Are things actually bad in Venezuela or is that capitalist propaganda?
My wife and I have lived in venezeula approximately 9 mos a year for the past 4 years. My wife and I moved here when the local currency was trading at the free market rate of 68 Bs to 1 USD. On Aug 15 2018 before the introduction of the new Bolivera the exchange was 9,987,500 Bs to 1 USD. Inflation is spiraling out of control. IMF published a report that indicates prices double every 18 days. I can attest that prices rise on a daily if not an hourly basis. There are two Venezuelas. You are either very poor or very rich in Venezuela. The middle class is a very small population of the total (completely opposite to the US). I see people on a daily basis eating from the garbage along the road. The biggest problem is the security. After dark, Venezuela is like the wild wild west, armed robberies, kidnappings and homicides are the rule and not the exception. CNN reports that Venezuela is the most dangerous country in the world for the second straight year. LA Times reports a Homicide rate of 119 per 100,000 (compare that to the US with 5.35 per 100,000 for 2016). The Socialist government is failing the people while the leaders steal the wealth and do business with the drug cartels. 1000’s of people flee Venezuela daily to escape the poverty and hardships. A report by the Guardian on May 09 2018 – indicates that at lease one million people have entered Colombia from Venezuela since Maduro’s government has entered into a crisis last year. This figure does not include those fleeing to the US, Brazil, Peru, Spain and other countries. By creating hardship for his people, Maduro is exporting Venezuelan citizens to other countries to send money back to their families in Venezuela, allowing the government to further neglect its citizens at home. This process is going to start its second wave as I speak. Those who can leave are leaving, those who can’t will need the support of those who have left as the government will not help. The infrastructure is failing, brownouts are a common occurrence, water is controlled by the military, food distribution is controlled by the military (imagine kickbacks and bribes just to get food). I love the people of Venezuela, I love the country of Venezuela….however the Socialist Government has completely destroyed Venezuela, it will take at least three generations after Socialism to restore Venezuela back to what it was, The Saudi Arabia of Latin America.
Is American democracy eroding?
To circumvent those who might argue about irrelevant technicalities (the US is a Representative Republic blah blah blah), let’s define our “democracy” as a government that is ultimately controlled by The People. In that context, yes, indeed, “American democracy is eroding”. In fact, for the most part, it is now nonexistent. We still have elections. Our citizens can still vote. But it is the wealthy class who choose who the candidates shall be, and it is their agenda that is followed by the “winner” of the election.It is increasingly difficult to elect a candidate who will actually represent the interests of the people who voted for him or her. Our last presidential election demonstrated the influence of the wealthy class over the selection process. It is, or should be clear, that when The People do not have the ability to choose the candidate that they wish to vote for, democracy really does not exist. And our “system” which is dominated by two establishment parties, both controlled by the wealthy class, does not allow the preference of The People to prevail.So what we get in the US, are politicians who are essentially chosen by the wealthy class to represent their interests exclusively. We still get to vote for the candidate, but that amounts to nothing more than a ratification of the choice already made by the rich, since it was their money and influence that assured the nomination of the candidate in the first place.We do not live in a democracy when our candidates are chosen by a wealthy minority. When that is the case, we live in an oligarchy. And since the reality is that they oligarchs are mostly corporate billionaires, since they control the government, it can credibly be called Fascism.
What do you think about the US Democratic Party?
It is its own brand of Bullshit™. The Democratic Party has uncomfortably close ties with the same corporate influences that have corrupted the Republican Party, and they have severely damaged their supposed credentials as the “party of the working man.” Democrats do not go far enough in confronting the underlying causes of economic unrest.However, the Democratic Party supports diversity, it is not ruled by petty fear of immigrants or social programs. The Democrats have been leaders (relatively speaking) in terms of reducing environmental impact, subverting climate change, science in general, minority rights, voting rights, the rights of women, not to mention acknowledgment of wealth inequality and the damage it causes and support of public lands and services. The Republican Party has openly attacked all of these things: they have waved the flag of ignorance and have openly embraced lies and liars (any number of Trump’s speeches provide ample examples of this), they have openly become the party of pussy-grabbing assault (we are holding actors and comedians to higher ethical standards than Congress is holding the President to), they are waging a savage attack on women’s rights and the right to have the option to terminate a pregnancy, and they are attacking verifiable science and scientists like it is the year 1200.Given the sheer lunacy of the current Republican Party and the rampant denialist of its supporters to acknowledge and own the tendencies so obviously in play, I would say that it’s pretty clear that the Democrats (unfortunately) even with all their flaws and shortcomings represent the only “adult” group in Washington.
Were the founding fathers able to create a limited government that still exists today?
First off I don't think they created a limited government at all, just the opposite. Our government was created with freedom, freedom to change with the times, freedom to expand with the ever expanding world, freedom to correct past mistakes (slavery, prohibition, women's rights etc.) .
Why did USSR and USA become enemies after WW2 in cold war? What happened and who started it?
"Zachery" -- why do you not learn the difference between an economic system (communism, socialism and capitalism) and a political system (democracy, monarchy, totalitarianism etc.) Many people living in socialist countries may have lived under a not-so-free country (I would not say totalitarian) but they had food to eat and clothes and a good health system available much of which was not available in the capitalist USA which was racist, bigoted and undemocratic in many of its laws and cultural attitudes. ============ Why did they become enemies? Because the Soviet Union was a Socialist country run by communist parties in its republics while the USA was a capitalist country. Each was paranoid about the other and being subverted. The US was sending agent-provocateurs into the Soviet bloc to destabilize the economy and governments while the USSR sent spies into the US to spy on the military etc. The US was also violating a lot of international treaties over Korea, Germany, Vietnam etc.