I read that the govt. of Venezuela confiscated land from farmers if they had over 1,000 hectares of good land, and 3,000 hectares for marginal land holdings. Soon this was reduced to 500 hectares for good farms, 2000 for marginal. This was played out in other sectors too. And with it came the slow grabbing of political freedoms, one bit at a time. It's the usual race to the bottom. Why is socialism so rapacious?
It was said of Rockefeller that he held 1.5 - 2% of the wealth of America. That's about four times what the richest man in America today has. Of course, this wealth still flowed through the economy and helped to enrich America. But what wealth did someone like Stalin or Mao have? Essentially it was 100%. And it didn't benefit their economies at all. And when these socialist economies fall to less than 10% the GDP of their capitalist neighbors they collapsed under the weight of their own contradictions. ps I think the democratic republic of North Korea is way below that ten percent figure. To plumb such socialist depths you need a fantastically totalitarian system, and a totally brainwashed proletariat.
First of all, socialism is not rapacious. You're criticizing a strategy for getting to socialism (worker ownership and control of the MoP) at best. But secondly and most important, we can't trust what we read about Venezuela as our government and its compliant media have a long history of spreading anti-Venezuelan, anti-socialist propaganda. And now, Trump is working on starting a war with Venezuela as a distraction from all the corruption that is falling out of investigations. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...peo-helping-install-new-remarks-a7859771.html
Uh... no evidence for any of this. 1 - I do have a problem with "worker ownership" because that's what happened in Venezuela 2 - And then, who owns the Workers? Dictatorship of the Proletariat stuff. Worker ownership in Venezuela meant the Government seized (stole) control of companies and put loyalists (cronies) in "charge." The oil industry is now controlled by loyalist army personnel (aka the Government) who are okay running an army, but not a complex oil industry. Only the USA is keeping the Venezuelan oil industry going now. Worker's control of the agricultural industry has also done wonders. But in the end workers line up in long queues like everyone else, any pay two million dollars for a cup of coffee.
Of course not. You posted no evidence for your claims. Why should I? You already know enough about socialism to piece it together and see the reality, but you choose not to. For example, you no doubt know: Marx was anti-capitalist Marx was pro-worker Marx wrote of the need for the working class to liberate themselves from "wage slavery" Marx said the alternative (socialism) was "the dictatorship of the proletariat (workers)" over capital The Venezuelan government has governed Venezuelan society including workers Venezuelan workers were not in control of either government or their work This means that Venezuela has not been governed by the dictatorship of the workers. Hence, Venezuela has not been "socialist" according to the intentions of Marx. The government of Venezuela has claimed all along that it's goal and purpose has been "socialism", but now we see they have not achieved it yet, --the government is still in control and not workers. Assuming you do know the first 6 points as I asserted you do, no evidence is necessary. You want to appear to know something about Venezuela, yet on this very fundamental and basic point you misrepresent the facts. You put "worker ownership" in quotes as though you are admitting that you have stretched the truth to characterize it as such. IOW you know they do not have worker ownership. And since worker ownership and control is the whole point of Marxism and socialism, you have admitted that Venezuela is not socialist yet. And only now beginning in the last days of the Chavez government is Venezuela starting to roll out an increasing number of incentives and supports for the formation of worker-owned, worker-controlled cooperatives. So the effort to transition to socialism is just now beginning. "Who owns the workers"??? LOL!!! So you see workers needing to be "owned"?? Can you define "proletariat"? I just did above. Do you need a Marx quote to support it? LOL!!! Then you do know --and are saying --that workers haven't actually owned the economy or the government or any businesses in Venezuela. So you are saying that you know that Marx's principle of liberation of the workers and workers taking control didn't happen in Venezuela. Hence, Marx's idea of socialism didn't happen there. So why all the repeating contradictions? In one sentence you assert that Venezuela is an example of socialism, but in the next sentence you assert that Venezuela failed to live up to Marx's idea of worker liberation and control in Venezuela. You can't have a red ball that is blue, and you can't have both sides of the contradiction you asserted, either.
Who OWNS the Workers, who "own" the factories. Sounds silly, doesn't it? In many Communist counties, ie China, the peasants were given "back" their land. And then the land taken over by The Party ... and that's why tens of millions starved to death. Workers take "control" of the factories. Collective takes control of the Workers("guiding" them you might say) The Party takes control of the Collective. An inner group take control of the Party And one takes control of the inner group (Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Xi etc..) But, ostensibly, the workers own it all. Not. "Socialist" workers wind up far less freedoms than workers do in liberal democracies. And that's because the checks and balances (press, senate, judiciary etc) belong to The Party as well. Such workers wind up far, far poorer. And the choices available to them are far less. The Left love that term "Precautionary Principle" to block any idea that can't be reasoned with.They ought to apply this principle to their politics - or at least give us a demonstration of a country where Socialism has actually worked (at least, for the Workers.)
I showed that you have no idea what you're talking about. And I showed you your errors so you could learn. But you are still pushing the same errors as "truth".
