What Venezuela can teach us in Florida
Venezuela: Socialism in Action Lyman Stone, National Review
Excerpt: Its people are fleeing not war, famine, or natural disaster but economic mismanagement.
Bottom Line: In 2013 when Maduro was elected in Venezuela here was a line in his opening speech: “I swear by the whole people of Venezuela, by the supreme commander, that I will abide by and make respected the Constitution of the Laws of the Republic…to construct an independent, free and socialist nation for all.” He didn’t say that he’d bring the country to the brink of collapse. Just Socialism. Wait, that’s as contradictory as putting the words free and socialist in the same sentence. And here’s the thing. It didn’t have to be this way. Nicolas Maduro won his initial election by 1.8%. Just 1.8%. I’ll frequently mention that elections have consequences. Think about the consequences of that 1.8% decision.
Whether it was Karl Marx or Adolf Hitler. Hugo Chavez or Nicolas Maduro there’s always been a theme. Selling sunshine and lollipops in a Socialist utopia. The endings are always different, but the promises are the same. Because we don’t effectively teach history, or even credibly current events in school today (a notable NewsWeek study of school aged kids three years ago revealed that only 29% could name the Vice-President but 100% correctly ID’d Kim Kardashian and Lebron James), someone preaching like policy ideas, a la, Bernie Sanders or Andrew Gillum seems viable to many. Ignorance in this sense can be literally dangerous. If you don’t get it, it’s because you don’t really know political history and don’t credibly know current events unless it’s about Lebron or a Kardashian.