Most people can do without certain luxuries and conveniences for a significant amount of time. Temporary power and internet outages due to storms are common in many parts of America and people get through it.
Food on the other hand, is a different story. As any student of history can tell you, when people can’t find food things get ugly pretty fast.
Venezuela is quickly entering that danger zone. Reuters reports:
‘We want food!’, Venezuelans cry at protest near presidencyVenezuelan security forces fired teargas at protesters chanting “We want food!” near Caracas’ presidential palace on Thursday, the latest street violence in the crisis-hit OPEC nation.Hundreds of angry Venezuelans heading toward Miraflores palace in downtown Caracas were met by National Guard troops and police who blocked a major road.President Nicolas Maduro, under intense pressure over a worsening economic crisis in the South American nation of 30 million, had been scheduled to address a rally of indigenous groups nearby around the same time.The protest spilled out of long lines at shops in the area, witnesses said, after some people tried to hijack a food truck.”I’ve been here since eight in the morning. There’s no more food in the shops and supermarkets,” one woman told pro-opposition broadcaster Vivoplay.”We’re hungry and tired.”The government accused opposition politicians of inciting the chaos but said security forces had the situation under control.Despite their country having the world’s biggest oil reserves, Venezuelans are suffering severe shortages of consumer goods ranging from milk to flour, soaring prices and a shrinking economy.
This was the top story last night on Special Report with Bret Baier. It’s pointed out that President Maduro’s core supporters are Venezuela’s poorest people. If he loses them, he’s in big trouble.
The popularity of Bernie Sanders on the American left has thrown a spotlight on Socialism throughout the primary process. What’s happening in Venezuela should be a teaching moment.
The Daily Signal reports:
Venezuela’s Crisis Is the Latest Example of Why Socialism Doesn’t WorkVenezuela’s current tragedy, simultaneously culminating in food shortages, a crime epidemic, and an energy collapse, is the latest example of why centralized planning economy does not work—and how it is indistinguishable from tyranny.In the South American country, even the most basic services and products are becoming inaccessible as a result cronyism, interventionism, and a controlled prices policy. The government now works only two days a week in order to diminish the constant electricity blackouts. The inflation rate is the highest in the world: it is expected to be at 720 percent by the end of 2016.Yes, you can still go to McDonalds in Venezuela—but you have to be willing to spend more than $130 for that side of french fries. And you’ll have to enjoy those $130 fries without a Coke—since the company suspended its production in the country due to a lack of sugar.
Feel the burn has a whole different meaning in the context of hunger.
Featured image via YouTube.
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