Where Money is All But Worthless
The good times just keep rolling on in socialist Venezuela, where ecstatic citizens enjoy access to the world’s cheapest petrol.
The good times just keep rolling on in socialist Venezuela, where ecstatic citizens enjoy access to the world’s cheapest petrol.
Sadly for them, that’s where the good times end:
The economy is in such shambles that drivers are now paying for fill-ups with a little food, a candy bar or just a cigarette.
Bartering at the pump has taken off as hyperinflation makes Venezuela’s paper currency, the bolivar, hard to find and renders some denominations all but worthless, so that nobody will accept them.
Thanks Hugo Chavez for showing that the poor matter and wealth can be shared. He made massive contributions to Venezuela & a very wide world
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) March 5, 2013
Without cash in their wallets, drivers often hand gas station attendants a bag of rice, cooking oil or whatever is within reach …
The South American nation of roughly 30 million people is gripped by a deepening political and economic crisis. People live with a nagging feeling that anything from violent street protests to a massive power failure could throw their lives into chaos at any moment.
More than 4 million Venezuelans have fled the country in recent years, escaping low wages, broken hospitals, failing basic services and lack of security.
Ingrates. Don’t they know they’re living in a leftist paradise?
Service station attendant Orlando Godoy stacked the food and drinks he received from drivers on top of the pumps — a bag of cooking flour, cooking oil, a bottle of mango juice. He earns minimum wage, which amounts to a few dollars a month, so the food helps feed his family.
“A lot of people show up saying they don’t have cash to pay,” he said. “The idea is to help people because Venezuelans are going through a rough situation.”
It’s called socialism, and it never works.
By the way, where are all the protests against Venezuela’s subsidies for planet-killing fossil fuels? Those people ought to be lining up to hand over cigarettes and cooking oil for Tesla recharges.