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Thread: Venezuela's Socialism...And Ours

  1. #1

    Venezuela's Socialism...And Ours

    Venezuela's Socialism...And Ours

    Written by Ron Paul
    Monday October 1, 2018

    This week we witnessed the horrible spectacle of Nikki Haley, President Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, joining a protest outside the UN building and calling for the people of Venezuela to overthrow their government.

    “We are going to fight for Venezuela,” she shouted through a megaphone, “we are going to continue doing it until Maduro is gone.”

    This is the neocon mindset: that somehow the US has the authority to tell the rest of the world how to live and who may hold political power regardless of elections.

    After more than a year of Washington being crippled by evidence-free claims that the Russians have influenced our elections, we have a senior US Administration official openly calling for the overturning of elections overseas.

    Imagine if President Putin’s national security advisor had grabbed a megaphone in New York and called for the people of the United States to overthrow their government by force!

    At the UN, Venezuela’s President Maduro accused the Western media of hyping up the crisis in his country to push the cause for another “humanitarian intervention.” Some may laugh at such a claim, but recent history shows that interventionists lie to push regime change, and the media goes right along with the lies.

    Remember the lies about Gaddafi giving Viagra to his troops to help them rape their way through Libya? Remember the “babies thrown from incubators” and “mobile chemical labs” in Iraq? Judging from past practice, there is probably some truth in Maduro’s claims.

    We know socialism does not work. It is an economic system based on the use of force rather than economic freedom of choice. But while many Americans seem to be in a panic over the failures of socialism in Venezuela, they don’t seem all that concerned that right here at home President Trump just signed a massive $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill that delivers socialism on a scale that Venezuelans couldn’t even imagine. In fact this one spending bill is three times Venezuela’s entire gross domestic product!

    Did I miss all the Americans protesting this warfare-welfare state socialism?

    Why all the neocon and humanitarian-interventionist “concern” for the people of Venezuela? One clue might be the fact that Venezuela happens to be sitting on the world’s largest oil reserves. More even than Saudi Arabia. There are plenty of countries pursuing dumb economic policies that result in plenty of suffering, but Nikki and the neocons are nowhere to be found when it comes to “concern” for these people. Might it be a bit about this oil?

    Don’t believe this feigned interest in helping the Venezuelan people. If Washington really cared about Venezuelans they would not be plotting regime change for the country, considering that each such “liberation” elsewhere has ended with the people being worse off than before!

    No, if Washington – and the rest of us - really cared about Venezuelans we would demand an end to the terrible US economic sanctions on the country - which only make a bad situation worse - and would push for far more engagement and trade. And maybe we’d even lead by example, by opposing the real, existing socialism here at home before seeking socialist monsters to slay abroad.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    You only show up to attack Trump when he is wrong
    Make America the Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave again



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  3. #2
    ^^^YES!!!^^^
    There is no spoon.

  4. #3
    The wise words of Ron Paul.

    I remember very clearly the "babies thrown from incubators in Kuwait" lie that our own government used to persuade American citizens to support the original US invasion of Iraq. I even remember at the time being skeptical of the claim, as it made no sense for invaders to try to kill babies. I remember the way the media at that time reported this lie unquestioningly. And I remember the NYT printing a story, years later, revealing the story was, of course, false... burying the story on Page 6.

    Then I remember the "weapons of mass destruction" lie, years later, used to justify the second invasion of Iraq. The lies are now endless.

    Trump's 1.3 trillion dollar spending bill should be a wake-up call to everyone here, as if there were any doubt, that he is a big-government neocon. The federal government continues to lie to the American people. Trump lies to the American people. No wars will end while Trump is in office, and we'll just add more countries to the list of "regime change" targets. Nikki Haley's actions are proof.
    Last edited by RJ Liberty; 10-01-2018 at 11:22 AM.

  5. #4
    "We know socialism does not work. It is an economic system based on the use of force rather than economic freedom of choice. But while many Americans seem to be in a panic over the failures of socialism in Venezuela, they don’t seem all that concerned that right here at home President Trump just signed a massive $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill that delivers socialism on a scale that Venezuelans couldn’t even imagine. In fact this one spending bill is three times Venezuela’s entire gross domestic product!

    Did I miss all the Americans protesting this warfare-welfare state socialism?"
    Last edited by AZJoe; 10-02-2018 at 08:59 AM.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing." - Dr. Ron Paul. "Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone." - Sophie Magdalena Scholl
    "War is the health of the State." - Randolph Bourne "Freedom is the answer. ... Now, what's the question?" - Ernie Hancock.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by AZJoe View Post
    Did I miss all the Americans protesting this warfare-welfare state socialism?
    Nope. The RNC/DNC/Media figured out how to divide the people into carefully crafted factions. They literally have people fighting over whether a judge groped a chick nearly 4 decades ago. They think it's Left vs. Right - only very few of us recognize it's State vs. You.
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  7. #6
    For identification purposes-

    A not Hillary ambassador, who identifies herself as a Christian, calling for the blood of third world human beings:

    Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25
    "I think the propaganda machine is the biggest problem that we face today in trying to get the truth out to people."
    Ron Paul

    Please watch, subscribe, like, & share, Ron Paul Liberty Report
    BITCHUTE IS A LIBERTY MINDED ALTERNATIVE TO GOOGLE SUBSIDIARY YOUTUBE

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    Nope. The RNC/DNC/Media figured out how to divide the people into carefully crafted factions. They literally have people fighting over whether a judge groped a chick nearly 4 decades ago. They think it's Left vs. Right - only very few of us recognize it's State vs. You.
    Yepsters!
    There is no spoon.

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by bunklocoempire View Post
    For identification purposes-

    A not Hillary ambassador, who identifies herself as a Christian, calling for the blood of third world human beings:
    Didn't she have to backpedal on Russia today?



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  11. #9
    Nikki Haley have to?

    * chortle *

    Like maybe if she was accountable or something.
    Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25
    "I think the propaganda machine is the biggest problem that we face today in trying to get the truth out to people."
    Ron Paul

    Please watch, subscribe, like, & share, Ron Paul Liberty Report
    BITCHUTE IS A LIBERTY MINDED ALTERNATIVE TO GOOGLE SUBSIDIARY YOUTUBE

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by AZJoe View Post
    "We know socialism does not work. It is an economic system based on the use of force rather than economic freedom of choice. But while many Americans seem to be in a panic over the failures of socialism in Venezuela, they don’t seem all that concerned that right here at home President Trump just signed a massive $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill that delivers socialism on a scale that Venezuelans couldn’t even imagine. In fact this one spending bill is three times Venezuela’s entire gross domestic product!

    Did I miss all the Americans protesting this warfare-welfare state socialism?"
    One thing that really bugs me is the fact that liberals and the media support all the baby steps towards socialism but then they don't understand how it ends up like Venezuela. They support higher taxes on the most productive, minimum wage laws, etc, but then they complain how bad Venezuela is. In other words they support the entire journey but then they're horrified at the destination. Duh.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Madison320 View Post
    One thing that really bugs me is the fact that liberals and the media support all the baby steps towards socialism but then they don't understand how it ends up like Venezuela. They support higher taxes on the most productive, minimum wage laws, etc, but then they complain how bad Venezuela is. In other words they support the entire journey but then they're horrified at the destination. Duh.
    They believe this time it will be different.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by RonZeplin View Post
    At the UN, Venezuela’s President Maduro accused the Western media of hyping up the crisis in his country to push the cause for another “humanitarian intervention.” Some may laugh at such a claim, but recent history shows that interventionists lie to push regime change, and the media goes right along with the lies.
    In this case the media is not overstating how disastrous things are in Venezuela. My wife is from Colombia and many of her relatives have had to leave everything behind including their homes just to get out. That being said I'm still against interference.

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by timosman View Post
    They believe this time it will be different.
    This time it will be worse.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  16. #14
    If a country wants to maintain a resource fueled binge, it will need to maintain order. Venezuela breaking up only causes problems to its neighbors.

  17. #15
    God Bless Ron Paul: Venezuela's Socialism...And Ours

    "This week we witnessed the horrible spectacle of Nikki Haley, President Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, joining a protest outside the UN building and calling for the people of Venezuela to overthrow their government. ... This is the neocon mindset: that somehow the US has the authority to tell the rest of the world how to live and who may hold political power regardless of elections.


    After more than a year of Washington being crippled by evidence-free claims that the Russians have influenced our elections ... senior US Administration official openly calling for the overturning of elections overseas. Imagine if President Putin’s national security advisor had grabbed a megaphone in New York and called for the people of the United States to overthrow their government by force! ...

    Maduro accused the Western media of hyping up the crisis in his country to push the cause for another “humanitarian intervention.” ... history shows that interventionists lie to push regime change, and the media goes right along with the lies. Remember the lies about Gaddafi giving Viagra to his troops to help them rape their way through Libya? Remember the “babies thrown from incubators” and “mobile chemical labs” in Iraq? ...


    We know socialism does not work. ... But while many Americans seem to be in a panic over the failures of socialism in Venezuela, they don’t seem all that concerned that right here at home President Trump just signed a massive $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill that delivers socialism on a scale that Venezuelans couldn’t even imagine. In fact this one spending bill is three times Venezuela’s entire gross domestic product!...


    Why all the neocon and humanitarian-interventionist “concern” for the people of Venezuela? One clue might be the fact that Venezuela happens to be sitting on the world’s largest oil reserves. ... There are plenty of countries pursuing dumb economic policies ... but Nikki and the neocons are nowhere to be found when it comes to “concern” for these people. ...


    If Washington really cared about Venezuelans they would not be plotting regime change ... each such “liberation” elsewhere has ended with the people being worse off than before!


    if Washington ... really cared about Venezuelans we would demand an end to the terrible US economic sanctions on the country - which only make a bad situation worse - and would push for far more engagement and trade. ... maybe we’d even lead by example, by opposing the real, existing socialism here at home before seeking socialist monsters to slay abroad."
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing." - Dr. Ron Paul. "Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone." - Sophie Magdalena Scholl
    "War is the health of the State." - Randolph Bourne "Freedom is the answer. ... Now, what's the question?" - Ernie Hancock.

  18. #16
    Yes, Venezuela has nationalized the petroleum industry and has some state run utilities. However, that is no more socialist, and less so than some of Washington’s favored vassal states and best buddies governments.

    Saudi Arabia has nationalized the oil and gas industries and state run utilities.
    UAE also nationalized oil with state run petroleum and many other industries.
    Kuwait nationalized its petroleum.
    Mexico likewise has nationalized petroleum industry.
    Argentina nationalized petroleum and mineral industries.
    Even Canada has nationalized huge swaths of the petroleum industry with state run Petro-Canada.

    Many of Washington’s vassals and Washington approved governments have state run control over massive sectors of the economy from basic state run welfare to state run industry and utilities to socialized healthcare –Macron, France, Merkel, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Belgium. These socialist governments are at least as if not more socialist than Venezuela by any objective standard.

    Trump sponsors a $38 billion dollar socialist foreign welfare package to Israel. Idiot Trump himself is attempting to nationalize all international trade – with his failed crony socialist national tariffs programs, and is his failed managed trade programs.

    In fact the USA itself has embraced state run socialist control over massive portions of the economy. USA has:
    the Socialist Security system and Medicare, two massive state run socialist program considered “untouchable”. Even alleged free market Republicans vociferously defend the socialist programs. In addition USA has socialist road system; socialist Public School system aka public indoctrination system; socialist bailouts of the big banks, AIG, GM, Chrysler and so on; state imposed Obamacare; socialist selective service system; socialist unemployment insurance; socialist foreign aid/welfare programs ($38 billion recent foreign welfare program to the government of Israel alone); Amtrak; socialist TARP program; crony socialist Bank bailouts; crony socialist federal Reserve inflationary monetary system; crony socialist MIC system; crony socialist farm subsidy; crony socialist government imposed sugar monopoly system; crony socialist tariffs and trade war programs; socialist foreign welfare; socialist military overseas bases and adventurism, socialist overseas interventionist programs, socialist NGO funding’s like USAID and NED and 10-0s of other socialist funding of government NGO operations, socialist municipal and county utility systems - heck half the population or more has some form of municipal or county run utilities (water, sewer, trash, gas, etc.), crony socialist FDA EPA USDA CDC and other programs, socialist FEMA programs, socialist national flood insurance program, socialist bus systems, socialist fire departments, socialist police systems, socialist TSA, socialist BATF program, socialist SSI program, socialist SNAP program, socialist Pell Grants, many other socialist federal grant programs, socialist student loan government guaranty and government loan purchase program, crony socialist special non-discharge status to student loans, socialist AFDC program, socialist VA and Tricare programs, socialist federal state and local government employee pension programs, socialist TANF program, socialist Head Start program, socialist WIC program, socialist higher education funding and control, socialist LIHEAP, and socialist Family Planning, TEFAP, Refugee programs, CHIP, Indian Education, Work Study, TRIO, School lunch and breakfast programs, Head Start, VA and FHA loan programs, rural loan programs, homeless grants, myriad of community grant programs, Public housing, Section 8 programs, Indian Health, Indian Services, and on and on and on and on – the list of socialism in the USA is virtually inexhaustible.

    So if Trump and democrat leaders and neocons want to repudiate socialism, they should take action where they actually have authority to do so – an end these socialist programs in the USA. But they won’t touch them. They love socialism.

    Venezuela is not about socialism. Washington does not care about socialism. It does not care about nationalization of oil resources. It is solely the nationalization of the oil industry outside of Washington’s deep state control that is Washington’s real beef. Washington loves socialized oil industries – they love Saudi Arabia and Mexico and Kuwait and UAE any other totalitarian or socialist government that will sell petroleum products exclusively for dollars. Washington hates any petroleum sales for anything other than dollars – Iraq, Libya, Iran, Venezuela.
    Last edited by AZJoe; 03-17-2019 at 11:36 PM.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing." - Dr. Ron Paul. "Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone." - Sophie Magdalena Scholl
    "War is the health of the State." - Randolph Bourne "Freedom is the answer. ... Now, what's the question?" - Ernie Hancock.



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