“Fellow kings, I tell you that that Lord Say hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it an eunuch”

(KHVI p2.4.2)

Comment. Among the large volume of nonsense uttered in the US corporate media regarding the death of Hugo Chavez, one of the most extraordinary prizes for stupidity (and that is being kind) must be assigned to the Associated Press. And since the statement is incredible, I have to assure the reader that I am not making it up. The article was penned by a Jim Naurekas, with contribution from a Pamela Simpson. The incredulous can easily verify the source. Here is the statement,
quote
Chavez invested Venezuela’s oil wealth into social programs including state-run food markets, cash benefits for poor families, free health clinics and education programs. But those gains were meager compared with the spectacular construction projects that oil riches spurred in glittering Middle Eastern cities, including the world’s tallest building in Dubai and plans for branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi.
unquote

Which, translated, means that Chavez wasted his nation’s oil money on healthcare, education and nutrition. Ha he been ‘smarter’ he would have built the world tallest building and replicated the Louvre. Clearly a total reversal of ‘Chicago Boys’ economics.

The bewildered reader should not be surprised. Incredible as it may seem, in Venezuela the opposition has a much greater freedom of expression than in the US – where the media, under the iron-clad control of monopoly, does not ever utter one word even against the most repressive, totalitarian and anti-democratic policies – see the previous blog.

I invite the reader to watch the documentary, “War on Democracy”, by John Pilger – link posted at end of blog.

What is relevant – I think – is the statement, shown in the documentary, by the Venezuelan multimillionaire interviewed in Caracas. The individual lives in a splendid mansion and boasts of commuting to Miami for the week-end. That is, the Venezuelan government, under Chavez, has left the multimillionaire’s wealth untouched nor has deprived him of the freedom of spending it as he wishes. But, he says, he does not like Venezuela any more. He does not give a specific reason, but there is one. The reason is not openly declared but it transpires from the attitude and the mode of operation of the worldwide 1% – including the Venezuelan magnate in question – and the pronouncement by the Associated Press, perfectly represents it.

Many of these people are perambulating drones – and rarely an analogy better fits the profile. The beekeeping drone has a reputation for being fat and lazy. This likely comes across due to his manner within the hive. The drone will not help out in brood rearing, comb building, honey curing or storage. Rather, the drone does little more than eat. In fact when possible, the drone will beg nurse bees to feed them. When unsuccessful a drone will eventually help himself to stored nourishment. The drone is likely only tolerated within the colony as he is needed to spread the hive’s genetics.

Back to the attitude of the Venezuelan drones and enemies of Chavez. What they dislike is their  loss (or fear of loss) of revered status – reverence for the reason that their life is a testimony of wastefulness and contempt for those who are not as rich as themselves.

The Dubai skyscrapers are immense monuments of waste – sucking and wasting precious hydrocarbon energy to cool immense buildings where the outside temperature habitually hovers between 110 and 130 degrees F or more.

The ‘freedom’ to build these monsters is simply the freedom to wastefully destroy the limited resources of our planet, when they most should be conserved. It is an expression of the macho complex on a gigantic scale – to use the expression of the unforgettable George Carlin.

In case you’re curious about what kind of results the Chavez agenda obtained, here’s a chart, distributed by the World Bank poverty Statistics Office – showing the proportion of Venezuelans living on less than $2 a day falling from 35 percent to 13 percent over three years. (For comparison purposes, there’s a similar stat for Brazil, which made substantial but less dramatic progress against poverty over the same time period.)

But, according to the Associated Press, it would have been much better to build Dubai-style skyscrapers and replicate the Louvre for the benefit of the less than the 1%.

Documentary “War on Democracy” by John Pilger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdUwkxhsjKk&feature=youtu.be

Tips for Use. Expose the wasteful actions of your political or managerial adversary, E.G. “Caruthers hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it an eunuch.”

In the play. The rebel John Cade harangues his fellow rebels. Lord Say was a royal minister.