Venezuela shows there is nothing ‘neighborly’ about socialism
Back in 2019, I asked “Why does socialism always end up in oppression and poverty?” “Socialists do not generally set out to create impoverished, oppressive disasters,” I wrote:
When the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in 1917, the gulags were not their endgame. Socialists often have the best of intentions. They don’t intend for socialism to be oppressive and economically inefficient, it just works out that way every single time.
Quoting extensively from the excellent book Socialism: The failed idea that never dies by Kristian Niemietz, I explained how attempts to extend government control over the economy in Venezuela had led to economic collapse and, eventually, political repression. These are: “The three stages of socialism: From Brave New World to ‘It wasn’t real socialism’“
Venezuela’s government is currently engaging in a notable bout of repression. CNN reports:
Criticism is mounting against Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro after deadly protests erupted across the country following its disputed presidential election.
Venezuela’s opposition and multiple Latin American leaders have refused to recognize Maduro’s victory in the July 28 vote, which was announced by the country’s electoral authority – a body stacked with the president’s allies.
At least 11 people have been killed in the protests, according to non-governmental organization Foro Penal, and Venezuelan authorities say nearly 750 people have been arrested.
…
The election was seen as the most consequential poll in years, with Venezuela’s stalling democracy and hopes of recovering its shattered economy on the line.
Though Maduro had promised free and fair elections, the process was marred with allegations of foul play – with opposition figures arrested, their key leader banned from running, opposition witnesses allegedly denied access to the centralized vote count, and overseas Venezuelans largely unable to vote.
The International Committee of the Democratic (sic) Socialists of America — which backs several members of the city councils of both Minneapolis and St. Paul — expressed support for Maduro’s crackdown:
Despite this unbroken record of economic impoverishment and political repression, “socialism” is still not the dirty ideological word it ought to be. Indeed, in a recent fundraiser for “white dudes,” our governor conflated the term with “neighborliness.”
Perhaps this is because, as I noted in 2018, most Americans don’t actually know what socialism is. Gallup asked Americans:
What Is Your Understanding of the Term “Socialism”?
The leading response, with 23%, was:
Equality — equal standing for everybody, all equal in rights, equal in distribution
“But,” I noted, “these are aims — and aims which, in the first two especially, are not particular to socialists. This definition does not reveal the means by which these aims are to be achieved.” When we look for the means of socialism, these “are consistent and clear: extensive government ownership and control of the economy:” What was tried, and failed, in Venezuela, in other words, leading to the political repression we are seeing there now.
Socialism is not a synonym for “neighborliness,” which is voluntary cooperation. Instead, as the British author Kingsley Amis put it, “if socialism is not about compulsion, it is about nothing.”