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“In a socialist economy, you get a one-size-fits-all adjustment,” adds Powell. “You miss out on this learning process where entrepreneurs copy others when they see things successful and stop doing it when it’s not.” By contrast, “In a market economy, everybody’s little adjustments get tested, and we get to see what works.”
In America, Blockbuster video was a great success. But then Netflix offered something better — no driving to a store, no late fees. Because Blockbuster didn’t immediately adjust, it went bankrupt.
“In a socialist economy, every adjustment needs to be commanded,” says Powell. “Communicate it down and get everybody to do the right thing. That’s impossible.”
That’s why under socialism, shortages are routine. In Venezuela, there’s so little food for sale that Venezuelans have lost weight.
Yet, “journalists” at Vox produced a video titled, “The Collapse of Venezuela, Explained,” without mentioning socialism even once. Vox’s explanation for Venezuela’s fall: “Oil prices plummeted.”
“The oil price is a complete distraction,” says an exasperated Powell. “There’s plenty of countries that depend on oil revenue. When oil prices went down, people there didn’t start losing weight. That just happened in Venezuela.”
Some claim Venezuela and Cuba’s people struggle mainly because of America’s economic sanctions and embargo.
“They certainly don’t help the people,” says Powell, “but it’s an afterthought as a reason for their suffering.”
The U.S. only sanctioned a few Venezuelan officials and their operations — not the country as a whole.
In Cuba, Powell points out: “They drive around in 1950s U.S. cars … but there’s no U.S. Navy destroyers preventing Kia, Fiat and whoever else around the world from sending them cars. The reason for their suffering is they have an economic system that can’t deliver.”
Socialism delivers misery.
John Stossel is author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”
