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How Socialism Destroyed Venezuela -- Colin's Last Stand (Episode 34)

Venezuela is in complete freefall, and socialism is to blame. Its economy is crumbling in every conceivable way, and its government is corrupt, unpopular, and under growing threat of coup or civil war. Yet, this ongoing, years-long story is still rarely talked about when compared to a ton of other far more minor stories, and lots of people are confused about the fundamentals underpinning the entire mess. This video aims to fix that. Colin's Last Stand is free of baked-in ads, product placement, and other obnoxious forms of advertising because of your support. Please consider subscribing to CLS' Patreon to show your support for independent historical and political content: http://www.patreon.com/colinslaststand Twitter: @notaxation Instagram: @clsmoriarty Facebook: /colinslaststand Reddit: /r/ColinsLastStand Colin's Last Stand is a product of Colin's Last Stand, LLC PO Box 1233 | Santa Monica, CA 90406 Still images in this video were acquired from the following sources, for which Colin's Last Stand is thankful: Animal Politico, Business Insider, Latin Times, Moody Eye View, NBC News, Overpasses For America, PBS, The Independent, University of Texas, Whisper, Wikimedia, and Wikipedia. Selected Bibliography (Due to Space Constraints): http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/what-the-hell-is-happening-in-venezuela.html http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in-venezuela-the-destructive-force-of-socialism-is-at-work/article/2627885 http://nypost.com/2017/08/01/venezuela-a-nation-devoured-by-socialism/ http://nypost.com/2017/04/02/venezuela-is-becoming-a-failed-state/ http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/05/world/venezuela-crushes-army-coup-attempt.html http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-ballots-idUSBRE89702320121008 http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9812/06/venezuela.votes/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-nationalizations-idUSBRE89701X20121008 https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/oil-made-venezuela-rich-and-now-its-making-it-poor/ https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2016/08/11/venezuela-is-drowning-in-its-own-oil/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/06/hugo_chavezs_economic_miracle/ http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/22/flashback-to-all-the-people-who-praised-chavezs-socialism/ https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/04/venezuelas-disputed-election/100498/ https://qz.com/59766/the-hugo-chavez-venezuela-loved-and-the-world-never-knew/ http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/26/499491180/huge-crowds-rally-against-venezuelas-deeply-unpopular-president http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2017/08/venezuela_is_collapsing_and_no_one_seems_to_care.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/how-venezuela-went-from-the-richest-economy-in-south-america-to-the-brink-of-financial-ruin-a7740616.html https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/06/months-of-anti-government-protests-continue-in-venezuela/530031/ http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/01/09/508986586/as-venezuelan-go-hungry-the-military-is-trafficking-in-food https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/world/americas/venezuela-officially-adopts-electricity-blackouts.html https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/22/venezuela-medical-shortages-doctors-health-care/103039928/ http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/28/news/economy/venezuela-currency-collapse/index.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/07/19/congratulations-to-venezuela-imf-predicts-inflation-of-1600-in-2017/#72024f7d6952 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/29/venezuela-is-on-the-brink-of-a-complete-collapse/?utm_term=.293196de9c51 https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/26/why-the-venezuelan-government-is-throwing-its-people-under-the-bus.html http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuelas-oil-production-is-on-the-brink-of-collapse-2017-5 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/inflation-poverty-food-shortages-venezuela-heads-toward-disaster/2016/02/11/10aad5b4-d035-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-venezuela-violence-20160605-snap-story.html http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/24/venezuela-civil-war-may-be-imminent/ https://www.rt.com/usa/389510-venezuela-asylum-applications-us/ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-coup-uprising-terrorist-attack-military-nicolas-maduro-valencia-caracas-shooting-arrests-a7879321.html http://www.npr.org/2017/03/30/522091662/venezuelas-supreme-court-takes-over-opposition-controlled-congress https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/americas/venezuela-election-turnout.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/15/venezuelas-government-wants-to-write-a-new-constitution-heres-why-thats-a-bad-idea/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-opposition-idUSKBN1AH382 https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2017/0707/Watching-freedom-of-the-press-erode-Venezuela-s-journalists-get-innovative

Comments

Anonymous

I keep adding a similar video but for Iran to the episode elections but no one Votes on it. LOL. Really great though. I feel there are just so many countries and political figures that could get a similar video like this. To me, this kind of stuff is one of the reasons I am excited when new episodes are posted.

Anonymous

Whether Socialism is to blame or not, I think this video fails to actually make that case. Corruption and over reliance on oil seem to be the main causes of Venezuela's problems, and I don't know if you can blame that solely on a socialist government. Colin dives into the oil and corruption angles WAY more than socialism, which he blames in the title of the video and the first few minutes. I'm not saying that socialism isn't to blame. I'm not well versed on this topic, which is why I seek out videos like these to teach me something about them. I find this video informative, I just don't think the content in the video matches the claim in the title. I was expecting to see a breakdown of how all the ways socialism ruined the Venezuelan economy, and I'm afraid I now have more questions than answers.

Anonymous

Just my 2 cents. I think the point is that if they had a more market based economy, then when the price of oil fell, it would hurt the private oil companies, not destroy the entire countries income. IE if the government hadnt run all the for profit business out and then funded everything with oil profits, when oil prices drop and the government can't pay for stuff there are now no private companies to fill the gaps in the market. Probably poorly worded, but maybe communicates my quick thoughts?

Anonymous

I understand that viewpoint. I guess I was just looking for the video to dive deeper into the socialism aspect. The video just makes it seem tacked on. Like "socialism is bad" but not telling me how it led to the mess we see in Venezuela today. Maybe that wasn't Colin's intent but that's what I got from the title of the video. I didn't see anyone else mention it so I thought it would be good feedback to pass along.

Anonymous

Another one bites the dust.

Anonymous

agreed. Economics is not one my strong points. I would love a deeper dive into this as well.

Gabriel Ignacio Bustamante S.

One of my favorite episodes. As a Colombia I'm really worry with Venezuela current situation. We are seeing an exponential growth of Venezuela migration to Colombia in the last 18 months. They have to wait for 8 hours or more to buy groceries (not what they want or they can afford, but what the government wants to sell), inflation over 700% so far this year, inability to import goods, Sometimes They aren't allowed to come to Colombian's border city "Cucuta" to get groceries and medicines. Those are just a few reasons why hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are migrating to Colombia seeking for a better opportunity for them and their families. Colombia's and South America's biggest airline (AVIANCA) isn't flying to Venezuela anymore and it's even avoing passing by Venezuelan Air for its flights to Europe. Thanks for the great job. Greetings From Colombia.

LastStandMedia

Thank you for your feedback. I received similar feedback in the YouTube comments. Maybe I didn't make my point forcefully enough! Can't win 'em all, I guess, but I can try to be better in the future. Either way, I'm glad a lot of people walked away liking the video.

LastStandMedia

It's unbelievable how rapidly the country is falling apart. Really scary stuff. Glad you liked the episode!

LastStandMedia

Thank you! I was amazed by how many South and Central Americans -- Venezuelans and otherwise -- loved this video. That really makes me happy, and proud.