[BartSimpson]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

hey how about we feed everyone?

Because that plan works so well in Venezuela?

their foolishness in building a dependence on a petro-based economy that is prone to collapse is not a mark against programs for healthcare or feeding people.

The petroleum industry had no effect on Venezuelas' farm policy. But nice try.

They were having socialist-induced problems long before oil prices declined.

From 2013:

https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/venezuela ... al-exports

$1:

Venezuela is the 13th-largest market for U.S. agricultural exports, with sales totaling $1.7 billion in calendar year 2012. It is one of the fastest growing U.S. markets, due to a widening gap between local supplies and rising demand. Venezuela’s government policies have hobbled domestic production. As a result, there are growing opportunities for U.S. exports, despite strong competition and other challenges.

Country Overview

With a population of 29 million and the world’s largest petroleum reserves, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (BRV) is the largest crude oil exporter in the Western Hemisphere. Petroleum accounts for 94 percent of export earnings, more than 50 percent of government revenue, and 30 percent of GDP1. Because of its heavy dependence on oil, the sharp drop in international oil prices in 2009-2010 led to economic contractions; in 2011-2012, high oil prices and record government spending helped boost GDP growth to 4-5 percent2.

Since Hugo Chavez’s first election in 1999, Venezuela’s economic policies have centered around the so-called “21st Century Socialism,” which includes nationalization of industries, stringent currency control, and centralized public services. Chavez’s efforts to nationalize firms in agribusiness, financial, and industrial sectors have hurt private investment and reduced productive capacity3. Centralized public services have resulted in crumbling infrastructure and lack of basic maintenance. High inflation and rolling food and goods shortages are common occurrences.

The government has stepped up expropriations of farms, food manufacturers, and distributors, while declaring “economic war” on the private sector4. It created MERCAL, a major food chain that controls 45 percent of the country’s supermarkets. The BRV also manages 70 percent of agricultural inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, and equipments. Mismanagement and shortages of inputs have hampered rice and corn production and will likely continue. Overall agricultural productivity has dropped, as most farms and food companies expropriated by the state suffer from inflated payrolls and inefficiency.

The government has stepped up expropriations of farms, food manufacturers, and distributors, while declaring “economic war” on the private sector4. It created MERCAL, a major food chain that controls 45 percent of the country’s supermarkets. The BRV also manages 70 percent of agricultural inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, and equipments. Mismanagement and shortages of inputs have hampered rice and corn production and will likely continue. Overall agricultural productivity has dropped, as most farms and food companies expropriated by the state suffer from inflated payrolls and inefficiency.

Since 2003, the BRV has imposed price controls that affect a wide range of basic and processed food products. Stores are required to sell many foods at BRV-established prices. At MERCAL stores, subsidized food products are selling at even lower prices than the official controlled prices, sometimes at a 40-50 percent discount5. Producers and processors are not allowed to raise prices in step with growing production costs, which has squeezed margins and at times led to food shortages6. Domestic production has been stifled due to price controls, expropriation of land and agribusiness, lack of transportation, security concerns, lack of inputs, and growing labor force problems. As a result, Venezuela now relies on imports for 70 percent of its food consumption.

[Public_Domain]

frankly never heard of MERCAL but fuck it sounds nice. started in 2003 with 5 spots after the walmart-type private stores crippled national access to food by joining a protest against chavez and closing their doors. now MERCAL has over 16,000 stores, mostly in poor neighbourhoods, selling food at excessive discounts. shucks, shame on them for running a shitty business model i guess, but at least people are being fed. 6000 soup kitchens is better than 6000 fucking walmarts.

from the looks of it, before 2002 it was all private control of food. then those private interests would choose to sabotage the venezualan population in order to pressure chavez. instead they revealed how dangerous it is to leave the food of a starving nation in the hands of private wealth-hoarding oligarchs.

[Public_Domain]

having grown up without getting school lunches aside from when i had a job in high school, i definitely felt and saw others hurting for food. the prices were violent. like $3 for a small poutine or a hotdog? $2.50 for some flavoured water or 40g of sun chips? i'm 25 and i still curse myself whenever i spend that much money on a meal

[BartSimpson]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

frankly never heard of MERCAL but fuck it sounds nice. started in 2003 with 5 spots after the walmart-type private stores crippled national access to food by joining a protest against chavez and closing their doors. now MERCAL has over 16,000 stores, mostly in poor neighbourhoods, selling food at excessive discounts. shucks, shame on them for running a shitty business model i guess, but at least people are being fed. 6000 soup kitchens is better than 6000 fucking walmarts.

from the looks of it, before 2002 it was all private control of food. then those private interests would choose to sabotage the venezualan population in order to pressure chavez. instead they revealed how dangerous it is to leave the food of a starving nation in the hands of private wealth-hoarding oligarchs.

Venezuela enjoys a year-round growing season and the people are right now starving.

Only a fool would think that is better than what they had before.

[Public_Domain]

what they had before could and was shut down by rich assholes whenever they want to show off how much they don't like Chavez. sounds unsustainable to allow such a situation to continue; private interests holding the people's food ransom for political pressure. you're the type to bitch about teachers or bus drivers striking so i'm amazed you're cool with a business shut down that damages social sovereignty made entirely for political purposes by rich slimeballs that were upset that Chavez stood in the way of them making even more money.

[BeaverFever]

rickc rickc:

martin14 martin14:

rickc rickc:

. You posted this piece to show some Canadian left wing superiority. How you somehow "care more than Americans" with your left wing policies. Us evil Americans let our (obese) children starve to death. You seen some piece trying to discredit the U.S. , and you ran with it.

He does it because he hates the United States.

LOL!!! I know. He thinks we are all a bunch of scrooges that sit around picking the wings off of flies when we are not counting our money. I just want to see his reaction when he discovers that the U.S. is far, far to the left of Canada when it comes to providing for school meals for children. If he acknowledges that fact than we can debate how the actually problem is the trashy/lazy /irresponsible parents (AND NOT THE GOVERNMENT) for children having a lunch debt. Parental responsibility is not something the left wants to address. It always has to be someone else's fault, mainly the government.

Well as usual you miss the mark. I'm referring to the toxic right-wing ideology of someone who thinks its ok to take food away from a first grader and let him go hungry while you fire the woman who tries to pay for it. That is like puling the wings off flies....and thinking you're so charitable and doing the world a favour in the process all the while shouting that the fly deserves it because his parents are "trashy". That's a uniquely Republican mindset that I would like to see stay south of the border.

Whether Canada or some other country's program provides more or less food is a separate point. But since you brought it up in your earlier post, in Canada education and social services are a provincial matter, not a federal matter, so while we often hear from the left that Canada doesn't have a "national" program for school lunches, homelessness or employment standards, etc. that's a red herring because the provinces run those programs.

I'm sure quality varies from place to place and there's undoubtedly room for improvement everywhere but to give you an idea of what actually goes on here, The Ontario Student Nutrition program requires that a nutritionally balance meal compliant with the Canada Food Guide be provided - not the fig leaf of a shitty government-issue cheese sandwich from the feds that's as much about subsidizing the US food and farm industry as it is about anything else (the food comes from Department of Agriculture and is literally the source of the expression "government cheese" as a euphemism for welfare). AND the program also requires that program meals be available to all students regardless of income, so that it doesn't stigmatize the poor kids. The province directly funds up to 60% of the school's cost to deliver the program, with the rest coming from municipalities, non-profits, volunteers and corporate donors, which hopefully takes care of your ejaculation needs.


In fact I would argue that many of the problems with US entitlement programs are precisely because these are federal programs and it's impossible to build a national consensus when you have different regions with different economies and different cultures and ideologies.

[Thanos]

I'm more amazed that the #MAGA's will complain about Venezuela with a straight face when they have no problem at all with the connections between Citgo, Russia, and Trump. But of course, y'know, #MAGA and all that.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... e-to-trump

$1:

The oil company’s half-million donation to Donald Trump’s Inaugural Committee wasn’t illegal. But it certainly wasn’t moral. And the cash may have come from the Kremlin, at least indirectly.

Recently released Federal Election Commission filings show that Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (known as PDVSA) gave Trump more money than Shell or Walmart. The donation is unusual for PDVSA: Citgo had not donated to previous presidential inaugural committees.

Just another thing for them to ignore or whole-heartedly make excuses for because, y'know, her e-mails or something.

[BartSimpson]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

what they had before could and was shut down by rich assholes whenever they want to show off how much they don't like Chavez. sounds unsustainable to allow such a situation to continue; private interests holding the people's food ransom for political pressure. you're the type to bitch about teachers or bus drivers striking so i'm amazed you're cool with a business shut down that damages social sovereignty made entirely for political purposes by rich slimeballs that were upset that Chavez stood in the way of them making even more money.

Okay, and how is what they have now better than what they had before?

Oh, and it's so obvious that the Venezuelans LOVE their socialist masters!

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sit ... D_ts#spf=1

[Public_Domain]

gosh, protests? it's not like those don't happen here all year round every few months or so, right? but those are unwashed bums without a job taking up public space and blocking traffic. or even worse, being "violent" by causing damage to property! oh no!

venezuala is hurting. the people have a right to be pissed. i don't think the reason is as easy as "socialism" when most of the damage is due to how these socialist practices clash with their international trade. that's less a failure of socialism and more a display of the incompatibility of socialist and capitalist interests.

all that said, i think they could do better. they should fire up some five year plans. the last soviet famine was in 1947 in the wake of the war that killed a fuckton of the workforce. 4th plan was in process, and another plan started up to focus on reconstruction of agriculture and such. no more fucking famines. shelves with food and toilet paper until gorbachev reared his ugly revisionist ass and fucked things up.

[BartSimpson]

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all that said, i think they could do better. they should fire up some five year plans. the last soviet famine was in 1947 in the wake of the war that killed a fuckton of the workforce. 4th plan was in process, and another plan started up to focus on reconstruction of agriculture and such. no more fucking famines. shelves with food and toilet paper until gorbachev reared his ugly revisionist ass and fucked things up.

I was into the USSR back in the day and it was no fucking paradise and you're batshit crazy if you think all they needed was just one more five year plan to save the Soviet state.

It rotted from within and the dark, fatalistic humor of the people who had to exist under Soviet tyranny speaks to why that government went out with a whimper.

https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom ... 0003-6.pdf

[PluggyRug]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

all that said, i think they could do better. they should fire up some five year plans. the last soviet famine was in 1947 in the wake of the war that killed a fuckton of the workforce. 4th plan was in process, and another plan started up to focus on reconstruction of agriculture and such. no more fucking famines. shelves with food and toilet paper until gorbachev reared his ugly revisionist ass and fucked things up.

I was into the USSR back in the day and it was no fucking paradise and you're batshit crazy if you think all they needed was just one more five year plan to save the Soviet state.

It rotted from within and the dark, fatalistic humor of the people who had to exist under Soviet tyranny speaks to why that government went out with a whimper.

https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom ... 0003-6.pdf

Yes me too. Went to Moscow in the late 60's on holiday. Beautiful hotel as a front for Western eyes.

One day we snuck into a no-go zone to see why tourists are not allowed. The people living there had to put up with some of the most deplorable conditions I have ever seen. Went into a working mans bar, just 3 grades of Vodka on sale, rough, very rough and poison. You had to sprinkle black pepper on the surface to settle out the impurities. Spoke to some of the locals who had a smattering of broken English. The gist of the conversation was "we can't be seen talking to you people".
We all took 4 pairs of Levi's and sold them on the street which paid for the vacation with some left over. We had to wait till back home to exchange Rubles to Pounds.

The American dollar was the most sought after currency.

Communism sucks.

[BartSimpson]

Oh, fuck yeah. Levi's were better than gold in Moscow! Ray-Bans were pretty popular, too!

[Public_Domain]

so starved by communism that they need... over-priced shoes....

the ussr collapsed with great help from the united states. give yourselves some credit.

[ShepherdsDog]

You really are 'innocent' about the world. Their world and the world BreitBart and Co. desire are both equally horrible.

[bootlegga]

rickc rickc:

I love how you intend this story to be a slam at the U.S. Those mean Americans taking lunches away from children. Oh the horror!!! That could never happen in Canada!!!! I call bullshit!!! First off not only is Canada the only G8 country to not have a national lunch program, they are the only member of the 34 nation OECD that does not have a national lunch program. One of those members of the OECD is Mexico. So a third world shithole like Mexico (where many parents send their children out to sell trinkets to tourists rather than attend school) has a national lunch program, but Canada does not? Embarrassed yet? Knowing you, probably not. You posted this piece to show some Canadian left wing superiority. How you somehow "care more than Americans" with your left wing policies. Us evil Americans let our (obese) children starve to death. You seen some piece trying to discredit the U.S. , and you ran with it. Well you fucked up. You didn't do your homework. The fact of the matter is that the U.S. is light years ahead of Canada when it comes to school lunches, and breakfastes for that matter.
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news ... -meal-plan
Here we have a piece about how "volunteers" are putting together a breakfast program at an elementary school in B.C. Private donations are collected (talk about a conservatives wet dream) and than matched by a private corporation (orgasm #2) to provide breakfast for the poor kids. The U.S. government spent 3.3 billion (with a B) on breakfast for children last year. How much did the Canadian federal government spend? Zero? (orgasm #3) I would not be surprised if hard core right wingers were jerking off while reading about the private funded school meals in Canada. I can't believe Ted Cruz ever left this place!!!! It sounds like right wing Nirvana to me. I especially love the part about how the school does not have a proper kitchen or dining room. The meals are nuked in a microwave in the teachers lounge by volunteers. My ex wives high school had no lunchroom. The school did not prepare shit. Every kid was on their own. You don't bring a lunch. you don't eat. Its that simple. At least the kids in this story are getting SOMETHING to eat, even if it is a cold cheese sandwich. Its more than many of the children in your country get.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2011/09/07/Cana ... l-Lunches/
Here is a piece admitting that the majority of schools in Canada do not even have a kitchen. It admits that the average support for each Canadian student is $5.95 a year. Thats right, a year!!! U.S. is $212 a year. 35 times what is spent in Canada. How can you see that speck in my eye with that log in yours?

You know, I've never understood why Canadian schools don't provide lunch, but frankly I'm okay with it.

It may take me a little time and planning, but then I know exactly what my children are eating, instead them stuffing their faces with pizza, chicken nuggets, french fries or any of the other junk food that is so often served because it is cheap and filling.

By making my daughter's lunch, I know she gets something healthy and home made as well as sides of fruit & veggies, which she always eats, and yes, sometimes a treat like a cookie.

Schools in Alberta are starting to add lunch programs, open snack shops and do other things to make sure vulnerable kids get something to eat during the day, because study after study has shown that hungry kids have very little focus. My daughter has told me that the teacher often has a box of crackers to give to kids who forgot their lunch, at other times, the office will loan some money to kids to buy instant soup from the snack shop and then send an IOU home with the kid to get reimbursed.

Alberta also has great charities like Brown Bagging 4 Calgary Kids, that rely entirely on private/corporate donations to feed hundreds of kids each and every day.

http://bb4ck.org/our-story/our-work/lunches/

Having said all that, Canada as a whole certainly needs to do better when it comes to making sure kids in school aren't hungry, because a kid who is wondering where his/her next meal is coming from isn't focusing on learning.