Venezuela 2014

Out of context: Reply #1

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  • GeorgesIV-3

    here's a good example of internet banter
    http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/com…

    top comment:

    hat are the people of Venezuela upset about?

    [–]et_porqouis_no 852 points 7 hours ago* (1021|167)

    Shortage of basic goods- there's no flour, oil, sugar, toilet paper, and a whole bunch of other shit.

    Extreme devaluation of the bolivar (Venezuelan currency)- on the black market (which is the only market that really matters), one dollar is 86 bolivares. Minimum wage for a full time job is 3200 a month, so like $50. Two years ago it was 9 bolivares to a dollar. Every day, things cost more. About 51% of the country earns minimum wage or less. I teach English and earn 23 bsf. an hour. Fuck that shit.

    Insecurity- can't go out without getting mugged, been getting worse and worse. I live in Mérida, which is probably the safest city in Venezuela and it's depressing to see how much my habits have had to change. Used to be I could go out and walk home from the bar, now I have to pay a cab.

    Those are the standard issues, Venezuela is very complex. Chavez raised the minimum living to a point where you won't starve or die of medical issues (healthcare is free and decent), but there's very little in the way of opportunities or advancement. Ask university students what their goal is and you'll hear the same thing over and over again, 'get my degree and get the hell out'. It's even more upsetting that there is a super-rich class, made up of families who've been rich forever or of people who got in with the government (which is SUPER corrupt) and are now millionaires (in dollars). Basically, the poverty line has been moved up, but at the detriment of any upward mobility, there is no middle class. Also, many of the programs that keep the poor happy are of the 'give a man a fish', not 'teach him how to fish' variety and are supported by crazy price ceilings and public funds that bleed money due to corruption.

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