All trusters of centrally-planned economies dream the same dream: a utopia of enterprises–owned by the collective–which operate according to principles of sharing instead of profits. Socialist takeovers of oil, mining and industrial firms have occurred many times. And each time the results are the same: poverty, corruption and violence.
Socialists worldwide cheered the revolution of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. As Chavez reached out to control the country’s oil interests, the same, tired, worn-out dogma was spread: talk of a new era unbound by the greed and profit-seeking of private industry.
Today, Reuters reports that Venezuela’s red oil firm, PDVSA, is being hard-hit by the lower global prices for oil. Hundreds of PDVSA employees are being released, while numerous others have been arrested for corruption. The Reuters story is here.
