Sunday, July 16, 2017

93 percent of the population cannot afford food

No, not in some sub-Saharan African country.

It is not in India.

It is in Venezuela!
Venezuela was once the richest country in South America, but food prices have skyrocketed in recent years, forcing many to scavenge for things to eat.
We humans are remarkably creative on the destruction that we can bring about :(

Everything was going well.  So well that a horrible human being--no, not this guy--stepped up to ruin it all.
Elected in 1998, President Hugo Chávez became widely popular for his promise to share the country’s oil wealth with the poor and to guarantee food security. To fund his “21st Century Socialism” agenda, he relied on oil revenues, which accounted for 93 percent of exports in 2008.
In one decade, chávez turned that country around, yes.  But, heading in the wrong direction.
During the oil price boom, the percentage of households in poverty fell to 29 percent from 53 percent. The government has not released poverty data since 2015. But a survey by three of the top universities in the country indicates that in recent years the government underestimated the level of poverty, which reached 82 percent in 2016.
"Put simply, many Venezuelans are starving to death. And their government often can’t or won’t do anything to help."

Two years ago to this date, the madman announced his candidacy for the presidency, and since then we have not been able to focus on serious issues like Venezuela.  What a tragedy!


4 comments:

Ramesh said...

Please take Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn and Jean Luc Melenchon on a guided tour of Venezuela. You can also add Elizabeth Warren if you like. For sure Paul Krugman, Noam Chomsky and the like must also be accommodated.

One quarter of the Democratic Party in the UK, and then entire Labour leadership must be made to stand in the queue for food in Caracas.

There's a huge danger that after experimenting with the disaster of the extreme right in the US and in the UK, the voters will shift drastically to the left, which will be equally bad.

Sriram Khé said...

I understand your frustration with the ultra-left. But, you are unfairly sweeping everybody left of center into one group. Krugman and Chomsky?
By your statement, you are implying that I am in the same group as the Melenchon supporters or the Berniacs. That will be like saying that you are alt-right person just because you are right-of-center.
Yes, the extreme left is as dangerous as the extreme right. Unfortunately, there is a lot more criticism of the left than there is of the right :(

Ramesh said...

No No - I am not equating you with these extremists. You tilt to the left, but you are still a reasonable centrist.

Why are you objecting to my including Chomsky in that list ? He and Chavez had a veritable love affair going on.

Sriram Khé said...

Yes, there is me, Krugman and Chomsky. You bracketed Krugman and Chomsky together. Even though they are dramatically different.
Chomsky routinely uses harsh criticisms for people like Krugman I am almost always aligned with Krugman on most policies. Which means you are including me too with Chomsky :(
You see why I am putting up a fight here? ;)