washingtonpost.com — CARACAS, Venezuela -- Meat cuts vanished from Venezuelan supermarkets this week, leaving only unsavory bits like chicken feet, while costly artificial sweeteners have increasingly replaced sugar, and many staples sell far above government-fixed prices.
Feb 8, 2007 View in Crawl 4
dracostimpyFeb 10, 2007
@BabyWookieI think the life expectancy issue is a lot more based on ethnicity and culture than on level of health care. Those Western countries with longer life expectancies than America are not full of PizzaTacoBurger HutBellKing-snarfing pigs like we are here. Look at the average French, Italian, Spanish or Norweigan diet compared to the typical American diet. They still take time to prepare their food from fresh ingredients, instead of loading it into a conveyor belt that spits out McTastyCrap. Hell, if I want to eat something that would resemble your typical business lunch in Barcelona, I'd have to make reservations and drive 30 minutes to find a menu as healthy (and tasty) as they have on almost every street corner. We can't constantly eat slop and not expect to become hogs.
raitchisonFeb 10, 2007
The way they structured the so-called "deregulation" with California's power system it almost makes you think they wanted it to fail to put the brakes on deregulation in general (which was the net effect)Forcing the utilities like Edison to divest themselves from all their power generation capacity put them at the mercy of the wholesale suppliers, who knew full well that they could charge Edison pretty much whatever they wanted and that Edison was all but powerless to raise rates to consumers in any meaningful way.It was trivial to create artificial shortages by scheduling maintenance and having a few outages happen at the same time as maintenance. Since the utilities weren't making ANY of their own power anymore there was literally nothing they could do about it.Of course the suppliers (like Enron) were raking in money hand over fist for a while, I suspect that the whole debacle kept Enron afloat for quite a while.If the energy market were actually and truly deregulated, Edison would have kept their own power generation (which admittedly did not meet 100% of their demand) and would have been able to pass on any cost increases to consumer in the form of rate increases, the power suppliers wouldn't have been able to raise prices like they did because they would know that about 20 minutes after a few million people opened multi-thousand-dollar power bills the DOE, FTC, FBI and a few other TLAs would be at their door.
geronimoFeb 10, 2007
Draco, nice hand waiving arguments.
originallucid1Feb 10, 2007
I thought that bit was wore out, but it made me laugh this time. Maybe I need more Mt. Dew.
Closed AccountFeb 10, 2007
In a land known for it's cattle Ranching, Venezuelan's are eating chicken feet.In a land known for it's sugar cane production there is a shortage of sugar.In a land known for it's oil production, Venezuelan's can't find enough gas for thier cars.Ahhh....the wonders of Socialism!
babywookieFeb 11, 2007
What the f**k does your god have to do with economics? Man, I hate Raygun. He brought the nutty evangelicals into the political mainstream.
babywookieFeb 11, 2007
Sorry to break it to you, Bubba, but Communism has nothing to do with the cult of personality. Under communism, you don't serve any imaginary or real mascot. You serve mandkind. The thought of serving either your imaginary god or a douche like Stalin makes me sick. I don't worship anyone.
outoforderFeb 11, 2007
"You don't know much about communism, do you? Do you even realize that it has never been implemented, anywhere?"I understand that the ideal communist system has never been achieved. But there are examples of socialist and communist states that attempted to reach that goal. What type of system do you consider NK, Cuba, old China, USSR? They are governments with ruling socialist/communist parties."BTW, under capitalism, most of us serve the rich and powerful elite. They get to have their fleets of luxury cars, 500 foot yachts, multiple mansions, living in luxury and security, while most of us are forced to live in constant uncertainty and fear. They own us."You may be a slave, but only because you act like one. I have a lot more freedom in the USA than I would in Cuba. Yes, I have to report my income to the IRS. Yes, I have to register my car with the DMV. But I'm also self-employed - I own my own business. MOST PRIVATE BUSINESSES ARE ILLEGAL IN CUBA. Good idea, huh?"LOL. You just described the situation in the United States."The situation in the USA is not the same as the situation in the USSR. Far more people have influence here than Soviet citizens ever had. I'm not saying the USA is free from corruption, not at all. BUT IT'S BETTER THAN THE USSR. That's why thousands of people have fled socialist/communist nations to live in the USA. I don't see thousands of people fleeing to Cuba."First of all, under communism, there is no market. Secondly, under a capitalist system like we have in the US, the market is regulated by an extremely wealthy minority. :)"A nation without a market? Sounds like a terrible place to live. No state will ever tell me what I can buy/sell and for what prices. They will not dictate every aspect of my life. Free market is the essence of humanity. We share, build and trade.Digg.com exists because of capitalism. Your computer exists because of capitalism. So, why don't you turn off your computer and move to Cuba? Then send me an email and tell me your thoughts. I look forward to your response.
benjpwFeb 11, 2007
The misinformation in this thread is amazing. AMERICA is has no forms of socialism - contrary to what the libertarians dominating this thread are saying. Public Education does not equate to socialism. Please THINK before you try to indoctrinate digg - friends.I am sure you will digg me down for this.
synarchyJan 24, 2008
"heading toward"? Is there already.
synarchyJan 24, 2008
OMG. What an appalling ignorance.
synarchyJan 24, 2008
Are you that Miss U.S. Americans contestant from South Carolina?