Banknotes of Zimbabwe after hyperinflation. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Socialism in Venezuela has produced the expected results – poverty, a collapsing economy, and people fleeing for their lives. Twenty some odd years of socialism has also produced another foreseeable consequence – hyperinflation.
Let’s track the exchange rate of Venezuelan Bolivars to US dollar as an indicator.
According to Exchange-Rates.org, here is exchange rate of the Venezuelan bolivar to dollar from 9/11/20 through 3/5/21. Here is the month end data:
Only have one post since the start of the year on the damage caused by the government imposed shutdown of education, the economy, travel, and health systems. That’s not because the damage is easing up. It’s just because I’ve not taken the time to write about the articles I see every day.
The damage continues. Merely a few of the articles of recent interest:
Widespread mental health damage is falling disproportionately on younger people.
Lost schooling may have lifetime impact on individuals and the entire economy.
Restaurants are particularly hard hit by the repeated close, open, close, open cycles.
What, oh what, could possibly explain the explosion of prosperity in the last 200 years? Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Imagine we could convert the 300,000 year history of Homo sapiens into a 24 hour clock. We could divide the time on that clock into the most recent one minute and the previous 23 hours 59 minutes.
Up until one minute ago, almost every person on the planet was terribly poor. The rare rich person got that way by stealing stuff from the poor. A Viking Jarl or King got that way by plundering the English, Irish, Frankish, or Slavs. The well-to-do in the Roman era stole from conquered countries or lived in luxury on the backs of their abundant slaves.
It has only been in the last minute (meaning the last 200 years) that widespread wealth and prosperity has emerged. That corresponds to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, if you’re looking for some link and cause.
What is the major difference before and after one minute ago?
Under socialism, the Pilgrims barely survived. With property rights and personal responsibility, they thrived.
One of many defenses for socialism and its sibling communism is those type of economic arrangements have never been really tried. All previous efforts were partial efforts. You see, if we were to ever try pure socialism or pure communism it would be wonderful and glorious and perfect and utopia on earth. It’s just never been implemented right, you see.
Helen Raleigh explains socialism has been tried in all its purity here in the United States.
An increasing number of actual scientific analyses are emerging on coronavirus infection. There is so much information out that it is quite confusing. The trend my little brain is seeing is raising substantive questions about the official narrative we’ve been told.
Articles for you to consider today:
Do your own research.
Researchers run meta-study and find minimal spread from asymptomatic or presymptomatic people.
Comparing 10 countries with lockdowns to 2 without, researchers find no clear benefit from shutdowns.
Florida is running only slightly more hospitalizations per capita in fall of 2020 than compared to the first quarter of 2018.
Researchers find no benefit from masks in Florida counties which require masks compared to counties without such mandates.
Lockdowns come with horrible side effects. We can expect an additional 900,000 excess deaths over the next decade and a half because of the extreme unemployment of the last 10 months.
Do your own research. – Don’t want to believe actual science published by someone else? Resources are available to do your own research.
Feel free to laugh. Or cry if you wish. Two more politicians demonstrate they are exempt from the rules they require us lowly, common peasants to follow.
Also, two politicians realize it, um, maybe, possibly, is time to get the economy started. Oh yeah, that is in spite of infection rate spike in New York State.
Today’s source of entertainment which would be funny if the human impact from the lockdowns had not been so devastating for the last 10 months:
County manager in North Carolina announces she intends to ignore travel restrictions
It is perfectly okay for Mayor DeBlasio to have a private dance in Times Square on New Year’s Eve even as everyone else is required to stay home
Chicago mayor wants to reopen bars and restaurants even though the relevant statistics show it the city is a long from otherwise being able to reopen
New York Gov. realizes there may not be much left of the economy if we don’t open up quickly.
“Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man. Capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man.” Walter Williams May I suggest that figuring out how to provide for the needs and wants of your neighbor Read more…
