Udder Stupidity
(T)Hugo Chavez is threatening to send in the army to seize farms at gunpoint unless farmers sell all their milk to the government. He calls farmers who sell their milk outside Venezuela or to cheese producers "traitors."
With the country recently facing milk shortages, Chavez said "it's treason" if farmers deny milk to Venezuelans while selling it across the border in Colombia or for gourmet cheeses.
"In that case the farm must be expropriated," Chavez said, adding that the government could also take over milk plants and properties of beef producers.
"I'm putting you on alert," Chavez said. "If there's a producer that refuses to sell the product … and sells it at a higher price abroad … ministers, find me the proof so it can be expropriated."
Addressing his Cabinet, he said: "If the army must be brought in, you bring in the army."
Chavez issued the warning on his weekly broadcast program "Hello President" after announcing a hike in milk prices, a measure intended to counter recent shortages.
Of course, there is one small problem with Chavez's logic. The price controls set by his government are the real culprit in the food shortages. This has actually been going on for a while with many staple foods in short supply. Chavez has been blaming hoarders and profiteers for all this. The fact is that people do not produce a product then sell it for less than it cost to make just because the government says it must. Another lesson in why socialism simply does not work.
World news | Gaius January 21, 2008
By John Ryan, January 21, 2008 @ 9:50 am
Obsess much about Venezuela ?
How about some thoughts on Hati ?
By feeblemind, January 21, 2008 @ 10:55 am
Hati? Isn’t that a moon of Saturn? Yeah, Gaius. How ’bout a post on Hati?
By Gaius, January 21, 2008 @ 10:58 am
Gee, in Norse mythology Hati is a wolf that that chases the moon across the night sky.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hati
By feeblemind, January 21, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
Meanwhile, over in Zimbabwe, they have just issued the $10 million bill in the effort to keep up with inflation. It won’t even buy a hamburger. The article is at the UK Daily Mail.