When Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez first came to power, he liked to claim that he wasn't a Marxist. He preferred to refer to his takeover as a "Bolivarian revolution." However, over the course of his reign, his tune changed and his real intention quickly became clear. Almost immediately, he announced that “We’re moving toward a socialist republic of Venezuela” and started telling anyone who'd listen that, if Bolivar were alive today, he'd be a committed socialist. Eventually, he was happy to call himself a communist, and in the later days of his reign he was openly singing the praises of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.
Then, the U.S. government killed him with cancer, or their earthquake weapon, or something.
Now, despite the horrors he wrought, Venezuela is trying to move forward as the "people's utopia" he envisioned. Since the stellar global success rate of Marxian Socialism is indisputable, everything there is humming along wonderfully.
In fact, it's been so successful that BBC reporter Daniel Pardo decided to engage in a little experiment.
He took a camera crew and filmed himself as he attempted to pluck 8 common household items from the bounty that the glorious state has provided. Those items are:
Milk
Coffee
Corn flour
Detergent
Cooking oil
Shampoo
Toilet paper
Dish soap
Should be pretty simple, right? Let's watch...
Eight Hours a week searching for products. Workdays abandoned in favor of scrounging. Half a day absorbed in a frustrating quest for a measly three everyday products.
Congratulations, socialism. You win again.
