Venezuela’s dictator dances
right outside, people suffer and die.
It's so cruel and unnecessary.
Venezuela should be rich.
Not long ago
Venezuela was the richest country in Latin America.
It still has greater oil reserves than Saudi Arabia.
But today
Venezuelans starve.
These people are fighting over bags of flour.
Then there’s the violence.
One Venezuelan is murdered every 20 mins.
So are American celebrities who
praised Hugo Chávez' "people's revolution” now
embarrassed by what they said?
Will they admit they were wrong?
Leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky fawned over Chávez
said he’s created a better world.
I can see how a better world is being created,
and can speak to the person who’s inspired it.
Actor Sean Penn met with Chávez and said this:
He’s done at the moment,
incredible things for the 80% of the people that are
very poor there.
Actor Danny Glover did some playful boxing
and hugging with Chávez.
Then he praised his "vision for humanity."
Michael Moore claimed Chávez eliminated
"75% of extreme poverty.”
C’mon Michael,
Chávez added to extreme poverty.
Who is Hugo Chávez?
Director Oliver Stone made this insipid film
celebrating Chávez and Latin American socialism.
Take an incredible look
at an extraordinary movement.
No, they’re not.
Now they starve and fear they’ll be killed.
Model Naomi Campbell went to Venezuela and said,
“I’m amazed to see the love for social programs."
We asked all of them if they’d talk about
their love of Chávez
Only one responded.
Noam Chomsky.
His anti-capitalist teachings have misled
millions of students.
But they’ve worked for Chomsky
After he praised Chávez's "sharp poverty reduction”
Chávez returned the favor by
holding up Chomsky's book at the UN.
That made it a best-seller.
So is Chomsky now ashamed of his praise?
"No," he wrote me.
He said at the time he praised Chávez,
"Venezuela had seen a remarkable
reduction in poverty."
He cited this Harvard magazine article.
But this was written by a leftist who helped
write Oliver Stone’s movie.
So I asked Chomsky,
given the current crisis in Venezuela
should you now say to the students who've
learned from you,
'socialism wrecks people's lives'?
Chomsky wrote back:
"I never described Chávez's state capitalist
government as 'socialist'
'Private capitalism remained'
'Capitalists were free to undermine
the economy in all sorts of ways, like
massive export of capital."
What?
Capitalists “exported capital and
"undermined the economy" by
abandoning their homes and
fleeing across the border to Columbia?
Thousands of Venezuelans cross daily in search of
of food, medicine, and work.
These people are socialist fools.
Useful idiots, Lenin would have called them.
As much as I'd enjoy rubbing their noses in their
stupidity now, I cannot rejoice, because
know that Venezuela's descent into chaos
will not be the last time we hear of a dying
socialist economy.
Socialism failed in all these places.
We are yet to see one socialist country succeed.
And yet sadly, they and other countries refuse
to learn from history
Other countries will give socialism a go.
'Useful idiots,' will sing socialism's praises
until the last light goes out.