Graphics Depict Venezuela’s Present, the USA’s Future
by Dave Blount | July 17, 2015 4:03 pm
Venezuela is similar to the USA in that it is blessed with abundant natural resources but cursed with leftist rule. It differs in that it is a decade further down the road to Hope & Change; the Venezuelan version of Barack Obama took power in 1999. Hugo Chavez was replaced by Nicolas Maduro, just as Obama is likely to be replaced by another leftist like Hillary Clinton. Venezuela’s present is America’s tomorrow. A few graphics from All Emerging Markets illustrate the state of affairs we have to look forward to unless we can change course.
As government feeds on itself to grow ever larger, deficits become a problem. Note how much deeper Venezuela is digging itself even than borderline failed states like Greece:
With deficits come inflation as the government prints money to pay off its debts — as we will inevitably experience eventually, with our national debt over $18 trillion:
Meanwhile, the private economy that is the only real source of wealth staggers under the burden of ideologically motivated punitive regulations:
Here’s what all the Hope & Change means in terms of standard of living:
Left-wing rule entails anarchotyranny. This means that even as pushcart vendors are thrown in jail for operating without proper licensing, real criminals run rampant:
The leader on this list, El Salvador, is a major exporter of undocumented Democrats to the USA.
The ostensible point of forsaking prosperity and freedom for the sake of liberal ideology is to eliminate income inequality. Yet despite the rhetoric spewed by the likes of Chavez, Obama, Maduro, and Shrillary, income inequality is not reduced by oligarchical collectivism:
Obviously no government can even pretend to reduce income inequality without severely encroaching on individual liberty. Here’s where Venezuela stands in that regard:
The good news is that we won’t catch up to Zimbabwe without another generation or two of demographic transformation.
There is an alternative path to the road to ruin:
Around the same time that Venezuelans elected Hugo Chávez in 1999, Colombia was embracing a series of economic reforms in partnership with the International Monetary Fund.
Today, Colombia has perhaps South America’s strongest economy despite limited natural resources.
Whether the USA will learn from Colombia’s inspiring example and once again embrace economic liberty remains to be seen. It won’t happen without a fight; oligarchs treasure their power.
On a tip from Michael J. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.
Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/economy/graphics-depict-venezuelas-present-the-usas-future/