Venezuela is on the brink of complete economic collapse, inflation at 720% - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Sableye;49709073]its not so much socialism thats the problem, its Venezuela's economy, its not diversified at all, the only exports they have are raw materials, oil, and debt, there isn't any service economy to support anything other than oil, and ontop of that, the oil wells in venezuela are some of the most expensive to run in the world because they are poorly managed, outdated, and the way the government interacted with international oil firms basically has stopped any foreign investment in their system for fear of loosing their investment. socialism wasn't necessarily the problems the economy faces are the same states like Australia faces now that its a buyers market for energy and raw materials[/QUOTE] Socialism wouldn't have helped, that's my whole point. It's the 21st century, economies are not just "what you produce". Venezuela had many options as to where to develop before Chavez showed up, and we have been trying to diversify the economy for the longest time, in fact, Guayana, or the region comprising the states of Delta Amacuro, Bolivar and Amazonas, have a fair amount of mineral resources, bauxite, iron, even gold. They currently represent a minor fraction of the GDP, and likely, unless severely exploited will always be that way, the environmental damage is too unattractive politically. But really what would have made the Venezuelan economy truly strong would have been to welcome foreign investment, because Venezuela is far more than it's natural resources. Its varied landscapes and beautiful beaches would have been extremely easy to turn into international touristic destinations as they can have an infrastructure no island nation could have matched, Venezuela could have been one of the major touristic destinations in South America. Hell, even its geographical position is extremely good for business. The climate is great all year long, the ports and cities would have supported existing as the gateway of all commercial traffic between the North and South parts of the continent. Hell, even in terms of the internet and technology, we now have one of the slowest internet speeds in the world, but had we developed an infrastructure we would have been the largest hub between traffic coming through from either side of the continent. Venezuela could have been the pride of Latin America, like it once was, had we embraced foreign investment in the 90's and 2000's. I can guarantee it, in 17 years the country would have been like a first world country, had Chavez never existed.

[QUOTE=Silly Sil;49706707]I like how [b]when countries like Venezuela and Greece are in deep shit[/b] and people say "this is what happens with socialist countries" people go, "it's not REAL socialism", and when asked to give an example of working socialism they say Sweden.[/QUOTE] If someone uses Greece as an example of a socialist country then there's no reason to argue with them on a more semantic level anyway. At that point you might as well describe anything you dislike as socialist.

Especially considering that Greece was already fucked by previous finantial rescues and other bullshit of older governments at the time Syriza took power. Remember they were literally the first country to fall during this never-ending economical crysis when it started.

[QUOTE=Sableye;49709073]its not so much socialism thats the problem, its Venezuela's economy, its not diversified at all, the only exports they have are raw materials, oil, and debt, there isn't any service economy to support anything other than oil, and ontop of that, the oil wells in venezuela are some of the most expensive to run in the world because they are poorly managed, outdated, and the way the government interacted with international oil firms basically has stopped any foreign investment in their system for fear of loosing their investment. socialism wasn't necessarily the problems the economy faces are the same states like Australia faces now that its a buyers market for energy and raw materials[/QUOTE] No other resource-heavy state has failed as terribly as Venezuela, even with the recent crash in commodity prices.