Life In Venezuela

By Leo Gura - August 2, 2019

An eye-opening look into Venezuela’s largest slum by an independent Youtuber:

Note: Venezuela is not an example of the evils of socialism. It’s an example of a grossly underdeveloped country. This is a distinction folks commonly fail to make. Socialism cannot work in an underdeveloped country because survival needs are simply too pressing so selfishness and corruption run rampant. Stage Red/Blue countries are not developed enough to sustain socialist ideals. Which is why socialism failed in places like the Soviet Union and North Korea but aspects of it have succeeded in Northern Europe. A totalitarian state which adopts a socialist veneer is still structurally a totalitarian state. The content of the ideology is irrelevant because what runs the show is the structure, which in this case is totalitarian. The reason aspects of socialism have succeeded in Northern Europe is because those states evolved way beyond totalitarianism before they started toying around with socialism.

Not that I consider myself a socialist. Just pointing out a common mistake I see in politics. People routinely misunderstand the causes of Venezuela’s situation. Their problem is developmental and infrastructural, not ideological. Corruption is a massive problem which has choked up their entire system.

It’s the same problem as a criminal trying to act like a spiritual man of God. It doesn’t work because it’s just a veneer. Structurally he’s still a selfish, egotistical criminal. No amount godly language or godly ideals will change that. To embody spirituality he’d have to first outgrow his criminality. Likewise, adopting a socialist ideology in a totalitarian state only serves as an Orwellian disguise. In theory the state is for the people, but in practice it’s every man for himself, looting as much wealth under the table as possible while maintaining the facade of selflessness.

So the lesson of the 20th century is not that socialism is evil but that socialism should not be adopted by underdeveloped countries at Stage Blue or below because they cannot sustain it. Socialism would only be possible at Stage Green or above. But even then, I still have critiques of socialism and I don’t support its blanket adoption. Aspects of it need to be cherrypicked and hybridized with capitalism.

We see in China that socialism has also not been sustainable because China has not yet evolved past Stage Orange capitalism. So even though China puts on a veneer of socialism, structurally it’s very capitalistic and also totalitarian because it cannot help itself. You can’t shortcut structural development with a flowery ideology. If only it were so easy. Moralistic ideology is not growth! It’s a fake front designed to say that no growth is necessary because it has already been actualized. It’s the same problem as saying that you are a devout follower of God, yet you have never actually become conscious of what God is. Talking about God without first being conscious of God is idol worship. It will not make you godly because the structure of your consciousness is still dualistic.

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