NationStates Jolt Archive

Posters have recently started sprouting up all around my campus, inviting students to attend a forum hosted by people who have recently come from Venezuela and want to talk about "the exciting revolution taking place".

I'm thinking of going, but I'm naturally suspicious of the whole affair.

So what, in your opinion, is Venezuela? A backwater led by a moronic dictatorial president or a chance for socialism to flourish and prove it's worth?

The current government is more populist then Socialistic and so far its efforts have politicized the military, placed restrictions on the media, and made the average Venezuelan poorer.

Well, it's not nearly as Socialist as it claims, let's put it that way.

I think at your Uni it's just the usual thing of the kids missing the times when you could run around and call yourself a "Maoist". These days Communism is dead, both as a political movement and as a way to piss off your parents. They're doing it more out of tradition than anything else now.

Bump?

Posters have recently started sprouting up all around my campus, inviting students to attend a forum hosted by people who have recently come from Venezuela and want to talk about "the exciting revolution taking place".

I'm thinking of going, but I'm naturally suspicious of the whole affair.

So what, in your opinion, is Venezuela? A backwater led by a moronic dictatorial president or a chance for socialism to flourish and prove it's worth?
Frankly, you're never really going to find out second hand.

Frankly, you're never really going to find out second hand. I can't afford international travel at the moment. :(

I can't afford international travel at the moment. :(
Few of us can...but I didn't actually mean you needed to go to Venezuela. The problem is though that you are hearing all sorts of things about that country, from people will all sorts of different biases. You are always going to hear about it second hand...even if you were living in Venezuela, someone would be telling you what was going on and what it meant. Your best bet is to be really clear on the agenda of the person telling you anything (about anything really), and then synthesise it into your own opinion. What is going on in Venezuela can be both wonderful and terrible, and both perspectives can be equally valid. You just have to decide, based on what you learn about it, whether you support one view over the other.

So go to this meeting if you're interested. Listen to what they have to say, but keep in mind that they have an agenda...like everyone does. You should be able to filter it out and gain SOME insight, even if it's not in the direction they want you to go.

The current government is more populist then Socialistic and so far its efforts have politicized the military, placed restrictions on the media, and made the average Venezuelan poorer.
Don't forget driven out the rich and much of the middle class and frightened off foreign investment. Venezuela is destined to be much poorer than it is now.

Don't forget driven out the rich and much of the middle class and frightened off foreign investment. Venezuela is destined to be much poorer than it is now.


I pray to jebus that somehow Juan Valdezs' job does not get molested in any sort of way.

I pray to jebus that somehow Juan Valdezs' job does not get molested in any sort of way.
It's ok. Juan Valdez is Colombian. He's switched from producing coffee to cocaine and has traded in his donkey for a ferrari. He's doing just fine.

It's ok. Juan Valdez is Colombian. He's switched from producing coffee to cocaine and has traded in his donkey for a ferrari. He's doing just fine.


No wonder the beans looked a bit white, and I couldn't sleep for 10 days.

Bump?
In the early 70s, when I was a teenager, guys used to grow their hair long, learn to play a guitar, and act like they knew who Che was just to get laid. Attend protests and get laid.

I've heard from SO many who admitted to this when they were older that it's not funny.

I think that while the Venezuelan people may want a socialist revolution, they are falling into the old trap of idol worship - worshipping Chavez.

There's a lot of tinfoil hat stuff coming out of Chavez - like his assertion that a US carrier task force is sitting just off the coast preparing an invasion, or that the US is actively trying to assassinate him. I think that he says that stuff for popular consumption, to distract people from the real inability to transform the country into a socialist paradise in the blink of an eye.

A classic example of nuttiness is his recent claim that by some socialist miracle, Venezuela now has a 100% literacy rate. Rather amazing that he could accomplish that in such a short period of time (and not miss a single soul). And rather amazing that the only other nations that make such claims are Cuba and North Korea.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of fruitcake, even during the holiday season.

In the early 70s, when I was a teenager, guys used to grow their hair long, learn to play a guitar, and act like they knew who Che was just to get laid. Attend protests and get laid.

I've heard from SO many who admitted to this when they were older that it's not funny.

I think that while the Venezuelan people may want a socialist revolution, they are falling into the old trap of idol worship - worshipping Chavez.

There's a lot of tinfoil hat stuff coming out of Chavez - like his assertion that a US carrier task force is sitting just off the coast preparing an invasion, or that the US is actively trying to assassinate him. I think that he says that stuff for popular consumption, to distract people from the real inability to transform the country into a socialist paradise in the blink of an eye.

A classic example of nuttiness is his recent claim that by some socialist miracle, Venezuela now has a 100% literacy rate. Rather amazing that he could accomplish that in such a short period of time (and not miss a single soul). And rather amazing that the only other nations that make such claims are Cuba and North Korea.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of fruitcake, even during the holiday season.
I bet I could prove that the US has 100% literacy. I'd just take out ads in newspapers that say "if you can't read this please write to us and let us know". I'll bet nobody responds.

I bet I could prove that the US has 100% literacy. I'd just take out ads in newspapers that say "if you can't read this please write to us and let us know". I'll bet nobody responds.
All countries change the criteria for certain things to suit them. "Wait! We have no poor people! Well, we had to change the poverty line to -$60,000/yr, but YAY US!"...or "THAT'S not torture! Not under our new definition anyway...."

All countries change the criteria for certain things to suit them. "Wait! We have no poor people! Well, we had to change the poverty line to -$60,000/yr, but YAY US!"...or "THAT'S not torture! Not under our new definition anyway...."

I actually feel sorry for the Venezuelans. They are all ready to have that socialist paradise delivered to them - I can't wait to see the necktie party they hold when they realize Chavez can't deliver.

Right now, he's just like the Wizard of Oz (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain).

Right now, he's just like the Wizard of Oz (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain).

Yeah, but the wizard of Oz didn't imprison people for disagreeing with them and didn't send thugs around beating up members of the opposition parties.

Yeah, but the wizard of Oz didn't imprison people for disagreeing with them and didn't send thugs around beating up members of the opposition parties.

He is the Great AND Powerful Oz! (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!).