A Pinochet Could Help Venezuela
American Thinker,
by
Richard Jack Rail
Original Article
Posted By: Highlander,
5/9/2019 4:09:52 PM
One hears and reads comments to the effect that Venezuelans "asked for" what they have in the way of strongman government since they voted for it. This is a woefully shortsighted and uninformed view of what´s happening, and what has happened, in the northernmost country of South America. Hugo Chávez, as Barack Obama here, probably did win his first election reasonably cleanly and fairly. It´s not likely he won fairly after that, and it´s certain that Chávez´s anointed successor, Nicolás Maduro, did not win fairly in last year´s elections. We´ve seen this script wherever communism establishes a firm foothold.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
curious1 5/9/2019 4:41:05 PM (No. 59855)
Stupid people elected Maduro, even the first time. Most of them are stuck on stupid. Communism/socialism/etc. (aka oligarchies) knows this and takes advantage of it.
13 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
bhkat 5/9/2019 4:53:29 PM (No. 59860)
The Shah of Iran killed less people in his entire reign than the Mullahs who took over did in just one year.
13 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
DVC 5/9/2019 5:14:50 PM (No. 59858)
The link didn´t work for me. I found the article here:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/05/a_pinochet_could_help_venezuela.html
12 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Highlander 5/9/2019 5:25:54 PM (No. 59859)
Thanks, #3; This is only the second time I ever posted anything. I wasn´t sure of all the steps. You clarified it for me.
11 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
DVC 5/9/2019 5:29:33 PM (No. 59863)
I entusiastically agree with the article´s second half. The first half is too understanding of the foolish, lazy people who voted in Chavez the first time.
As another poster here said very well. "You can vote in communists, but you have to shoot your way out." Yes, exactly so.
In any case, Pinochet took a number of bright young Chilean economists, who had studied economics under Univ of Chicago´s excellent Milton Friedman, and asked them to create a government mandated retirement system. The system that they created was a mandatory contribution system, superficially like our SS system, but instead of our insane Ponzi Scheme, Chilean money was actually invested in real markets rather than spent on current retirees and never invested, and the account was specifically in the name of each Chilean contributor, and they knew exactly what they had in their personal, real account. This system had Chilean money flowing into their investment system, which provided capital for businesses, and those businesses created a good return over the long run, and jobs and prosperity across the economy.
Chile´s retirement investment system was pretty much the best on the planet. I have heard that the latter day leftists have been busy trying to destroy it, and I have not heard what degree they have succeeded in ruining it.
ALL countries could use that same system, but perhaps it can only be put in place by a dictator. The nearly mythical benificent monarch.
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DVC 5/9/2019 5:30:55 PM (No. 59864)
You are welcome, #4. Excellent essay, glad you posted it.
9 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
MeiDei 5/9/2019 6:19:15 PM (No. 59862)
I know little to nothing of Pinochet except that he was portrayed as a hated dictator by our press. However, years ago I ran into someone with many friends & business associates there who said they believed him to be good. Until we have impartial history writers we may never know the whole story.
10 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
web 5/9/2019 6:30:36 PM (No. 59856)
The left hates right-wing dictators such as Pinochet, but loves leftist dictators, who have murdered millions. I always thought his rounding up of communists was a good idea. What else are you going to do with them? If you let them run loose they will conspire and cause anarchy, as antifa and other protestors constantly do here.
15 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Strike3 5/9/2019 7:30:23 PM (No. 59857)
There is a point in this path when you realize that you have screwed up in choosing your government and you still have access to weapons. That´s the time to act. Germany went beyond it, Russia went beyond it, the United States came close.
9 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
montwoodcliff 5/9/2019 8:08:51 PM (No. 59861)
I have said this for a long time! Pinochet put the country first and the results showed. After cleaning house of the Commies, he brought in Milton Friedman’s economists from Chicago, who instituted the economic reforms that have made the country prosperous. Admittedly, there is poverty and crime in pockets of the cities, but on the whole, it’s a nice place. I’ve been there and if I spoke Spanish and got American sports on TV, I could see living there. Venezuela, pay attention!
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I knew Pinochet was brutal but ultimately for the sake of Chile.