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Remember the photos of Soviet Union department stores with virtually nothing on the display shelves? In the 1970s, while I was serving in the military, we were told about the hardships the Soviet citizens were undergoing at the hands of their Communist government.

Aside from typically abysmal fiscal policy manifested by a command-and-control economy and the huge burden on that economy caused by military spending, the people were helpless to improve their lot. For them to protest or force change meant imprisonment or death.

Not far to the south of us, Venezuela has surpassed the old USSR in mismanagement by a wide margin. Unfortunately, under Hugo Chavez and now Nicolas Maduro, the downhill slide is accelerating into perilous territory, that of civil disorder and chaos.

Ironically, Venezuela is reportedly sitting on the largest supply of oil and gas in the world, but is paralyzed in its ability to benefit from it. Foreign oil companies and other businesses have been nationalized (a polite term for stolen by the government) and in so doing has frightened-off any more significant industrial investment. Why should a corporation invest in a country where its assets can be easily seized? It would be stupid to take that risk.

The basic mode of failure is the standard template of socialism which can be summarized by Dame Margaret Thatchers famous quote: The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money. To apply a commonly-used phrase used to describe terminal cases, Venezuela is circling the drain to economic oblivion.

The populist/socialist Hugo Chavez really got the cart rolling by dolling out largess to people he thought would support him and thus keep him in power. But it becomes difficult to support a leader who cannot keep his people in paper toilet paper.

Chavez died March 5, 2013, just when things were becoming tense. His hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, has been trying to keep the economy bailed out, and to say that it hasnt been working out is a vast understatement. Conditions have deteriorated to the point of massive demonstrations, marches and rebellious actions by the now-nearly starving citizens.

But everything will probably turn out okay because in 2012 Chavez forbade the ownership of firearms by all citizens, presumably to keep them out of the hands of criminals so to protect the more and more angry (and hungry) citizens.

However, Maduro saw that the police and military forces might not be able to handle the rebellious Venezuelan people, so he did what every self-respecting dictator would do: He formed his own private, armed (non-government) militia to maintain order through force of intimidation or through whatever means necessary.

Now, instead of cutting his losses and returning the government to a democratic form, he will try to hang on until the end and either he is driven from power and killed, or becomes so ruthless that the people simply have no choice but to give up or be exterminated. The former is exactly what happened in Cuba when the Communists under the Castro brothers took over. But guess whose families are well-off, set for life and protected? Yes, its the tyrants.

Note that banning the private ownership of firearms in Venezuela was enacted just before conditions became intolerable. Without the means to defend themselves effectively against a rogue government and its enforcers, the people will suffer dearly.

The United States is the only nation that was founded on the principle of individual liberty. That means the right of men and women to protect their own lives. Our history our heritage is unique in that regard. The people of other countries have not had that experience, so they do not have the liberty mindset in which we were educated emphasis on were.

It is no secret that liberals/socialists in our government were licking their lips at the thought of Hillary Clinton winning the 2016 presidential election. Except for Democrat Party primary nomination shenanigans, self-described socialist Bernie Sanders would have been a suitable substitute. The supreme prize of control of the Supreme Court was lost in that electoral defeat.

Keep an eye on Venezuela and you will be surprised at the number of similarities in the dialogue of the Maduro regime and American liberal talking points, especially regarding class warfare.

Link:
Commentary: Venezuela, a rich country ruined by socialist dictators - Austin American-Statesman