lecture. After all I have a certain allergy to "salvation literature" and other messianic forms such as uncouth military self appointing themselves as the savior of the poor of the world.....Thus out of character when I received a note from occasional reader S.C. with an ill translated quote of Ayn Rand I decided to check how badly it was translated (heck, her name was put as Any Rand which had an interesting promiscuity shade to it). It was quite bad, but that is not the point of the post. Checking through some of Rand quotes I found some that are particularly appropriate to today's Venezuela and I could not resist sharing them for fun. The case to refer to and the quote.
On Chavez motivations. His anti US stand as well as his "resentido social" approach to life which lead him to make us believe he hates money and rich people while his family is now the richest of Barinas.
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter.
On Chavez economic policies and the future of Venezuela.
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - you may know that your society is doomed.
On Chavez view of the world and human rights.
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.
On the mediocrity of chavismo.
Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think.
On the dangers of chavismo, in particular as it is creating a national police and increasing the numbers and functions of the indoctrinated militia at the expense of the more "controlled" armed forces.
A government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.
On the Anderson case and the fraud to justice by Isaias Rodriguez
There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.
On the legal system that allowed a monstrosity like Isaias Rodriguez.
There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers.
On the "misiones"? That is, all of the social programs whose benefit increase with your direct support to the government.
The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time.
On the "boliburguesia"? That is, the chavista nouveau riche class versus the hoi poloi, be it opposition or pro Chavez.
Upper classes are a nation's past; the middle class is its future.
On PSF and other assorted fools here and abroad so willing to serve and justify chavismo actions.
The man who lets a leader prescribe his course is a wreck being towed to the scrap heap.
Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone.
There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist: the fashionable non-conformist.
On the difficulty to be a blogger trying to express the reality of his country
The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see.
PS: readers that can find more quotes that can be linked to Venezuela today are welcome to submit them :)
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