economic freedom 
Land of the free because of the brave
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Those of us living in the United States are blessed with religious freedom, political freedom, and economic freedom because those who went before us fought for freedom.
Many of those fighting offered up their life for freedom and the offer was accepted.
I am humbled and grateful to God that some of my ancestors are included in the long list of those who fought. I am especially humbled that a great, great grand-uncle is in the list of those who died in the defense of freedom.
Because of their sacrifice, I get to enjoy this kind of freedom:
economic freedom 
Why, oh why, did production of oil and food collapse in Venezuela? What could have caused this amount of human suffering?
Shipwreck standing on the beach with the sea in the background. Margarita Island. Venezuela. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com
Devastation in the oil industry and food supply chain in Venezuela is due to intentional government policies.
One article sees how the government caused the damage to the oil industry while another article sees the devastation in the food supply but cannot see any direct cause.
(Cross-post from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
5/7/17 – Forbes – How Venezuela Ruined Its Oil Industry – Here is a primer on how to destroy your oil industry when you have the world’s largest proven reserves of oil and are in the top 10 of world oil producers.
If you want to destroy your country, the article provides a how-to-guide, using Venezuela as the road map.
The high point of oil production in Venezuela was 3.5M bopd back in 1998, which not by coincidence was the year Hugo Chavez became president. Production then began to slip. How could that be?
After civil unrest in 2002 and 2003, Chavez fired much of the staff of the national oil company, letting go 19,000 experienced staff.
Let me translate that: 19,000 staff who knew how to produce extra-heavy oil were fired and replaced by people whose primary job skill was loyalty to the president.
Extra heavy oil takes specialized knowledge and is very expensive to produce on top of oil production already being capital-intensive.
To generate more revenue, Venezuela invited five of the oil majors to develop more oil production. The form of investment was a partnership. The five majors invested many billions of dollars in oil production.
economic freedom 
When do we get to call the ‘Maduro diet’ in Venezuela a crime against humanity?
Consequence of intentional government policies in Venezuela. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
A one-year old child who weighs 11 pounds.
Eleven.
In what used to be the regions’s richest country, the average weight loss in the last year is 19 pounds.
That’s an average weight loss according to a survey by social scientists measuring the impact Venezuelan government policies are having on the citizens of the country.
It is called the ‘Maduro diet’ in dishonor of the president who is gladly continuing the polices that have broken the once rich nation.
It is a common site to see people picking through trash hoping to find something that is edible.
When will those of us who don’t have to decide which of our children get to eat today start calling the expected results of intentional policies a crime against humanity?
Let’s take a quick look at health care in Venezuela before returning to the starvation issue.
Collapse of the health care system
The medical crisis is so bad that even CNN has noticed. On 5/11/17 they reported Amid chaos in Venezuela, infant deaths, malaria cases skyrocket.
The government released statistics for 2016. They reported:
economic freedom 
Ongoing violence in Venezuela against those who merely want to their children to eat
In Venezuela, above activity is sufficient to draw weapon fire or armored tanks. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
The violence in Venezuela directed against those people who merely wish to keep their children from starving continues.
My previous comment: 4/19/17 – Washington Free Beacon – Socialist Venezuela Leader Steps up Arming of Supporters After Outlawing, Confiscating Civilian Guns – The government has spent the last five years confiscating guns from private citizens. That’s what authoritarian, totalitarians, and other bad governments do.
Why? So they can’t defend themselves.
From what might individuals need to defend themselves from?
How about 400,000 loyalists who are going to be armed by the government. (more…)
creative visualizations
“Magic without wizards”, or, why is your favorite bread on the shelf when you want it?
Consider merely the way that your favorite bread is always available, usually from many bakeries. And at the time you want. The bakery doesn’t know whether you will stop in on your way to work, during lunch, or after having dinner.
How can it be that several bakeries know to have your choice of bread available, whether sourdough loafs, whole wheat biscuits, rye rolls, croissants, or cranberry bagels? How did they know to order enough yeast, oil, and flour? How did they know what mix to bake before the sun came up?
How did the wholesalers know enough to deliver the right amount of flour to all the pizzerias, bakeries, and pastry shops?
How did the farmers know enough to plant the right amount of wheat, oats, barley, and rye last spring to harvest enough this fall to satisfy all those bakers?
Hmm. What could be getting all those people working together to make sure my favorite and your favorite bread is available when you or I want it?
Ponder these and many more questions just in terms of having bread on the shelf in this video, called “It’s a wonderful loaf:”
[youtube=https://youtu.be/ljULutAUL7o?t=33]
The answer of how all that happens is readily available for all who want to find it.
economic freedom 
Freedom continues to evaporate in Venezuela as misery continues to increase. Hmm. Why do those two trends typically seem to accompany each other?
What economic system produces this result? Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Ponder what economic system produced this suffering, misery, and loss of freedom. (cross-post from Outrun Change.)
4/19/17 – Wall Street Journal – Venezuela Antigovernment Protests Turn Deadly – Teargas and gunfire broke up widespread protests on Wednesday.
The death toll rises. Two dead on Wednesday with many more surviving gunshots they received. Seven dead in the last month. Forty-two dead in 2014.
Shooting protesters after stealing all their guns is just how authoritarians and totalitarians tend to roll:
4/19/17 – Washington Free Beacon – Socialist Venezuela Leader Steps up Arming of Supporters After Outlawing, Confiscating Civilian Guns – The government has spent the last five years confiscating guns from private citizens. That’s what authoritarian, totalitarians, and other bad governments do.
Why?
So they can’t defend themselves.
From what might individuals need to defend themselves from?
economic freedom 
Now gasoline shortages in the country with the world’s largest amount of proven oil reserves. What economic system could possibly create this mess?
In Venezuela, that sign is needed at hospital pharmacies, bakeries, and now at gasoline stations. Image Courtesy of Adobe Stock.
The shortages and suffering in Venezuela continues. Your homework for the day: what economic system provides this level of suffering?
- Foreign reserves are shrinking
- Bakeries threatened if they bake too many sweets and not enough price-controlled bread
- Pregnant women are leaving the country to deliver their babies
- Gasoline shortages appear
(Cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
3/1/17 – CNN Money – Venezuela is down to its last $10 billion – The country’s foreign reserves are down to $10.5B, from $20B in 2015, and $30B in 2011. That info in sourced to the Central Bank of Venezuela.
Article says inflation is expected to hit 1660% this year and 2880% in 2018.
3/13 – PanamPost – Venezuelan Regime Threatens to Expropriate bBakeries, Jeopardizing Bread – In addition to price controls and currency controls, the government is going to impose output requirements on bakeries. If they don’t produce bread all day at the government limited price, they are subject to take over by the government. Left out of their miscalculation is that the government has stopped importing wheat flour.
If bakeries don’t bake enough bread, the government will close the shops.
3/16/17 – Yahoo News – Venezuela arrests brownie and croissant bakers in ‘bread war’ – Well, that didn’t take long.