The left is dangerously flirting with socialism here in the United States, but shocking scenes from South America should be jarring wake-up calls about exactly where those radical politics lead.
2019 is a strange time. The U.S. economy leads the world, and by nearly every measure life is better than ever. On the other side of the world, capitalism is raising countries like India out of abject poverty and offering people paths toward improving their lives.
But a strange resentment is also rising. Voices like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders — a leading 2020 candidate for the left — have wrapped themselves in socialism, wearing the label proudly as some sort of hipster trend.
Liberals just can’t bring themselves to admit the dark realities of socialism. A majority of Democratic voters are enamored with it, and the overall view of capitalism is souring, even as America prospers.
Over at The Huffington Post, headlines tell readers to just stop worrying. “Relax, Boomers: Socialism Is Good Now,” a patronizing headline from last year declared. “It’s going to be OK,” the sub-title assured.
Yet in places that actually have socialism, it’s is definitely not OK. In socialist Venezuela, citizens are literally fighting for their lives against the fallout from far-left policies — and even their own government seems to be trying to murder them.
On Tuesday morning, video emerged showing what appear to be government troops backed by the socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro plowing into and running over civilian protesters.
Armored personnel carriers were seen veering into crowds of Venezuelans who posed no immediate threat to them, in what can only be described as a violent show of force by the far-left government.
Content Warning: This news footage may be unsettling for some viewers.
Other videos showed unarmed civilian protesters suffering from apparent gunshot wounds after they were fired upon by Maduro-backed troops. The clash is the result of Maduro’s refusal to give up power to rival Juan Guaidó, who is recognized as the interim president by the U.S. and nearly every civilized country on earth.
It’s nothing short of civil war, with Venezuela’s people trying desperately to throw off the socialist nightmare which has gripped their nation for years.
“Guaidó and the military men protecting him moved toward west Caracas, once a stronghold of support for Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, but which has increasingly turned against the socialist government this year,” reported The Washington Post.
“In Caracas, an armored vehicle ran into a crowd of Guaidó supporters,” the newspaper confirmed.
Here’s a simple question: If socialism is so great, why are Venezuelans risking their lives in a last-ditch attempt to remove it from their homeland?
While we’re asking questions, why have they been forced to eat rotten meat, kill their pets for food, scrounge empty stores for scraps, and struggle to live without basic necessities like toilet paper? These are all the realities of real life in socialist Venezuela.
And that’s the true problem with socialism: Reality. Like free money or unlimited energy, the promises of radical leftism sound nice in theory, but fall apart like wet paper once they are implemented in the real world with real people.
Those people — the families and teenagers and brothers and girlfriends — who actually live in Venezuela no longer matter to socialists like Maduro. All that he cares about is clinging to power, just like everyone else who peddles the same empty promises for votes. When the house of cards collapses, people become nothing but fodder to be run over in the streets.
It always happens. It will happen here, too, unless Americans stand up and reject the false promises of socialism while we have the chance. There are two paths, and the one being pushed by leftists inevitably leads to a place we do not want to go.
For Every Person Who Wants Socialism, This Video Shows Where It Ultimately Leads
Reviewed by CUZZ BLUE
on
May 01, 2019
Rating:
"...flirting with socialism..."
ReplyDeleteYou're a little bit late