It's So Bad in Socialist Venezuela, Citizens are Literally Throwing Away Money
Ahhhh, socialism. The word that has captured the heart of Bernie Sanders and his loyal following of naive millennials. Despite numerous examples of the failure of socialism, these people never seem to change their tune.
Take Venezuela, for instance. The economy in Venezuela is so horrible – thanks to the socialist policies in action – that their money is now virtually worthless. So worthless, in fact, that Venezuelans are literally throwing it away.
According to a column from the Washington Post, a friend of the author sent a picture of a trash can in Venezuela.
Francisco Toro explained that “strewn about in the trash are at least a dozen 20-bolivar bills, small-denomination currency now so worthless even looters didn’t think it was worth their time to stop and pick them up.”
Wow. That’s REALLY bad.
Hyperinflation is so bad in Venezuela that 100 20-bolivar bills are equal to just one penny. That means each bill is worth $0.0001.
Yikes. Now we know why no one has picked them out of the trash.
Of course, if you look at the official exchange rate from the government’s website, you’d see that these bills are worth $2. But obviously, it’s not true.
Toro writes, “Hyperinflation is disorienting. Five or six years ago, the 500 bolivars on the floor would’ve bought you a meal for two with wine at the best restaurant in Caracas.”
“As late as early last year, they would’ve bought you at least a cup of coffee,” he continued. “At the end of 2016, they still bought you a cup of café con leche, at least. Today, they buy you essentially nothing … well, except for 132 gallons of the world’s most extravagantly subsidized gasoline.”
Things aren’t getting any better in Venezuela, either. In fact, Toro says, instead of holding onto money in Venezuela, you should hold on to other things of value. He writes, “Rule No. 1 of surviving hyperinflation is simple: Get rid of your money. Given the speed with which money is shedding its value, holding on to it means you’re losing out. The second you’re paid you run out as fast as you can to buy something – anything – while you can still afford it. It’s better to hold almost any asset than money, because assets hold their value and money doesn’t.”
Of course, these are things that Bernie and friends refuse to acknowledge.
In fact, in a 1990 interview with the AP, Sanders said, “To me, socialism doesn’t mean state ownership of everything, by any means, it means creating a nation, and a world, in which all human beings have a decent standard of living.”
Sure. Just like these Venezuelans. I’m sure they would trade in their “standard of living” for the free market standard of living we all enjoy in a heartbeat.
Socialism doesn’t work, folks, and what’s happening in Venezuela is proof of that. If Bernie and company love socialism so much then maybe they can enjoy it down in Venezuela where a can of tuna is worth more than a bunch of money piled up in the trash.
H/T The Daily Caller
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