i would think it more has to do with a dictator coming to power and taking all the oil money PDVSA generates and sharing nothing with the people.... this aint socialism it is pure dictatorship... how else do you explain an oil rich country going to shit as soon as a dictator came to power. If you think a dictator claiming to be for the people is socialism while they steal and keep their people in poverty.. big shock coming.
Socialism's essence is the use of force. No wonder this happens each and everytime it is implemented and the wealth gap between the politicians and the people is directly proportional to the "level of socialism" of the country... As Milton Friedman used to say: "In the United States today, the average individual, whoever he is, works from Jan. 1 to the middle of June or late June to provide funds that the government controls. That is to say, government at one level or another, federal state or local - directly through spending and taxes and indirectly through rules, regulations and mandates - controls half the national income and can determine how that is spent. We're 50 percent socialist." And that was 20 years ago. Since then, it has only gotten worse. The useful idiots who compare Venezuela to Scandinavian countries as if they were completely different things in order to defend socialism are just ignorant to that fact. What differs between these countries is the level of control the government has over its people. What keeps Scandinavian and virtually all other countries from collapsing is the part that is not controlled by the government. And the government's part, by definition, is taken by force. Since dictatorships like Venezuela have virtually 100% of the power in the government's hands, it collapsed just like the USSR. In Western countries, the parasite is a bit more clever, it didn't take full control(yet) so that it doesn't kill the host. Not to mention that Venezuela got to dictatorship through democracy. The people supported and voted for what Chavez did. And of course, those who have that power in their hands will use it to their benefit creating that wealth gap. You don't need to go to Venezuela to see that. You can see it in the U.S. just comparing the life politicians have to the life a great deal of its people have. The push for more government control is always there. Today even speech is being regulated. Only morons don't see where this is going. There will always be useful idiots to defend socialism as something different from communism or other forms of dictatorships always conveniently ignoring the fact that they all are fundamentally based on force.
Socialism Destroyed His Homeland. Here’s a Venezuelan’s Warning for America. https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/12...land-heres-a-venezuelans-warning-for-america/