Defense of Socialism
A recent letter to the editor echoed an embedded Canadian belief that socialism does not work. The writer is wrong but to make his case he cited Venezuela stating how quickly it was brought to its knees seemingly because of socialism. Venezuela is a poor example as the economy of most any country capitalist or socialist, Canada included, would quickly crumble under the stranglehold of an all-out U.S. economic war with brutal trade and financial sanctions, cyber-attacks and a looting of the Venezuelan treasury.
There are many socialist success stories that could be cited. Starting in South America with the revolutionary changes brought about in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Honduras. The latter up until the U.S. supported overthrow of the democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. In each case there was a significant reduction in poverty and strong economies. Likewise, in Argentina under the Kirchners and Brazil under Lula. A common thread is the renunciation of neo-liberalism.
One might also look at the success stories of Nordic countries, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, which were largely brought about by Socialist or Social Democratic governance. No one can ignore the success of China, which describes itself as “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”, and the removal of over 700 million people from poverty. Many think of China as capitalistic but it’s economic success was built on socialist economics with a planned economy (five-year plans) and government oversight and direction and with a foundation of state corporations in a mixed economy.
The real question today is not whether socialism is succeeding but rather is Capitalism failing?
