@steamdan I agree with some of the points that you make here. Socialism, like any other group in power, is only as good as the people in charge. The evidence of that, in my view, is ultimately not heavy machinery and shining cities, it is the life conditions of the average people. The US. for one example, have plenty of heavy equipment and huge cities, although their infrastructure is decaying because public money is siphoned off to the military and the richest 1%. The US poor are living in abject poverty and dying for lack of health care in arguably the richest country in the world. For many of them the choice is grinding poverty or joining the military, and that's no accident. But there were times, such as after the second world war, when life conditions in the US were good.
Socialism likewise can go either way. Mao, the Khmer Rouge and others were obscenities. Today Russia and China are both experimenting with a socialism with capitalist overtones. Both have brought up the average standard of living, but both are lacking in human rights. Russia especially was devastated by the West in the nineties and Putin has had an uphill battle reversing that. He has greatly brought up the standard of living since the Yeltsin treachery, although he appears to be stumbling now.
Maduro has made errors, one of the greatest is civil repression. But it's hard to fault him for wanting a strong military with the US thirsting for Venezuelan oil.
Many arguments are put forth on both sides of this issue and can be a distraction. A clearer picture can be gained by stepping back and observing the major forces in conflict here.
First of all, capitalism by definition is the harvesting of wealth created by workers and passing it to nonworking share holders. Therefore it is by its very essence repugnant to an egalitarian. What good is the biggest refinery complex in the world when the profits from it go offshore to the multinational owners?
Secondly, the US supports the Venezuelan opposition and is in fact the main antagonist. US intentions are better discerned by ignoring their propaganda and looking at their track record. For the last number of administrations, all since the second world war (Even Carter's administration was guilty of hegemonic intervention) have subverted and violated every part of this Earth, and their behavior is no different today.
One example out of many is Haiti, the only country on earth where the slaves managed to free themselves. When they elecedt their first democratically chosen leader Jean Bertrand Aristide, the US organized a multinational force to physically remove him at gunpoint, kidnapping him to Africa.
You are right that as a Venezuelan you have a much closer physical vantage than me; I have never been to your country. However I live in Canada, the sycophantic lackey of the US. Our special forces, police and especially our politicians were directly involved in the Aristide travesty, among many other criminal interventions, so I have a close perspective on the workings of the US hegemon and its 'friends'.
Sometimes one can be too close to a situation to see the larger picture. If yoiu think the patron of the Venezuelan opposition has good intentions towards your country, have a look at past performance; Libya would be a good place to start because it is also an oil-rich country that moved away from the petrodollar monopoly.
Do some research, but you may want to avoid the West's corporate press because of their inherent bias. Just for starters I would suggest Informationclearinghouse, wsws, consortiumnews,Caitlin Johnstone, theintercept,Llee Camp and I could refer many others, including sputnik and rt. And while we're on steemit, have a look at informationwar here, there's often some good stuff there.
Read broadly and make up your own mind.
Thank you for making this point crystal clear, for people who want to confuse, conflate labels, and throw all groups of people and systems into the same basket. It is my opinion, that corruption stems from the individuals in 'charge' the overwhelming majority of the time and not the 'system' itself, although that does play a role in being able to create the self interest and corruption. Their are endless examples of political opposition campaigns that base themselves on the 'opposite' side of a sitting government, and then only repeat the same or extremely similar policies, with the appearance of a different 'mask'. That is of course only speaking for myself and where I live. I do however see this as a consistent worldwide phenomenon, from my personal perspective and observations.
I sincerely recommend you start writing more opinion and philosophical pieces, based on your comments in this thread. You sound well informed and knowledgeable on these matters!
I think this video shows how 'groups' of powerful people, use a lot of 'systems' to suit themselves and their crony partners. The reality is, most of them lead to the same trough.
Thanks for the video. Most of it is not new to me, but it does fill in a few details I was lacking.
Overall, I think if you and I were to sit down and talk, we would have more in common than different.
Here's a video for you.
I didn't think it was new to to you:) I put it there for other reasons...Thanks for the video too. Will check it out when i get a chance:)
I don't think you are following this at all. And I believe that you are the one who must rethink what you're writing, about and from. There is a difference between a venezuelan who is biased and a venezuelan who really cares about making things work, with anyone who puts Venezuela's interest over any other agenda. Maybe you think that Maduro has at some point done that, and I would agree if I understand you correctly. But I'll give you this example: If Maduro raises an army and puts guns on only his followers, they are not going to defend the country against the US, they are going to use that against the people here biased with the western policies, and that is whats happening year after year in Venezuela. Do you see any US army shooting down venezuelan military? Have you seen venezuelan army fighting a war, or do you think it'll stand a chance agains the US? The only thing going on here with Maduro and Chavez trying to "defend Venezuela" is the fact that venezuelans suffer this, as Cuba does and as every communist and dictatorial government in the world. You're not asking people if they want to defend their country. Chavism is clearly defending their spot as the sole ruler of this horrible faith, and we cannot blame US over this. The lack of commitment to really overcome our crisis is by far the worst mistake that chavism has committed, and they must be judged and processed as criminals There is no law who can say otherwise.
To see a larger picture is what I am asking you to do not the other way around. There is a lot of people who like me, are far prepared and experienced in politics, military actions/sanctions and especially how the world strings act as a puppeteers with people who see goodness in evil like you are right now. We are experiencing it all, from the US controlling to now being "owned" by Russia, China and controlled by Cuba. This is not a claim, it's a fact, it's our every day reality. As you are canadian, please take the time to study all of the 5k venezuelans that are currently living there. At least 70-80 % of them are from my town, and the original PDVSA, not the politically centralized one, many people who live there, even if they approve somehow Maduro, are living there because they don't want to live here. Just think of that for a second, and of course, that 80% I'm referring to were politically mistreated and do not want to see chavism rule this country anymore.
As for the opposition here, I'm not with them. My uncle is the national Ombudsman and that is one of the top charges in Venezuela right now. I'm well informed of every string being pulled and like I said, I'm not making claims. You just have to think and review your own words in order to understand that you're the one being partial and biased. How in earth are you going to defend a president intentions? When you are clearly adressing agendas and controls being pulled worldwide? Almost every office running is guilty for making people poorer, for creating debts, for mismanaging a country's resources. Isn't this what we should discuss? Instead you're just taking a look at what you think it's right and are not seeing the bigger picture that you claim to have locked in. I ask you politely to open your mind, like you think everyone else should. And open your eyes about one side over the other; cause they have been playing together all along. As long as you don't want to take a part into really understand your equals, you will continue to look as an amateur into politics. And that is a claim I will have to work on my own, because every human being is a work in progress, as long as one wants to and focus into it.
Thank you, now you're giving me something. Help me some more to lessen my ignorance, there are many things I don't understand.
You said "they must be judged and processed as criminals", what specific crimes? What would you charge Maduro with, or any others?
Also, what influence does Cuba have in Venezuela?
Lastly, I don't understand your statement about the expats. Canada is stridently anti Maduro, so if the great majority of the expats would vote against him, I don't see why Canada would block their vote.
My being influenced in this context is caused less by what I think I know about Venezuela than it is by Canadian foreign policy. My country has, and is, taking the wrong side in situations all over the world including Africa, the Mid East, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, they even support the White Helmets. This doesn't even mention the treatment of our Aboriginal people. Many of these interventions probably constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. So when Foreign Affairs vilifies someone (like Maduro) the natural reaction is sympathy for their target.
I really hope you can persuade me because it would be great to think that for once Canada did something right. I love my country, but bandits are in control.
Lastly, I take your point about the military.
At the same time, don't be in a hurry to underestimate their chances. The US got their ass kicked in Vietnam, Somalia, the Bay of Pigs and a number of other wars. We even burned their White House when they tried to take some Canadian territory by force in 1812. About their only clear victory that I can think of was in Grenada, a non-military country of only thousands of people. Even Japan, which they nuked, didn't, contrary to popular belief, surrender until Russia entered the war.