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They have tried in Venezuela. Did not work.

InitialLastName 9y ago
Venezuela tried petro-socialism, backing their welfare state with a single resource that they happened to be swimming in. Price of that resource false -> no more monetary value -> money is worthless and welfare state fails.
- enraged_camel 9y ago
  I'm not sure why you are being downvoted (probably for ideological reasons). You are totally correct. Socialism hasn't really been tried in countries with diverse, abundant resources and powerful economies.
  - deepnet 9y ago
    Post WW2 UK elected a socialist government which created the welfare state, comprehensive schools, state pensions and the National Health Service and nationalisation of some industries.
  - vkou 9y ago
    It has been tried, we call that country 'The United States' - at least, if you're over the age of 65.
    - enraged_camel 9y ago
      Not sure what you mean. The "socialist" programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, have been massively successful. But they are the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is possible. We're talking things like Medicare for All and, at the extreme end of the spectrum, Unconditional Basic Income.
  - dmix 9y ago
    Venezuela was having serious issues even before the price of oil took a nose dive. One example is the food shortages. They were happening well before the crisis. Centralized food markets with price controls always creates shortage. It's simple economics. If your economic system can't efficiently feed people, more complex industries will be even harder. Not to mention building new industries. The failures of their socialist experiment go far deeper than simply a non diversified industry. The drop in the petro industry showed immediately how fragile the massive spending schemes and nationalization was. As Thomas Sowell said (paraphrasing), the problem with redistribution is that you can only take someone's money/property once, you can't take their ability to continually produce goods. So when that well dries up the cracks in the system become apparent. The wikipedia article on the Venezuelan economy is a good read about the risks of centralized planned economies.
  - altstar 9y ago
    Why would you try socialism in those countries?
- moduspol 9y ago
  Indeed. Yet the price of oil going down at some point is hardly an unforeseeable scenario, right? They're not stupid people. They were led to believe that it would never end, or that basic economic principles didn't apply to them. Socialism works great until you run out of other people's money. Whether it's because the price of oil dropped, your most productive tax payers moved out, or your currency hyperinflates until it's worthless: somehow it's never socialism's fault. Reality eventually does set in, though.
ericdykstra 9y ago
Who would win? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-7JSI0W0AIPObl.jpg:large https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-7JSI0W0AIPObl.jpg:large

Venezuela tried petro-socialism, backing their welfare state with a single resource that they happened to be swimming in. Price of that resource false -> no more monetary value -> money is worthless and welfare state fails.

enraged_camel 9y ago
I'm not sure why you are being downvoted (probably for ideological reasons). You are totally correct. Socialism hasn't really been tried in countries with diverse, abundant resources and powerful economies.
- deepnet 9y ago
  Post WW2 UK elected a socialist government which created the welfare state, comprehensive schools, state pensions and the National Health Service and nationalisation of some industries.
- vkou 9y ago
  It has been tried, we call that country 'The United States' - at least, if you're over the age of 65.
  - enraged_camel 9y ago
    Not sure what you mean. The "socialist" programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, have been massively successful. But they are the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is possible. We're talking things like Medicare for All and, at the extreme end of the spectrum, Unconditional Basic Income.
- dmix 9y ago
  Venezuela was having serious issues even before the price of oil took a nose dive. One example is the food shortages. They were happening well before the crisis. Centralized food markets with price controls always creates shortage. It's simple economics. If your economic system can't efficiently feed people, more complex industries will be even harder. Not to mention building new industries. The failures of their socialist experiment go far deeper than simply a non diversified industry. The drop in the petro industry showed immediately how fragile the massive spending schemes and nationalization was. As Thomas Sowell said (paraphrasing), the problem with redistribution is that you can only take someone's money/property once, you can't take their ability to continually produce goods. So when that well dries up the cracks in the system become apparent. The wikipedia article on the Venezuelan economy is a good read about the risks of centralized planned economies.
- altstar 9y ago
  Why would you try socialism in those countries?
moduspol 9y ago
Indeed. Yet the price of oil going down at some point is hardly an unforeseeable scenario, right? They're not stupid people. They were led to believe that it would never end, or that basic economic principles didn't apply to them. Socialism works great until you run out of other people's money. Whether it's because the price of oil dropped, your most productive tax payers moved out, or your currency hyperinflates until it's worthless: somehow it's never socialism's fault. Reality eventually does set in, though.

ericdykstra 9y ago

Who would win? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-7JSI0W0AIPObl.jpg:large https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-7JSI0W0AIPObl.jpg:large