the U.S. embracing Marxist-Leninist ideology believing that the failed system works if it is done by the right people.

'right people' in terms the US would not wage war against own peoples, unlike it did on the Soviet Block and lately Venezuela.

 

[sharik]

Venezuela: A warning on the limits of socialism

that isn't the limits of Socialism or whatever system, for that matter, it is only that Venezuela being a small country got bullied by the West and finally caved in.

 

[waltky]

Venezuela's Health Care System Ready To Collapse...

Venezuela's Health Care System Ready To Collapse Amid Economic Crisis
February 1, 2018 - The death of a former major league baseball player in his native Venezuela this week is renewing concerns over the Latin American country's growing health crisis amid ongoing economic and political turmoil.

Marcos Carvajal, a 34-year-old former pitcher for the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins, died of pneumonia on Tuesday. He fell sick in December, but the antibiotics needed to treat the illness were hard to find. Drugs for Carvajal eventually were sent from abroad but he relapsed, returned to the hospital on Monday and died the next day. The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates the country is suffering from an 85 percent shortage of medicine amid an economic crisis also marked by severe hyperinflation and food scarcity. The entire Venezuelan health care system is on the verge of collapse, says Francisco Valencia, head of the public health advocacy group Codevida. Some hospitals lack electricity, and more than 13,000 doctors have left Venezuela in the past four years in search of better opportunities. "They don't give food to the patients in the hospital," Valencia tells Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd. "They don't have the proper medical supplies to take care of the people who go to the emergency [room] like gloves, like every basic thing they need for an emergency."

A volunteer from the non-profit Accion Solidaria organizes imported medicines alphabetically, in a store room in Caracas, Venezuela, last April. The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates the country is suffering from an 85 percent shortage of medicine.​

According to the pharmaceutical association, there is also a 90 percent deficit of other medical supplies and drugs used to treat more serious conditions like cancer. The shortage has forced Venezuelans to go looking for medicine on the black market, Valencia says. Even if they find the right medicine, which is often smuggled from Colombia and Brazil and could be expired, most people can't afford it. The crisis affects Valencia personally, who relies on medication for a kidney transplant. "I haven't received my medicine since August last year," he says. "Right now, I'm taking medicines that [have] expired, and my transplant is at risk."

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has refused to accept humanitarian aid, blocking shipments of medicine and first aid supplies. Government data shows infant mortality rose by 30 percent in 2016 and malaria infections shot up 76 percent, Reuters reports. "So most countries when they're hit by a crisis, they're taking aid from other countries, from NGOs," Associated Press reporter Hannah Dreier told NPR in 2016. "But Venezuela keeps refusing to take donations that other countries are offering and is actually turning back shipments of donations that people have given in places like the U.S., not letting medicine in." Drug prices have skyrocketed along with those for food and other basic necessities. The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation will soar to 13,000 percent this year and the economy will shrink by 15 percent.

Earlier this week, the government announced it would abandon one of its two official foreign exchange rates, which had been used for food and medicine imports, Reuters reports. The policy change could encourage businesses to import more goods, but critics say it won't be very effective due to the lack of hard currency in Venezuela. The elimination of the exchange rate was "a step in the right direction because it helps correct foreign exchange distortion," Asdrubal Oliveros of local consultancy Ecoanalitica told Reuters. "But without dollars, things will continue to be more complicated." Since the collapse of Venezuela's oil-rich economy in 2014, the country has struggled to raise hard currency. The monthly minimum wage for many Venezuelans is now equal to $3, according to the AP. Maduro blames the country's growing crisis on foreign economic sanctions, claiming that the U.S. is leading an effort to wipe out socialism in Venezuela, according to Reuters. Presidential elections are set to be held by April 30, which is much earlier than usual, but Venezuela's pro-government Supreme Court last week banned the main opposition party from running.

Venezuela's Health Care System Ready To Collapse Amid Economic Crisis

 

[Political Junky]

Venezuela's Health Care System Ready To Collapse...

Venezuela's Health Care System Ready To Collapse Amid Economic Crisis
February 1, 2018 - The death of a former major league baseball player in his native Venezuela this week is renewing concerns over the Latin American country's growing health crisis amid ongoing economic and political turmoil.

Marcos Carvajal, a 34-year-old former pitcher for the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins, died of pneumonia on Tuesday. He fell sick in December, but the antibiotics needed to treat the illness were hard to find. Drugs for Carvajal eventually were sent from abroad but he relapsed, returned to the hospital on Monday and died the next day. The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates the country is suffering from an 85 percent shortage of medicine amid an economic crisis also marked by severe hyperinflation and food scarcity. The entire Venezuelan health care system is on the verge of collapse, says Francisco Valencia, head of the public health advocacy group Codevida. Some hospitals lack electricity, and more than 13,000 doctors have left Venezuela in the past four years in search of better opportunities. "They don't give food to the patients in the hospital," Valencia tells Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd. "They don't have the proper medical supplies to take care of the people who go to the emergency [room] like gloves, like every basic thing they need for an emergency."

A volunteer from the non-profit Accion Solidaria organizes imported medicines alphabetically, in a store room in Caracas, Venezuela, last April. The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates the country is suffering from an 85 percent shortage of medicine.​

According to the pharmaceutical association, there is also a 90 percent deficit of other medical supplies and drugs used to treat more serious conditions like cancer. The shortage has forced Venezuelans to go looking for medicine on the black market, Valencia says. Even if they find the right medicine, which is often smuggled from Colombia and Brazil and could be expired, most people can't afford it. The crisis affects Valencia personally, who relies on medication for a kidney transplant. "I haven't received my medicine since August last year," he says. "Right now, I'm taking medicines that [have] expired, and my transplant is at risk."

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has refused to accept humanitarian aid, blocking shipments of medicine and first aid supplies. Government data shows infant mortality rose by 30 percent in 2016 and malaria infections shot up 76 percent, Reuters reports. "So most countries when they're hit by a crisis, they're taking aid from other countries, from NGOs," Associated Press reporter Hannah Dreier told NPR in 2016. "But Venezuela keeps refusing to take donations that other countries are offering and is actually turning back shipments of donations that people have given in places like the U.S., not letting medicine in." Drug prices have skyrocketed along with those for food and other basic necessities. The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation will soar to 13,000 percent this year and the economy will shrink by 15 percent.

Earlier this week, the government announced it would abandon one of its two official foreign exchange rates, which had been used for food and medicine imports, Reuters reports. The policy change could encourage businesses to import more goods, but critics say it won't be very effective due to the lack of hard currency in Venezuela. The elimination of the exchange rate was "a step in the right direction because it helps correct foreign exchange distortion," Asdrubal Oliveros of local consultancy Ecoanalitica told Reuters. "But without dollars, things will continue to be more complicated." Since the collapse of Venezuela's oil-rich economy in 2014, the country has struggled to raise hard currency. The monthly minimum wage for many Venezuelans is now equal to $3, according to the AP. Maduro blames the country's growing crisis on foreign economic sanctions, claiming that the U.S. is leading an effort to wipe out socialism in Venezuela, according to Reuters. Presidential elections are set to be held by April 30, which is much earlier than usual, but Venezuela's pro-government Supreme Court last week banned the main opposition party from running.

Venezuela's Health Care System Ready To Collapse Amid Economic Crisis

 

[Silent Warrior]

Venezuela: A warning on the limits of socialism

that isn't the limits of Socialism or whatever system, for that matter, it is only that Venezuela being a small country got bullied by the West and finally caved in.

Bullying by the West had nothing to do with dictators preying on their own people to line their pockets.

 

[sharik]

Bullying by the West had nothing to do with dictators preying on their own people to line their pockets.

it is the west that lines up the pockets of its ruling elites, what dictators?

 

[Two Thumbs]

we should totally follow their lead, to the letter.

why?

Americans have lots and lots of weapons.

Break the system, execute those in charge, start over.

 

[Tehon]

we should totally follow their lead, to the letter.

why?

Americans have lots and lots of weapons.

Break the system, execute those in charge, start over.

Go ahead and start the revolution. Why wait?

 

[Two Thumbs]

we should totally follow their lead, to the letter.

why?

Americans have lots and lots of weapons.

Break the system, execute those in charge, start over.

Go ahead and start the revolution. Why wait?

Last time I checked, DC was well guarded.

 

[Tehon]

we should totally follow their lead, to the letter.

why?

Americans have lots and lots of weapons.

Break the system, execute those in charge, start over.

Go ahead and start the revolution. Why wait?

Last time I checked, DC was well guarded.

Pussy

 

[pismoe]

take a run down to 'venezuela' and have a Steak with some starving and disarmed 'venzies' , --- Starving Venezuelas beat cattle to death with rocks | Daily Mail Online ---

 

[martybegan]

Venezuela: A warning on the limits of socialism

that isn't the limits of Socialism or whatever system, for that matter, it is only that Venezuela being a small country got bullied by the West and finally caved in.

Blame the outsiders, one of the many tactics in the socialist playbook for why their system never works.

 

[harmonica]

Venezuela is another shithole

 

[sharik]

Blame the outsiders, one of the many tactics in the socialist playbook for why their system never works.

you get beaten up and robbed and then called an outsider yeah.

 

[martybegan]

Blame the outsiders, one of the many tactics in the socialist playbook for why their system never works.

you get beaten up and robbed and then called an outsider yeah.

What did the US do to "beat up and rob" Venezuela?

 

[sharik]

What did the US do to "beat up and rob" Venezuela?

sanctions and sabotage.

 

[martybegan]

What did the US do to "beat up and rob" Venezuela?

sanctions and sabotage.

Here's a hint to countries that don't want sanctions. stop appropriating US assets and investments.

As for sabotage, LOL.

 

[sharik]

stop appropriating US assets and investments.

who were?

 

[Moonglow]

It is scary to watch the left in the U.S. embracing Marxist-Leninist ideology believing that the failed system works if it is done by the right people.

"It’s debatable whether it was Einstein, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain or none of them who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. What isn’t debatable is the validity of the statement. Individuals, institutions and countries should learn from past mistakes, but they don’t. [...] Basic goods such as food, clothing, and gasoline became harder to find at the price set by the government. Black markets quickly developed. The very people whom Chávez wanted to help were those most hurt by his new socialism. His socialist successor, Nicolás Maduro, was elected president after Chávez died in 2013."

Venezuela: A warning on the limits of socialism

Seems to work okay for China home of Trump Enterprises manufacturing....