scot47

https://rtd.rt.com/films/occupy-towe..._campaign=mail


I am not sure what to make of this and recent developments in Venezuela. Is this Socialism ?

Gordon Barlow

Good question, Scot. The more-or-less spontaneity of the people who got together and lived in that building seems to me rather like a sort of anarchy at its best, if they didn't have any constitution or formal rules. It happens sometimes. My son involved himself with the homeless in Oslo a few years ago; I went to one of their rallies resisting (without violence) being ousted from an empty (but privately owned) apartment-building they were squatting in. There, the squatters were mostly drug addicts and the mentally retarded, which wasn't the case in Caracas - at least as far as the camera showed. But the principle was somewhat similar.

The eventual expulsions (in both Caracas and Oslo) were carried out by a higher form of government flexing its muscles - but I'm reluctant to categorise it as either socialism or capitalism. Or fascism. Just the exercise of a better organised force. What do you reckon?

HLJ

People moved in out of desperation. They were living in a building that would be considered uninhabitable by pretty much any standards. They were homeless and squatting, and the government (back when it was still functioning) tried to provide them with proper housing. I suppose you could argue that offering any kind of state-funded support to societies' most vulnerable is a socialist policy, but even in the USA, there are some state-funded programs to house the homeless.

As for what's happening now, it's money, corruption and abuse of power. It makes little difference which end of the political spectrum a dictatorship claims to be.

Gordon Barlow

I don't know if any BE readers are following the attempted coup in Venezuela, and I wonder if any members are living there. In case there are some, here is a link containing some information about the US-recognised and self-appointed President. Is it fair comment, or not?
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/01/29/t...s-coup-leader/

andydoc1

Pretty accurate I'd say. The USA still think they can pick and choose the leaders of other countries and would rather they were trained by them.
They might do better if they concentrated on educating their own...

scot47

They have not learned from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither have the US poodles who run Westminster and Whitehall.

andydoc1

Spot on!