For those blessed enough to be born citizens of the great United States of America, socialism is nothing more than an economic theory of existence championed by people who don’t know any better. However, when a person has actually lived life within a socialist society, their view on the matter is vastly different.
For Venezuelan Ricardo Pita, who moved to America a decade ago, socialism is more than just a mere theory. According to Pita, those who think socialism is a good idea for America should keep the following in mind:
“What we try to tell others, having lived under a socialist regime, is that they sell is as a gamble; it’s a gimmick. They will tell you this nebulous world of socialism, they promise you the moon, and then it never comes around. It’s not worth the gamble; [socialism] only works for those in charge of implementing it. There is no more corrosive form to disintegrate the fabric of a nation than socialist policies.”
Venezuela serves as a perfect example to other nations. While it can seem like a positive alternative for the downtrodden, it always causes major dysfunction when put into actual practice. For example, as recently as 2012, the nation of Venezuela was commended by the New York Times for being a positive example or government. Today, the country is in a state of unrest and misery unknown in modern times. It was described as “descended into tyranny” by a Daily Signal article.
Pita left Venezuela in 2007. At the time, his parents owned and operated a family business. He and his family are now naturalized citizens of the United States. Pita says Venezuela quickly descended into the chaos it is today.
“One of the worst (if not the worst) man-made humanitarian disasters in the world,” he said. “It is breathtaking the pace at which [Venezuela] has deteriorated since I left, the amount of damage that Venezuela has sustained as a direct result of socialist policies.”
Though there are many aspects of the government in disarray, perhaps one of the best examples of socialist inspired mismanagement and corruption is in Venezuela’s oil industry. Though the country boasts the largest oil reserve in the world, the industry is currently in state of collapse.
Ana Quintana, The Heritage Foundation’s Latin America expert, said the following about the state of the oil industry in Venezuela:
“Oil is the backbone of the Venezuelan economy, bringing in nearly 98% of its export revenues. But those revenues have tanked because of corruption and mismanagement within the state-run industry. In 2012, Venezuela earned $106.7 billion from oil; last year, that number slumped to 20.9 billion.”
By the end of 2018, Venezuela’s inflation topped 1 million percent. This has in essence made the country’ currency worthless. Common products like baby formula and other consumer goods have become unaffordable. Pita explains that his family still living in his hometown nation are suffering due to the hyperinflation on common goods.
“You get an especially dark picture of the situation by listening to what they have to go through to make sure their kids are well, or properly fed,” he added.
Pita also says the current situation in Venezuela is so dire that communities are having to band together just to survive.
“So if my cousin needs drinkable water, we can ask around who has drinkable water, and what can be traded for drinkable water; it’s become a kind of barter system,” he explained.
This is what socialism actually looks like: mass starvation, economic illiteracy, and rule by force. The left can pretend this is just a theory gone wrong all it wants, but the reality is that this is just the latest example of what we’ve seen in every socialist state for the past century.
~ Liberty Planet
