Another Socialist Victory in South America

This is just a bit off topic here, but most of us are aware of the radical socialists victory in Bolivia, placing the first native indian on the Central American country's highest office. Progressive of the people of Bolivia. And I have no problem with progressiveness.However, its quickly becoming clear to me that the people of another foreign country have been suckered into the control of radical socialists, and while some socialism is okay, its long been proven that socialism itself has quite a lot of faults. For instance, the original consolidation of power around the government that is requried for actual socialism to be put into to place often allows the proposed enlightened leader to take control and steer his or her country into the direction of too much government power that cannot be reversed.Only a few weeks in office, Morales has already started to make several moves that are both radical and will only result in damage to Bolivia. For instance, like in Colombia, U.S. agencies such as the DEA have been working with Bolivian military and police officials for a long time to exterminate the cocoa crop, the of course prime ingreedient in Cocaine and its by products. Last week, Morales fired 28 generals within the military, essentially his entire high command, and replaced them with young and inexperienced leiutennants. The highest-ranking military man in Bolivia was a major just a week ago, according to the Wall Street Journal's editorial entitled "Axis of Evo." The reason? For cooperating with American officials in Cocoa erradication programs. (For those of you who don't know, Evo has said that his administration will continue to outlaw cocaine and possession of the drug, but will cease all cocoa erradication programs and may legalize the plant's cultivation, for use in other products. Riiight.)While I'm sure that these men are greatful for this sudden boost to all their careers, (and that's probably the whole point) its become clear to me, even if just by circumstance, that Evo has decided to fire all these men because fighting cocaine production and use is no longer important to Bolivia, according to him, so men who are experienced in doing this job are no longer needed, and they need to be replaced with men who have loyalty to him. And, if Evo were to ever get any ideas of becoming the new "El Maximo" (as in Castro) of Bolivia, the only thing that could stop him would be the military, which is now controlled by Evo loyalists. Look, I'm just connecting the dots here, and I could definitely be wrong.Regardless, another potential cash crop has been discovered recently in Bolivia, large amounts of land based and coastal deposits of Natural Gas. Already, Evo has made moves that would show that he plans to nationalize all N. Gas production, to drive a stake through free enterprise. While this would be an important (and typical) milestone in a radical socialist's agenda, nationalized production all goes into one pocket, rather than several. And therefore, only one party is benefited: the government. Sure, its supposed to get distributed among the people, but if you entrusted the responsibility to corporations, yes, the corporations would make lots of money, but people working for them would have to potential to make lots more than they would ordinarily recieve in their monthly/weekly checks. And if it gets to that point, no more checks. Food stamps. Sure, some would have to be cut out, but they'd be an insignificant minority with effective management. It isn't perfect, but it would definitely be better for the Bolivian economy. And then the alternative is just to rely on national loyalty and welfare. If I live in Boliva, and I know I'm going to get a check every week month no matter what , why work? Or if there's someone who says I have to work, why make a quality product? I'll still get my check. And there's no hope for any bonuses or raises unless I somehow get to a position of power, so there's no motivation to do better. Ever.And, just look at Cuba. Originally a socialist country that degraded into a socialist country under Castro's iron fist. What two accomplishments does Cuba have to make up for this?1. Universal Healthcare. Oh yeah. No more insurance costs. A problem solved, but the costs elsewhere...hmm.2. Everyone loves El Maximo! That's because all the guys who can remember a time before Castro are all dead or too old to remember anything anyway. And then, when Castro finally does kick it, who's gonna replace him? Political stability wise, its just the quiet before the storm.I'm definitely open for comments, but I'm just trying to make a point.Wiseman45This message has been edited by wiseman45, 01-29-2006 08:55 PMThis message has been edited by wiseman45, 01-29-2006 08:57 PMThis message has been edited by wiseman45, 01-29-2006 09:06 PM

I will agree that you've made the point that Evo has said that he will not steer his country in the direction of Castro, I probably got a little overboard on that. And RAZD, I said that another country's people had been suckered into the control of socialists. They chose to elect Evo, unless evidence is ever discovered that says otherwise. Thier loss.Oh well, I expected criticism and I'm thankful for it. I personally thought you guys would find something and crucify me. But I have a few more things to say:Yes, he does have every right to legalize cocoa, and I didn't say that there's no alternative products that can be made from the cocoa plant. There's plenty. But, if you grow cocoa, who are you going to sell it to? The guy who wants to make shampoo or toothpaste who will pay you $100 a bag, or the cocaine producer who'll pay you $1000 per bag? What would you do?Meanwhile, I agree with your point about my "I'll still get my check" comment. Plenty of corporate bosses don't do their jobs and just ensure that they stay in their current positions once they've gotten their stable salaries that they're looking for. And with capitalism, bad stuff (financially) can happen anyway. (ENRON, WORLDCOM, etc.) And someone would probably work because of what they like to do. I stand corrected.I will also acknowledge that the main problem is demand over here. As long as there is demand on the black market, there will be supply. The best way to deal with demand here, in my opinion, is to provide a program for all druggies to get off of the junk, and when they can go without it for a month or two under strict observation, let 'em go, and then if they're caught on drug use offenses again, they get hard time in jail. Most drug users start out just using it for pleasure. If they can be caught before they're really addicted, making it very, very inconvenient for them to get caught may change their minds about what they're venturing into before its too late.But I'm venturing a little away from my point. Despite the fact that Evo Morales has said that he doesn't want to steer Bolivia into the direction of Cuban-style socialism, he has been spending as much time as possible lately trying to better relations with Venezuela (particularly just Chavez) and moving towards what that country is doing. And now the military is controlled by people who are grateful to Evo. I said before that if Evo wanted to take real power as Castro did, (wait forget Castro, Lenin) his only obstacle would be the military. Not any more. Coincidence? Definitely possible. But its also certainly possible that Evo has a few plans for Bolivia that do not involve "liberal" socialism. If you see a goose, but it looks like a duck, then its probably a duck. Or however that proverb goes.Wiseman45This message has been edited by wiseman45, 01-30-2006 12:56 PM