Venezuela’s Government A Prime Example Of Socialism

The people of Venezuela are experiencing only what Americans can imagine when they think of “dystopianism” and “extreme oppression.” The freedom of the Venezuelan people, rated by freedomhouse.org, as a 5.5/7 (1 being most free and 7 being the least). The kidnapping and murder rates have skyrocketed, and since the inauguration of current president Nicolás Maduro the economy has taken a great plunge.

In an effort to protect the Venezuelan people from starvation, the government introduced price control policies that greatly lowered the price of foods at accessible markets. While it was believed by the government bureau that seizing the food market would allow Venezuelan demand for food to rise, they did not predict that the demand of the products would get to a level where the food supply is absolutely diminished; this is because the citizens saw an opportunity to buy food at ridiculously cheap prices, thus turning the food supply to nothing. Venezuelans have even resulted to eating trash to get the food they need to survive. This cruel world only exists for the citizens; however, many corrupt officials in the Venezuelan government are extremely well off. While addressing the starving nation of Venezuela, president Maduro thought it was necessary to eat an empanada while the cameras were rolling. The political corruption and economic crisis runs deep within the system, and the undeserving victims of Venezuela are the people.

While any person with compassion for fellow human beings state this is cruel and unjust, it is easy to draw conclusions from a terrible event like this happening. Socialist governments eventually become oppressive; it just takes a certain amount of time. I can recall when American politicians and celebrities praised the step towards equality that the Venezuelan government took, whether it be economic, political or social. We now know that this gigantic step placed the Venezuelans under the thick boot of socialist rule. Equality is a concept that humans generally advocate for, but the kind of equality that takes place under a large federal government is at the cost of liberty, freedom and the individual.

“But Aeon, that wasn’t real socialism!”

Can you point to me an example of the socialism you proclaim? Are you talking about the Soviet Union or Communist China with a combined conservative estimate of 85 million casualties under their Iron Fists? Or the Norwegian kinds of socialism like Denmark which denies socialist policies and proclaims itself as a “market economy?” Radical economic reform is needed for Venezuela to survive, and what’s even scarier is that there are countries like Venezuela across the world, whose citizens are under the thick boot of socialist dictatorships. It is absolutely imperative that the policies of Maduro are shown in-depth to those that are ignorant to the topic of politics so that we can preserve our republic from the horrors of totalitarianism.