The Failure of Socialism

The Miami Herald published the following article last night; it makes interesting reading, because you could just as well substitute South Africa for Venezuela:

“Turn out the lights, shorten the shower to three minutes, buy a portable generator.

That is President Hugo ChavezHugo Chavez's message to the citizens of energy-rich Venezuela, where the "socialist revolution" has brought power cuts, water shortages and collapsing public services.

In the past month, thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets to protest the lack of basic social services, from electricity to water. On Thursday, about 100 demonstrators turned out in Caracas calling for Chavez to solve the problem.

Some burned electricity bills while others simulated plugging electric devices into candles.

"We're accused of wasting electricity, but the fact is the government didn't plan, didn't invest and didn't carry out maintenance," Aixa Lopez, president of the Committee of Blackout Victims, told the TV news channel Globovisión.

For more than a decade, Chavez has dominated Venezuelan politics, establishing a grip on power unequaled in the region, outside of Cuba. But lower oil prices, as well as the effects of economic mismanagement and neglected infrastructure, have begun to erode his popular support. A weak and divided opposition seems poorly placed to take advantage of the opportunity.

To read the complete article, visit www.miamiherald.com.”

For months now, we have been seeing various townships up in arms about lack of service delivery, and our government, under Jacob ZumaJacob Zuma, has so far been unable to quell the voices of discontent.

We are also facing massive electricity price-hikes over the next three years for precisely the same reason: for the past fifteen years NOTHING has been done about investing in new infrastructure or carrying out necessary repairs to the existing grid. We also now have the added problem of people making illegal electrical connections and thereby getting electricity for which they do not pay; this adds to the burden of an already overburdened and failing grid. Like Venezuela, we also have a socialist government, which in many ways has failed the very people it promised to serve.

The rich have grown immeasurably richer while the poor have increased in number.

We need to do something about it, and we need to do NOW.