Hugo Chavez's Daughter's Fistful of American Dollars

Cross-posted from the Left Coast Rebel

Drudge has a link up at the Daily Mail, "Daddy won't be pleased... Hugo Chávez's daughter sparks outrage in Venezuela after posting picture with U.S. dollar bills."

The report claims that native Venezuelans under the totalitarian thumb of Hugo Chavez are "seething" that his 14-year-old daughter Rosines had access to American dollars and was flaunting her stash on the 'net:

If anything I find it fascinating that the teenage daughter of a brutal communist despot is fascinated with what is still perceived as the symbol of freedom and capitalism across the world -- the American dollar (I see there's some 2-dollar bills in there, kind of strange).

Scrolling through the comments, I caught this from a Daily Mail reader:

In 2009, I visited former Soviet/Eastern Bloc countries. I did not realise it was possible to visit old KGB headquarters (now terror museums) and if I learnt nothing new (e.g. torture chambers, execution rooms), the experiences were upsetting and, of course, testimony to what happened under communism; as were the views of locals who told of how they queued for everything whilst the communist elite lived well. So, it was pleasant to relax and visit the churches of Tallin (Estonia) where I fell into conversation with an exiled Venezuelan. After I'd expressed concerns re: Chavez (he'd just tried to change the constitution to allow him indefinite re-election), she replied, and I quote from my diary, 'We, the young people, voted him in. Yes, change was vital, but, what have we done? He thinks he is Fidel and we live in a police state that tolerates no opposition'. A privileged elite + fear? As someone once said, 'Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it'.

Fascinating words of wisdom. Why is it that young people fall for statist pipe-dreams that turn entire nations into prison camps? For some reason, young people gravitate to the utopian ideals that socialism, communism, progressivism and statism of all stripes represent (or are sold to the masses as representing). Think about it: much of the pain we are feeling in this nation has taken hold due in a large part to the fact that young people fell for socialism-lite in America -- Hope and Change.

The problem with collectivism is that the downside -- the cause and effect of loss of individual freedom -- is never considered as the certain part of the equation that it is.