This Can't Be Good

Commie Stuff.

I harp on Commies a lot because I grew up in the 80's, and I remember when most people in this country knew that communism was a bad thing. There are a lot of people who still know that, but there are an awful lot who are just plain dumb about the dangers of communism, in fact there's a whole bunch of liberals who seem to think it is a good thing. The way I see it is communism will always be one of the biggest threats to mankind, and something we must always combat.

Don't be fooled by it's cousin Socialism. That's just diet Communism. It may be even more dangerous because it sneaks up on its victims, slinking in like a thief in the night to steal from the productive and give to the non-productive. We've got a real problem with creeping Socialism right here in the good ole U.S.

At least we don't have it quite as bad as they do in Venezuela. They've got bad news all around. Over at Common Sense and Wonder, there is a post that details the harm that is done when the government tries to control the economy. Those commies always end up hurting the farmers, that's why North Korea is starving to death as I write this, that Kim junk ill dufus made them stop working the farms to serve his state. This Chavez guy is doing the same thing one way or the other. I've taken a snippet of the article posted there, but it would be better to go read it yourself.

Venezuela has only allowed farmers to raise the price of some foods, such as sugar, once in the last four years, compared with a 103 percent increase in consumer prices during the same period. That means farmers’ incomes aren’t keeping up with the rising costs of machinery, fertilizers and worker salaries.

To escape the controls and supplement their income, some farmers sell their crops at unregulated street markets for a higher price, Moreno said; others, such as dairy producers, are exacerbating a milk shortage by making more goods whose prices aren’t regulated, such as cheeses.

Reluctant to Invest

Meanwhile, companies are reluctant to invest to increase production. Manufacturers, concerned that Chavez will deepen state involvement in the economy, have trimmed spending on new plant and equipment to the point that non-government investment equals no more than 4 percent of gross domestic product, the lowest among Latin America’s 10 biggest economies.

Faust said many are reluctant to expand production because of a lack of private-property guarantees from the government. Chavez has seized rural estates and factories the government deems to be unproductive, including some assets of Lorenzo Mendoza, Venezuela’s second-wealthiest man., and of H.J. Heinz Co., the world’s largest ketchup maker. Foreign investors sold $778 million more in Venezuelan assets than they bought in the first nine months of 2006, according to the central bank; a decade ago, in the same period, they added $5.9 billion more than they disposed of.

“Companies are working three shifts a day,'’ the construction group’s Perret said. “But the next decision is to expand capacity, and they’re reluctant to do that.'’