Venezuela

[Danijel Gorupec]

Maybe it is a boring theme, but if someone wants to comment, I will be happy to read.

What do you think is happening to Venezuelan society? Can this be called a degradation? Or is this only a fluctuation on path of progress? Or is this actually a progress when looked from a different perspective? Or is it just a logical consequence of some external pressure?

To me, Venezuela is an interesting example to study as it has plenty of natural resources.

My personal opinion is that this already can be called degradation. When I look at individuals in this society I understand that the each individual strives for the better. Yet, the society as a whole spirals downward. I find this fascinating... What is the 'invisible hand' that governs this process? Is there some sort if bad ideology that individuals pursue leading them in wrong direction? Or is it that most individuals just make logical and reasonable decisions at personal level and it still pushes the society in the wrong direction?

Maybe you think that what happens in Venezuela is a progress (on society level). How come? I don't see it. Some societies in north Africa did turn toward democracy, and for those societies I could accept such argumentation (barely) despite the fact that currently they are in quite a chaos - but I just don't see it for Venezuela.

Do you think that it is actually external pressure of some sort that causes present society movements in Venezuela (I guess, some Venezuelans would say this is true blaming greedy Americans for disruption of their society). But I myself don't see much of some external pressure (is there more behind scenes that I can imagine?). External pressure is always present, and most societies can cope with this.

I have no connections with Venezuela. My interest is academic (but also personal because I find historical events like Fall of Rome quite upsetting).

[Sensei]

Perhaps example of what can happen if inappropriate, not intelligent enough, politicians are at charge.. ?

When price of oil were high, they didn't invest enough, in the right sectors..

and when price of oil dropped, it caused problems, social unrest..

 

5 hours ago, Danijel Gorupec said:

What is the 'invisible hand' that governs this process?

Rather unintended victim of putin's attack on Ukraine.. which resulted in sanctions, and rapid drop of oil price, which caused too-much-oil-dependent countries to have problems..

 

[Danijel Gorupec]

Inappropriate (at best) and short-sighted (even if well-intended) politicians, sure... But are you sure that you mean 'politicians' and not 'Venezuelan voters'? [ I ask because I think that sometimes posters are trying to be polite blaming politicians when they actually think people. ]

High politics in Venezuela was, in my opinion, plainly wrong. But this is nothing new for me. It is the non-existence of any effective corrective action coming from the society that I find intriguing. In fact, I am afraid that the opposite is happening - the movements are such that the society undermines itself.

The fluctuations on oil market, being an external factor, can be attributed as a trigger, but again no coping mechanism is being established, as far as I can see. How not? One would expect that societies adjust.

[ Venezuelans are a large group of people, not just a few individuals, and for sure they are neither smarter nor stupider than any other nation in average. I am sure that an average citizen just does whatever he/she can to improve his/her own life and surrounding and also the life of those he/she cares about... Maybe we can say "they got what they asked for", but probably we cannot claim that we would make better choices. ]

 

[Endy0816]

It's kind of grim, but the 'fix' is what we're watching occur.

Invisible hand of the market is countering the attempted wage, currency and price controls.