Why I am not blogging much lately: the "gimme!" culture of Venezuela

I am not inclined to blog lately because the uselessness of it all on occasion is too much to bear.  Not that I think that my blogging would do much good, but I am reaching a point of getting too embarrassed about "la veulerie" (spinelessness?- 1) of the Venezuelan electorate to write more about it.  The fact of the matter is that in spite of 12 years of mismanagement Chavez has been able to bounce back to parity and up with the opposition in the polls by the mere launching of a "mision vivienda" which cannot be executed properly (a brief calculation of the promise yields that result that the country needs to build, DAILY, 900 housing units for the next 6 years when I know personally that I get into all sorts of trouble to get a couple of cement bags to fix the driveway at work).

Fortunately for us this week Weil at Tal Cual has drawn a BRILLIANT series of cartoons illustrating fabulously well how the largest chunk of the Venezuelan electorate works.

The political culture within chavismo (red berets) and opportunists: DAME = GIVE ME.  With a long nosed Pinocchio doll bait Chavez has no problem fishing for votes.  Extraordinary way, if you ask me, to make the point that even if they know that Chavez is lying once again, well, they still will extend their open hand to receive whatever falls for free.  That cartoon made me sick at heart...

This one in the same vein let's you know that the housing mirage of Chavez is going to work at getting votes even if the result of "mision vivienda" is more than predictable, and disappointment is certain.  But after 2012 when Chavez will be so entrenched in his castle that we are looking at a Libya/Iran/Yemen scenario.

This one is a simple take on the mirage of that latest mision: we all know it is impossible, and even those who ask here know that, as they sense that few will get a cheap to free home.  But they do not care, it is like the lottery, they think all that they will be the lucky winner as long as the regime remains in place.

But why have we become such a "gimme!" culture?  The next cartoon give us the answer: 12 years of "red" discourse, symbolized by that red mosquito.

Observe the nice allusion to the famous say "teach a man to fish...."

For Weil there is no doubt that chavismo has been a cancer on our spirits and he is blunt about it.

"Pancreas Cancer"; "Lung Cancer"; "Conscience Cancer" (with the allusion to chavista "Uh!Ah!, Chavez no se va" as something that will remain in our country psyche long after Chavez is gone).

And finally a clear allusion at how inept and maybe impotent the opposition is at countering such a discourse   But for more on that you will need to wait for a future post :)

"Justice!  Values!  Work!" against the Chavez promises of everything and the sink.

And you want me to keep posting?  What for?

1) I cannot find a good word for the French "veule" which means at the same time weakness of spirit but also the willingness to be weak, spineless, almost amoral.