“If you trade your liberty for food, you will be condemned to be a slave.” This was how Cedice Liberty, one of Latin America’s greatest think tanks described the not-too-surprising announcement that Venezuela is finally moving to a cashless ‘ration card’ system for the centrally planned allocation of food-stuffs to the population.
So there we have it, the infamous ‘ration card’ – the end result in every communist country. China, Cuba, Nicaragua, the Soviet Union, Angola and Mozambique. I could go on, but it’s too depressing. Oh sure, Venezuela under Chavez pretended that this was not their end goal. They liked to call it first the ‘Third Way’, then ‘Participatory and Protagonist Democracy’, then ‘Democratic Socialism’, to eventually land on just plain old ‘Socialism’. 19 years of stupidity. It’s all the same. After all the money has been stolen from bank accounts and companies nationalized to be redistributed to idiots; malinvested into grandiose schemes of national pride that remain half-finished and crumbling into the Caribbean storms; dumped in to purchase weapons that sputter away their utility for lack of maintenance and purpose; or simply frittered away on propaganda or whatever else the Politburos come up with that morning in the shower (they, at least, still have water), we arrive at the ration card. Stability. This is what the communist regimes say it’s about. Food stability.
Avoiding starvation, well mostly – at least for those that matter. Those who are not socialists can starve; why should they be allowed to be a drain on the national wealth when they provide no good service to the fatherland anyway?? – all their conspiring and marching and voting in ways that are uncomfortable for their betters.
Communism. It always starts off with imposing schemes. Fifty meter tall statues of this or that liberator – monumental architecture to demonstrate that engineers and architects don’t only work for profit; but can be induced to great acts of creation also through tremendous violence. But then things slow down as the revolutions lose their shine and the mundane issues of governance catch up with the idealistic. Garbage collection, paint for new buildings, vaccination campaigns to avoid spread of disease. And the commies move on to their next pursuits – personal enrichment through theft. But you gotta keep the people fed!
Cue the ration cards.
Prison wardens know the exact amount of calories, vitamins and nutrients and carbohydrates that are required to keep the inmates alive and somewhat healthy. They don’t have to be concerned with the special likes, tastes, or fancies of their charges. After all – the prisoners are paying their dues to society, right? So too Venezuela, thirty million prisoners in the latest of the world’s nation-prisons. Their crime? They were stupid – and voted to power a band of criminals. They were angry, full of hate and violence against those who had more: envious. They were reckless, casting their “what the hell” vote as an answer to the question, “what do I have to lose?” Their penance? Slavery – the living, breathing, writhing organ of collectivity that keeps their betters in new yachts, expensive whiskey, elite hotel stays, sumptuous dining experiences and limitless personal power.
And now – after what feels like an endless battle for the minds of men, attempting to explain to them their folly comes the end result. And I fear for Venezuela; because the ration cards probably will bring a certain measure of stability. They will suck liquidity from the economy, reducing inflation. They will create a better distribution of limited foodstuffs. And they will allow the warden government to find the right balance of calories to keep their inmates alive, using oil wealth to purchase them. The stability of prison life; a stability that Cuba has known for six generations. A colorless, lifeless, choiceless stability. And I sorrow for the parade of unfree generations that will march on until the right people at the right time finally say ENOUGH.
Joel D. Hirst's Blog 
I worked in Puerto La Cruz and Pinto Fijo through the 1990’s for PDVSA. It’ was unsafe then, but nothing like is become now. Most of my fellow workers (engineers) are now in Canada, The U.S. and Spain. The Middle Class. They had to leave or they would have go to prison (or shot)
Democratic Socialism’ or what you call (communism) is just a reason to take from the poor (make them poorer) and enrich the leaders.
I am worried about the (millennium generation). They do not understand if human nature (do many computer games I guess) if you (government for example) allow somebody to decide everything – ownership, food preparation and distribution. (ala Stalin) You will end up like Venezuela. Somebody always charge and lets poor get poorer.
Maybe get them read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Ann Rand.
Doug Cooper
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Rand and Solzhenitsyn are good options. Reading In The First Circle myself right now
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I read them all all over the years. People have think and analyze in detail what the ramifications of they and the other ones around them do . There are no ways to our lives. Excuse me, but I my exposures to Venezuela and lot other 3rd world countries (and a lot other “civilized” counties) – there are no paradise. You have work “productively”. I look at life through a 2nd law of thermodynamics standpoint. You got to work and the most you get of things is minor fraction of you put in – in is entropy – it is a fact of universe we exist it. Much of our conflicts (personal and political) our are based are greed, jealously or entitlement issues. In Venezuela (or in many other parts of world) we have three at work. And the poor has got pay price. And most are not aware of it.
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To understand whath happens in Venezuela now, better is read Franz Kafka “The process” today Is a demencial, insane, ilogical situation .
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Yes. and “Happy Days” by Beckett is apt describe to describe Maduro. Let’s hope he and other Venezuela’s leaders meet same end. I think with gags in place too..
Doug Cooper
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This is what we Venezuelans have wanted to prevent from happening in Venezuela, because Venezuelans of the poor class did not want to understand that this regime is seeking to establish a communism in Venezuela, they tried to do it when the late Chavez was ruling and the People did not allow it and was incorporating it little by little, but the people always rejected it, but he was not as rough as this mature who wants to implant it by force and Venezuelans will not allow it so we have to shed blood but the Venezuelans We will not let this happen in our beloved land, these communists believe that in Venezuela they can come and kidnap the rights of all Venezuelans, they can only have the right of their militants who are already running low on them because every day the population realizes That this is not what they do not want to have been wrong all this time because they believed that the government would keep them for life and now the regime wants to take over the whole nation including them all equally PSUV or Democrats.
This card is no more than a mirror of what the Cuban people have experienced with the food restrictions they have had for decades for Fidel Castro’s communism in that Caribbean island, because in this way they have the people put at their disposal because Otherwise they would punish them by not selling food to the population.
To any person who can spread this message in social networks please be sure that the Venezuelan people will be grateful to you all the life for helping us internationally with other countries that are democratic because in Venezuela those who want to implant is Communism failed in Cuba.
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HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa…
(Looking over my shoulder)
Please God do not let the stupid end up in America.
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Your lips to God’s ears.
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What about the liberty, or freedom in other words, to have some food? Freedom is an abstract concept without identifying exactly what freedoms you’re talking about, and for whom?
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When you anger the US, the global godfather, he tries to overthrow your government to make it more friendly for US investors.
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