It seems that the Chavez policy is to have the police go easy on the criminals, perhaps in part to give the appearance of social concern. But it seems also--if the same report is to be believed--that the police themselves are the source of some of the murderous violence. That age-old disparity between the rich and the poor is evidently not the outcome of one particular political ideology if, in oil-rich, socialist Venezuela, the poor are still victimized by both social discrimination and virtually unchecked crime.
It would be nice to believe that the purported values and the good intentions of socialism--the political philosophy in which I, Bush, as I have mentioned in the past, was brought up believing--would lead to something approaching social justice. It would be nice to believe that those you personally despise and distrust could create a better situation for the poor than the more conservative-minded. I would be nice to see satisfying results from the Chavezes and the Castros of this world. Alas, no. Poverty, social injustice, neglect of the needy persist. Who was it said, The poor will always be among us?
It's not about what we preach, as human beings or as political idealists. It's about what we practice. And it seems, sadly, that that discrepancy, too, will always be among us.
2 comments:
I was raised there, in and around Caracas. Yes, it's still the way it was when I was there. You wrote, "the police themselves are the source of some of the murderous violence." And, "the poor are still victimized by both social discrimination and virtually unchecked crime." So all three have them in daily danger. I haven't been there since 1956, and yet the people are still the same. I have talked to a few who say so, I believe them. Chavez could be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if the military wants him out of there, I can guarantee you, he'd be gone in a heartbeat. The military is the heart of the country, as long as Chavez holds his ground, he'll be okay, if he falters... by by. Good post Peter:).
"The screen-name is not meant to be fake but rather allude to a humane way of looking at fellow humans on Earth".
!!!! If you say so. Doesn't mean anything to me. Just more nonsense like the rest of your blog-blab.
You are one-half statistics, and the other half surfacey opinion. Reign it in dude.
Won't be reading your comments, so save your insipid answers.
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