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418 Comments
- SingleDad, on 03/05/2009, -37/+158And so the Communist leader tightens his strangehold on the blandest of foods
- DanThePainter, on 03/05/2009, -26/+120At HotAir, Ed Morrissey comments: >....Basically, Chavez wants to do for food what he’s done for energy. Since driving out foreign owners, Chavez has lost significant production in Venezuelan oilfields. Electrical production has deteriorated, and ironically hurts the poorer people most by damaging appliances they can’t afford to replace. The loss of expertise in energy created by Chavez’ nationalizations has the oil-rich country diving into Third World status on electrical power.
Nationalizing the food industry will eventually have the same effect. Cargill operates as a business, not a patronage system and a bureaucracy, which means their employees have to produce to meet the profit incentive. Once Chavez seizes it, he will staff it with political cronies and paper-pushers who have no idea how to produce food efficiently. Costs will go up, but Chavez will hide them from the masses by selling the product at a loss. It’s the Robert Mugabe playbook, only with 10% less violence … for now.......>> more >>
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/05/chavez-seize ... - ohplease, on 03/06/2009, -30/+104Hugo Chavez got "oil rich" from stealing US oil company pipelines and rigs in the first place. Good ol' nationalisation at work. Call it what you want, theft is theft.
- topherker, on 03/05/2009, -28/+86Dickmove
- Ddraig, on 03/05/2009, -7/+64I'm not sure what to make of this one... although I figure Cargill will probably want to move out of VZ... how about bring those jobs back to America?!
- inactive, on 03/06/2009, -24/+65When will idiots realize that Communism does not work. Look at history, no country that has tried communism made it work. If you do not learn from history then you are going to repeat it. Look at North Korea and South Korea. Two counties with the same people and the same resources and one is poor and communist and one is rich and capitalist
- Barackalypse, on 03/06/2009, -12/+51Price floors result in artificial shortages. Apparently Chavez thinks because he is a Socialist the rules of economics don't apply. By seizing the plant, he's cutting off his own access to foreign capital, who is going to invest in a country that has shown it is willing to seize privately held industry?
- Devaney, on 03/06/2009, -2/+33America is the #1 producer?! not even close...
Top Ten Rice Producers by Country
Together, China and India accounted for over half of the world’s rice supply in 2006.
1. China … 182 million tons (28.8% of global rice harvest)
2. India … 136.5 million tons (21.6%)
3. Indonesia … 54.4 million tons (8.6%)
4. Bangladesh … 43.7 million tons (6.9%)
5. Vietnam … 35.8 million tons (5.7%)
6. Thailand … 29.3 million tons (4.6%)
7. Myanamar … 25.2 million tons (4%)
8. Philippines … 15.3 million tons (2.4%)
9. Brazil … 11.5 million tons (1.8%)
10. Japan … 10.7 million tons (1.7%).
Other Leading Rice Farming Nations
11. United States … 8.8 million tons (1.4% of global rice harvest)
12. Pakistan … 8.1 million tons (1.3%)
Read more: "Top Rice Producing Countries: Asian Nations Generate over 90% of World Rice Production" - http://internationaltradecommodities.suite101.com/ ... - inactive, on 03/06/2009, -24/+54Maybe Obama can sit down and pen him a nice letter to fix all fo this.
- anixmander, on 03/06/2009, -0/+30Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Texas and Missouri all produce rice
- sjbdallas, on 03/06/2009, -2/+30Do I need to run to Costco and by huge bags of rice again?
- Chairboy, on 03/06/2009, -11/+38Communism apologists always come back with basically "But they failed because they did it WRONG!".
They assume, of course, that it is possible to "do it right", despite the fact that this requires human nature to work completely different than it ever has in the past. - dtfinch, on 03/06/2009, -5/+27That'll be a lesson to any global company thinking of pouring money into Venezuela.
- hrpmike, on 03/06/2009, -8/+29Coming soon to an economy near you!
- inactive, on 03/06/2009, -28/+45The Title should be
"Idiot Communist Chavez orders rice place Nationalized"
When Venezuela has a food shortage because of there communist tactics, how much do you want to bet they ask us for aid and food - inactive, on 03/06/2009, -13/+29Those "oil company" pipe lines and rigs happen to be inside a foreign country. When a foreign government decides to take control of mineral resources inside its own borders the imperial centers of the world always get incensed over it. Those oil companies having been looting third world countries for ages and only a pea brain would feel sorry for them. Venezuela is sovereign nation and can do what it likes even if it ends badly.
- VotePaul, on 03/06/2009, -0/+16Chavez came to power long after Cargill was there
- 380ppm, on 03/06/2009, -5/+21no.
- Hetman, on 03/06/2009, -9/+24You are confusing communism and socialism. Socialism is a type of economic party, communist is a type of government. A good example of this would be india in the 80s and 90s they were a socialist democratic country.
- wkrausmann, on 03/06/2009, -0/+14Rice is a staple food worldwide.
- FrozenPie, on 03/06/2009, -9/+23So should the American banks and auto industry be nationalized to save jobs?
- Kowa, on 03/06/2009, -6/+19Capitalism doesn't always help a country out. Ever heard of the Cochabamba Water Revolt? That's when the IMF told Bolivia to allow a private consortium to come in and manage some water projects. Ended up taking control of all the water in the area of the country, including rain water and town wells that they did not build. Charging prices way more than the people could afford. Violent revolts finally kick the company out of the country. This occurred in 2000. A lot of companies have been taking advantage of South America and their corrupt officials. But nationalizing and going towards socialism is also not the right way to fix things either.
- geekee, on 03/06/2009, -6/+19"Are you on crack?"
It's a mixture of sarcasm and Obama reality that apparently went over your head. - eclectro, on 03/06/2009, -0/+13Do you think if we could get everyone to do that again that it would stimulate the economy?
- JasonCox, on 03/06/2009, -6/+19Honestly guys, while I don't agree with what he's doing, it is HIS country and he was elected fair and square by the people so can we just stop bitching and get back to fixing the problems in our own nation before we go flaming him for doing what he thinks is right (no matter how stupid it is) to help his country?
- groo68, on 03/06/2009, -16/+28Where can you farm rice in America? and why would you deliver freshly picked rice several thousand miles with a much higher chance of it spoiling it you can dry or package it where it is picked. I doubt those jobs were ever in America.
- geekee, on 03/06/2009, -0/+12"Once it's all nationalized into the ground, someone else comes to power and you can buy it back much more cheaply."
Only if you're friends with the govt. officials. - Fruit45, on 03/06/2009, -7/+18It's their country. 'Can do what ever the hell they want with their resources or even equipment that lay on their resources. It will sour relations between the corps (and gov) of the ill-treated country in this deal and the country whose resources are being used, but it's good. ***** I wouldn't like it if a bunch of chinese companies started buying up land in the US, tearing down the trees at too fast of a rate, then reaping the rewards.
Nationalization of resources seems legit to me. Perhaps people can compete on processing them, but that's it. - icyfire111, on 03/06/2009, -5/+16The free market has worked wonderfully over the past 200 years. Do you notice that even though everyone complains about the injustice done to them or the failure of the govt to help everyone, most people seem to have food on their table and shelter over their heads? Just go to any third world country for even a day and you will realize that there are no poor people in America.
- Ninh, on 03/05/2009, -11/+22It's all a business opportunity. Once it's all nationalized into the ground, someone else comes to power and you can buy it back much more cheaply.
- inactive, on 03/06/2009, -16/+27The only 'penning' Obama will be doing is taking notes. He's doing similar things to mortgage companies and banks. He also has his eyes on the couple auto companies and health care companies.
- PatrickBrown, on 03/06/2009, -2/+13"That says a LOT about the conditions placed on companies to operate in the US."
So are we supposed to compete with the horrible labor conditions / anti-worker policies in other countries now?
The US should not race to the bottom when it comes to workers rights, as your statement implies. - inactive, on 03/06/2009, -7/+17That's a known and calculated risk that they took to work in a country like VZ. That says a LOT about the conditions placed on companies to operate in the US.
- srfrogger, on 03/06/2009, -0/+10^^^ China is no longer strictly Communist.
And by communist, I mean socialist.
According to Marxist theory, socialism is only the step after capitalism controlled by the bourgeoisie but before communism.
So, socialism, like capitalism, are only the means to communism. Socialism is complete control of the economical system established by capitalism. Communism takes place when the people begin to work in local communes, no longer requiring the state. The government recedes and ultimately disappears.
Now orthodox Marxism states that this will occur naturally when the lower proletariat (those that do not control the means of production) rise to overthrow their capitalist controllers. Leninist ideals state that you could speed up the process through a violent take over of the government.
Stalin was just a crazy cracker who wanted to be an authoritarian.
Digg me down but this was a practice for my Master's comps on Marxist theory and the Bolshevik revolution. - porkins21, on 03/06/2009, -3/+13Where are you getting your stats from? Last time I checked, the poorest people in the US have the highest ratio of obesity.
- MortalCoiled, on 03/06/2009, -7/+17The point is not whether outsourcing is good or bad, but whether or not other countries can simply steal American property in the name of socialism.
- voodoochild461, on 03/06/2009, -0/+10Think of it as an investment.
- Cannonballkid, on 03/06/2009, -7/+17Unless you eat a lot of rice you wouldn't notice that prices for it have risen tremendously in the past year or so. As a Puerto Rican and a lover of all things rice, anyone who threatens its productivity I consider the enemy.
- icyfire111, on 03/06/2009, -3/+12yes and that's why India was in terrible shape until they opened up their economy and shifted away from Nehru's socialistic policies.
- anon2002, on 03/06/2009, -10/+19What basis do you have to think Im a pussy? I've travelled extensively through south america and was in bolivia during the "guerra de gaz" when 60 people were killed in one day protesting the IMF imposed raping of their land. So you done with the personal attacks can we talk about the issues now?
From the BBC:
"Emergency health, education and welfare programmes - or missions - introduced by the government since 2003 have changed the lives of millions of the country's poorest.
About 14.5m now receive free primary health care through the Barrio Adentro, or Inside the barrio, programme, supported by Cuban doctors as part of an oil-related deal."
Wikipedia:
"From 2004 to the first half of 2006, non-petroleum sectors of the economy showed growth rates greater than 10%.[148] Datos reports real income grew by 137% between 2003 and Q1 2006.[149] Official poverty figures dropped by 10%." - mtew, on 03/06/2009, -3/+12Not sure where you've been, but it's obviously not Cuba. People there are starving. Or do you think all those people are dying trying to come over here just to get a quick vacation?
- TheFinaleofSeem, on 03/06/2009, -2/+11You overestimate the intelligence of the average Digger.
- inactive, on 03/06/2009, -8/+17Just shut up. You have no insight other than what you drones have been spamming for weeks. Nobody cares.
- TheFinaleofSeem, on 03/06/2009, -5/+14Good point. Chavez seems to be going to great lengths to isolate himself economically from any country with real money.
- OffensivePrick, on 03/06/2009, -0/+9***** me, I looked at the wrong box...I guess the US produces about 6 or 7 percent, not a third, of what China does...here's another resource...
http://www.irri.org/science/cnyinfo/index2.asp - DrHoliday, on 03/06/2009, -8/+16Do digg a collective favor and shut the ***** up.
You don't have any idea how much the United States has contributed to world progress. It's 'disappearance' would shatter the globe and drive it back into the dark ages in terms of trade and commerce. Do you know how much of the world's agricultural products originate in the United States?
As for us not respecting trade agreements with Canada... lol. Decades of them being out biggest trade partner disagree. And it's not the US who isn't respecting trade agreements here. The WTO and IMF specifically forbid nationalization of foreign companies. You can shut them down if they're not playing by the rules, but you can't steal the entire factory.
Be glad China isn't on top. The US isn't half as bad as it could be. - Kinser, on 03/06/2009, -7/+15True, I think we should let him run his country into the ground. It'll be funny.
- Grazzit, on 03/06/2009, -1/+9The thing is the he's nationalizing corporate assets that are operating legally in his country. That's his prerogative but it will just hurt his country because there are no foreign investors interested in investing in his country and the corporations he has slightest will carry a grudge and I hate to think of what kind of subtle pressure multinational corporations can bring to bear.
I don't know how aware you are about what is going on in Venezuela but the government has been nationalizing industries and services for a frighteningly long time. - inactive, on 03/06/2009, -5/+13Me either. If Venezuela wants to nationalize all of their resources who are we to complain. Everyone here seems to assume that Venezuelans are incapable of operating their own country and being in charge of their own resources and exports. Americans apparently believe that the poor Venezuelans need the wise and wealthy foreign companies to show them "the right way" to do things. Really that kind of thinking is just a nasty form of racism or nationalism.
Before you start pointing fingers and ranting about the evils of communism and how it will all come to ruin you might want to take a look at the latest news from wall street. - monkeyrun, on 03/06/2009, -9/+16Well it's their law.
Does the company think that it's above law when they open plants in underdeveloped countries? -
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