Even NPR Basically Admits: Socialism Doesn’t Mean Equality; It Means Worthless Promises for the Poor and Privileges for the Ruling Elite

Socialism = enforced inequality.

After more than a decade of socialist rule under Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelans are starving to death.  NPR reports that they also can’t afford cars:

. . . buying a new car is out of the question for most Venezuelans.

. . . Protests against Maduro’s government have left almost 30 people dead in recent weeks as the economic situation there continues to worsen. Inflation has surged, making even basic goods too expensive for many workers. . . .

REEVES: In these days of crisis, you see many of these. You see them broken down by the roadside with their drivers under the hoods, trying to squeeze a few more days of life out of them. You see them held together by wire and rope, spewing exhaust as they chug along. You see them hauling goods and people and animals. In Venezuela, some people depend for their livelihoods on the kind of cars that in other countries would be considered collectors’ items.

They have little choice:

DIAZ: What happens in the First World when your car gets old? You change it. Here, you can’t afford to. Here, the change is to walking . . . to public transportation.

REEVES: Diaz says buying a new car is now out of the question for most Venezuelans.

But this is a socialist state that guarantees everyone a “right” to certain necessities—right?

. . . Theoretically, people can purchase a relatively cheap Chinese car from the Venezuelan government, but there’s a waiting list, says Diaz.

DIAZ: I actually — I’m on one of those lists. I got on one of those lists, like, six years ago.

REEVES: And you’re still waiting?

DIAZ: Oh, yeah. But I’m not expecting ever to get a call like, hey, your car is here.

Even as the economy implodes, however, there are still cars for some people.

REEVES: To get one of those cars any time soon, you need to be in the party, says Diaz.

DIAZ: The government political party, which is the one that’s in power for the past 18 years — normally you get those cars by connection.

The next time anyone tells you that socialism or any other kind of forced redistribution is “compassionate” or helps the poor, spare a thought for the poor Venezuelans starving to death, and the parasitic government that lives on them.  Maybe we can at least try not to repeat the mistake.