Categories: Venezuela

Congratulations To Venezuela, Proving Once Again That Socialist Medicine Doesn’t Work

We don’t have to go back that many years to find the progressives praising Venezuela as the path to follow – this is the bright new down of socialism. OK, it’s Bolivarian socialism, tinged with a but more anti-Yanqui rhetoric than normal, but still, it’s socialism and it’s great. Own Jones in the UK, David Sirota in the US, supey dupey system and we should all do the same.

At which point:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] The United Nations is being urged to declare a full-scale humanitarian emergency in Venezuela in the light of the “utter collapse” of its health system and widespread food shortages. A major report by Human Rights Watch and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health details the scale of the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Venezuela, once one of the richest countries in South America but now in the grip of a severe economic and social crisis. It says that health services have been in decline since 2012 – a year before current president Nicolas Maduro took office – but the crisis has accelerated since 2017. As the emergency has deepened – with supermarket shelves empty and hospitals unable to get hold of basic medical supplies – the president has refused offers of help from outside and protest within the country has grown. [/perfectpullquote]

Well, yes, socialism and medicine, perhaps not that good a mixture. The report is here:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The combination of severe medicine and food shortages within Venezuela, together with the spread of disease across the country’s borders, amounts to a complex humanitarian emergency that requires a full-scale response by the United Nations secretary-general, researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.[/perfectpullquote]

Yep, the kiddies are dying because of the efficiency of that progressive led management of the economy:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The 71-page report, “Venezuela’s Humanitarian Emergency: Large-Scale UN Response Needed to Address Health and Food Crises,” documents increased numbers of maternal and infant deaths; the unchecked spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and diphtheria; and sharp increases in the transmission of infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis in Venezuela.[/perfectpullquote]

After we’ve airdropped in whatever aid is needed to help our fellow humans let’s use this as a teaching moment. Socialism and health care don’t mix perhaps?

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Tim Worstall

View Comments

  • But it's the wrong sort of Socialism! We just have to try again, without outside interference from people trying to force it to fail.

  • And this on top of the continuing power blackouts they’ve had since the start of last month, which are, of course, due to the sabotage efforts of the Juan Guaido-US sabotage conspiracy (the wreckers!) and nothing to do the invisible investment that has occurred in the national grid since it was nationalised by the sainted Hugo Chavez 10 years ago (a move much feted by the usual suspects in UK and US politics and media).

Share
Published by
Tim Worstall

Recent Posts

The BBC and terrorism

The language we use matters - it provides clarity to our own thoughts and enables…

3 years ago

We Should Pay Medical Personnel For Each Procedure They Perform

It is now generally acknowledged that the structure of the NHS needs to be overhauled…

3 years ago

The Scrubbers Are Failing

In the film Apollo 13, a loss of oxygen causes the crew to start inadvertently…

4 years ago

Wondering whether an idea is actually correct or not

There's an idea out there which seems intuitive but then so many ideas do seem…

4 years ago

Is Cryptocurrency Our Revolution, Or Theirs?

When we think about the darkly opaque goals of modern central bankers as they relate…

5 years ago

Playing The Mischief With Us

As the papers recently filled with the distressing images of desperate souls looking to escape…

5 years ago