A couple of days back, the Venezuelan actress Vanessa Senior attempted to purchase 4 toothpaste tubes in a store. The store owner objected because of legal restrictions on purchases for basic household items. The limit for toothpaste tubes is two. The actress did this on purpose and on camera as a demonstration against the severe limitations in Venezuela on… well… about just any article you may care to pick. This triggered a political firestorm.
COMMON SENSE
Upon seeing the video, a great deal of Venezuelan people agreed and supported the actress on the account that yes indeed, in Venezuela (the socialist workers’ paradise) pretty much everything is in short supply. This is the standard reaction one would expect. There is no reason whatsoever for preventing people from using their means (money, in this case) to do as they see fit. Only a backwards socialistic (do we dare say communist) mentality can think in those terms.
UNCOMMON SENSE
And then we have the usual suspects. Mouthpieces for the “establishment” who are there to “educate” the populous about the “right” way of doing things “for the benefit of all”. One such mouthpiece is the political commentator (i.e. public-relations agent for the government) Mario Silva. This person asked the state prosecutor to jail the actress for “disturbing the public peace”. His words (not accounting for translation errors) were:
“They should take this woman to the prosecutor because she is committing a crime everywhere, wherever we look at. It is disgusting. She is responsible for what she said [Can’t I buy four toothpaste tubes in this country?]. Will there be somebody from the opposition that will comment on this garbage tomorrow? I will ask them [the opposition] what is [their] opinion about this woman who believes she can behave with impunity… I would like her to be declared a political prisoner, what she did is infamous and it was taught to her by you, the coup-loving opposition”
REALITY
The reality is simple. Venezuela is one of the richest countries on earth in terms of oil reserves, which are the largest in the world. Yet, in this workers’ paradise you cannot purchase more than two tubes of toothpaste without taking the risk of landing in jail. Does this make sense? At all? Of course not.
There are two issues here. The first one is the lack of freedom. Threatening somebody with jail for using their property as they see fit in order to purchase bare necessities is the apex of tyranny. The second one is lack of free markets. Not being able to purchase even the bare necessities because of shortages is the apex of stupidity and arrogance.
My social and economic theory beats reality!
There!
But…but…but…
No buts!
And there you have it. Communism in action. But of course who cares if Venezuela is a basket case in social and economic terms, right? You do not live in Venezuela. You live in Germany or US or Brazil or South Africa where you have democracies and free markets, right? Think again. You may not be directly restricted of purchasing more than two toothpaste tubes, but you are restricted the same. How do you ask? Good question.
Does it really matter if the state prohibits you from buying two tubes of toothpaste or if the state robs you from your salary so much that you cannot afford to buy two tubes of toothpaste? Of course it does not matter. The result is the same.
And the culprit is the same: the state!
We are so sick and tired of hearing politicians, socialists and communists talking about the wonderful new future that awaits us if only we have patience and follow the program. Well, enough is enough! At what point in time are they planning to recognize that they failed? Miserably? Repeatedly? Constantly? Globally? Hummmm…. “never” jumps to mind…
CONCLUSION
In the Venezuelan workers’ paradise attempting to buy “too much” toothpaste is a crime. Literally. In other “advanced” countries attempting to keep “too much” of your money is a crime. Literally. Same, same.
But then again, perhaps you enjoy not being able to brush your teeth. Perhaps you enjoy living in a system were everything belongs to the state and it lets you keep some at their whim. Perhaps you enjoy being a slave. If this is the case, we can recommend a good BDSM specialist which will take care of your fetish thus satisfying your needs and preventing you from expressing them in the political arena. Enjoy! We know we will!
Note: please see the Glossary if you are unfamiliar with certain words.
