1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,360 Once there was a South American country with a promising future. 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:12,120 It had a functioning democracy, a rapidly developing economy, and a growing middle class. 3 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:17,360 All the important indicators, including education, health care, and foreign investment, 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,360 were pointed in the right direction. 5 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:24,060 It was far from perfect, but the mood was hopeful – and with good reason. 6 00:00:24,060 --> 00:00:26,620 But now all that promise is gone. 7 00:00:26,620 --> 00:00:31,700 The country is a failed state, a hollowed-out shell of its former self. 8 00:00:31,700 --> 00:00:34,680 Services like power and water are sporadic. 9 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:40,900 The most basic consumer goods, from bread to toilet paper, are in chronically short supply. 10 00:00:40,900 --> 00:00:43,059 Crime has skyrocketed. 11 00:00:43,059 --> 00:00:45,549 Freedom of the press is almost non-existent. 12 00:00:45,549 --> 00:00:49,300 Democracy has been replaced by a virtual dictatorship. 13 00:00:49,300 --> 00:00:57,020 The country is, I’m sorry to say, my beloved Venezuela, a place in which my family has deep roots. 14 00:00:57,020 --> 00:01:02,360 I can tell you what happened to it in one word: socialism. 15 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:08,900 In 1999, then-candidate for president Hugo Chavez promised to lead the people of Venezuela 16 00:01:08,900 --> 00:01:10,900 to a socialist paradise. 17 00:01:10,900 --> 00:01:14,940 His theme was “Esperanza y Cambio” – “Hope and Change.” 18 00:01:14,940 --> 00:01:19,460 “Venezuela is a nation of great wealth,” Chavez said, “but it’s being stolen from 19 00:01:19,470 --> 00:01:23,610 its citizens by the evil capitalists and the evil corporations.” 20 00:01:23,610 --> 00:01:28,000 This wrong would be righted, he assured the voters, if they elected him. 21 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:29,220 And they did. 22 00:01:29,220 --> 00:01:31,520 To their everlasting regret. 23 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,160 Chavez drew inspiration from his mentor, Fidel Castro. 24 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:40,200 Like his mentor, he enjoyed giving speeches – some that lasted as many as seven hours! 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:46,560 He even gave himself his own weekly television show where he would spontaneously break into song. 26 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:52,060 Here’s a rule: When your nation’s leader starts singing on national television, 27 00:01:52,060 --> 00:01:53,900 you’re in trouble. 28 00:01:53,900 --> 00:01:58,820 Under Chavez, the government of Venezuela took over industry after industry. 29 00:01:58,820 --> 00:02:04,200 The government, he assured everyone, would run these businesses better than private enterprise, 30 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,000 and the profits would be “shared” by the people. 31 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:13,140 With great fanfare, he tore up contracts with multinational oil and gas companies and demanded 32 00:02:13,140 --> 00:02:15,480 that they pay much higher royalties. 33 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,280 When they refused, he told them to leave. 34 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:19,460 They did. 35 00:02:19,460 --> 00:02:24,980 His image was burnished by Hollywood celebrities who flocked to see the great work he was doing 36 00:02:24,980 --> 00:02:28,800 – taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor. 37 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,580 Progressive politicians from the US and Europe also praised him lavishly. 38 00:02:33,580 --> 00:02:39,260 Here’s another rule: When Hollywood celebrities visit your country to praise your leader, 39 00:02:39,260 --> 00:02:40,640 you’re in trouble. 40 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:45,520 When the leader sings on national television and is praised by Hollywood celebrities, 41 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:46,860 you’re doomed. 42 00:02:46,860 --> 00:02:52,760 Socialism always works in the beginning, so people are fooled...in the beginning. 43 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,920 It’s easy for governments to confiscate money, but eventually 44 00:02:56,920 --> 00:02:59,480 there’s no more money to confiscate. 45 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:06,140 In the case of Venezuela, I mean that literally: People who could get money out of the country, did. 46 00:03:06,140 --> 00:03:12,140 Many left the country altogether – nearly 2 million, according to Venezuelan sociologist 47 00:03:12,140 --> 00:03:13,940 Tomás Páez. 48 00:03:13,940 --> 00:03:19,020 The wealth creators continued to create wealth, but they created it somewhere else 49 00:03:19,020 --> 00:03:22,940 – Miami or Madrid and other places around the world. 50 00:03:22,940 --> 00:03:28,260 When Chavez first ran for President in 1999, he said he would leave in two years 51 00:03:28,260 --> 00:03:30,080 if people weren’t happy with him. 52 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:34,830 But, like Castro, Chavez never had any intention of giving up power. 53 00:03:34,830 --> 00:03:40,459 He died in office in 2013, replaced by his vice president, Nicolas Maduro. 54 00:03:40,460 --> 00:03:44,540 Maduro is Chavez without the charisma or the voice. 55 00:03:44,540 --> 00:03:49,580 The country is now a pariah, shunned by the world and isolated. 56 00:03:49,580 --> 00:03:54,100 It’s so bad that many international airlines refuse to fly there. 57 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:57,600 People stand in lines for hours just to get food. 58 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,360 Sometimes they walk away empty-handed. 59 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:06,480 A recent survey found that 75 percent of Venezuelan adults lost weight in 2016 60 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,940 – an average of 19 pounds. 61 00:04:08,940 --> 00:04:14,480 This national weight-loss program is known cynically as “the Maduro diet.” 62 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,380 Still, Maduro holds onto power. 63 00:04:17,380 --> 00:04:21,540 Opposition leaders and journalists who report the truth are jailed. 64 00:04:21,540 --> 00:04:24,540 Venezuela is a cautionary tale. 65 00:04:24,540 --> 00:04:29,300 Once a country goes down a socialist path, there’s no easy way back. 66 00:04:29,300 --> 00:04:34,040 And the longer a country stays socialist, the harder it is to reform it. 67 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,520 Venezuela has been socialist for two decades. 68 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:43,099 If you don’t think it can happen here, whether “here” is the United States or Europe 69 00:04:43,100 --> 00:04:46,400 or anywhere else, you’re fooling yourself. 70 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:51,460 When people get used to depending on the government – no matter how poor they remain 71 00:04:51,460 --> 00:04:54,100 – that dependency is hard to break. 72 00:04:54,100 --> 00:04:57,640 That’s why you should never buy the socialist lie. 73 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,620 Socialism is a drug. 74 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:02,880 And like a drug, it feels great – at first. 75 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,620 But eventually it will ruin your country. 76 00:05:05,620 --> 00:05:08,340 Just like it ruined Venezuela. 77 00:05:08,340 --> 00:05:12,640 I’m Debbie D’Souza for Prager University.