11 Years Later and He Still Blames His Predecessors

3.12.10

Interesting information reported recently by Reuters:

Venezuela murder-rate quadrupled under Chavez -NGO

Apparently, total murders in Venezuela have risen from roughly 4,500 when Hugo Chavez took power in 1999, to over 16,000 this past year according to an NGO (see story).

Chavez blamed his predecessors, and since I didn’t hear the speech he probably blamed the bogeyman too. This follows up my thoughts from yesterday  – when people are promised things and grow to expect them, and then those things are either not delivered or taken away, many people turn violent (just like Greece). My thesis on this problem is that his population grows increasingly restless at the extremely high levels of inflation in the country and poor economic conditions since his policies of “giving back to the people” started 11 years ago.

If people understand they are responsible more for what happens to them, they will take responsibility. If government promises people too much, then doesn’t deliver, then we have a generation of dependent leaches.This is why governments around the world should take lessons from Greece. Many countries have generous social safety nets that are often abused and many of the leaders of these countries hope to God that the economy continues to grow because if problems persist, we absolutely will have more rioting youth, on a bigger scale (sad to see the younger generation so uncreative – “ahh let’s throw rocks through windows – great solution!).

As an aside, more government giveaways come at a cost – the more a government gives, the less freedom the citizenry has – Chavez for example, has closed down dozens of opposing radio stations, TV stations, and attacked opposing politicians and other leaders who questioned him. Once upon a time, Patrick Henry said “Give me liberty or give me death.” Now it seems a good chunk of Americans are saying, “give me (insert here: health insurance, paychecks for life, security from terrorists, etc) and I will be your servant.”

For more of my color on this read previous articles of mine such as:

How Much Can I Buy You For? (one of my classics on liberty vs dependence)

What Happens When You Don’t Act (summarizing the amazing loss of rights Venezuelans suffered under Chavez – they didn’t notice it because they were too busy celebrating their expected government handouts – and now that he has too much power, it may be too late for citizens to react)