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they are REQUIRED to create jobs in Venezuela.
This is one of the new Leftist rules in Latin America that not only create a prosperous society, they create a DECENT society, with Venezuela, for instance, recently designated "THE most equal country in Latin America" on income distribution (by the UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean). And it is not rocket science. It is COMMON SENSE that is now ruling much of Latin America.
Some of these COMMON SENSE rules are:
1. Honest, transparent vote counting--the bottom line of democracy and of government "of, by and for the People." (Honest, transparent vote counting can overcome rancid corporate 'news' monopolies and dirty political money, even billions in USAID, CIA, Pentagon and other U.S. agency money to rightwing groups and causes--as is evident in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala--all with Leftist (majorityist) governments in spite of U.S. opposition.)
2. The government MUST advocate for the People, as to contracts with multinationals for a major resource such as oil, because NOBODY ELSE is going to insure that the People benefit.
3. Natural resources belong to the People and, if they are to be exploited, MUST benefit the People.
4. EVERYONE--including the rich and including, say, the executives and investors of Exxon Mobil or Chery Automobile--is responsible for solving poverty--for improving peoples' lives and prospects with education, medical care, pensions for the elderly, loans to small businesses and co-ops, land reform and other such measures, and for correction of historical wrongs (for instance, land theft from the peasants). Nobody gets away with big profits without paying their fair share.
5. The rich and the powerful MUST be strongly regulated--monitored, taxed and curtailed--to prevent society from becoming a predatory capitalist jungle, such as the U.S. and England/Europe are becoming and such as Latin American has been in the past (in general due to U.S. interference). Unregulated, some people will take egregious advantage of others to the point of destroying society altogether. There is only ONE WAY to prevent this--regulation enforced by law and by the will of the People.
6. Political leaders should encourage the best in a society, not the worst. They should advocate sharing, cooperation, "raising all boats," collective responsibility, public participation, rational discourse, openness, the equality and dignity of every human being, generosity, peacefulness and the common good. The rich will take care of their own "talking points"--greed is good, government is bad, war is peace, torture is okay, some people are above the law, billionaires will "trickle down" their wealth to the poor, private corporations are the best educators and vote counters, etc. They don't need and shouldn't have the leaders of a country advocating their point of view--and in a REAL democracy with REAL elections, you will not see it.
7. In hard times--such as the Bush Junta-instigated worldwide depression-- the ONLY way out is SOCIAL SPENDING. Put money in the hands of the poor and they will dig society out of its hole. This is being proven all over South America, which is fast recovering from the U.S. economic disaster for this very reason: SOCIAL SPENDING.
8. Democracy and capitalism are not equivalent. In fact, if capitalists are permitted too much license, they will destroy democracy--as is evident in the U.S. What government "of, by and for" the People MUST do is insure a FAIR marketplace, one in which monopolies are not tolerated and in which too much wealth and power cannot accumulate in a few hands. Society needs BOTH the creative spirit of a fair marketplace AND social responsibility.
There are more new rules in Leftist Latin America. These are just some of the main ones. And they vary from country to country, and from culture to culture, with different focuses, objectives and implementation strategies. But these eight rules give the general tenor of this amazing leftist democracy revolution that has swept most of South America and parts of Central America. Imagine government "of, by and for the People"!
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I just want to stress Point No. 1. Honest, transparent vote counting. That is the key to good government and a decent society--as Latin American countries are proving. Democracy is the best governance idea that human beings have ever devised for establishment of the common good--and it WILL do that--establish and promote the common good--IF it is working properly. Honest, transparent vote counting is the BOTTOM LINE of democracy. Without it, there is no democracy. Latin Americans have achieved this, and we have lost it--during the 2002 to 2004 period--by the PRIVATIZATION of our vote counting with 'TRADE SECRET' code, now owned and controlled largely (80%) by one, private, far rightwing-connected corporation--ES&S, which bought out Diebold. Until we change this, nothing else can be changed--no reform is possible.
Honest, transparent vote counting will not automatically produce good government, but, without it, there is NO CHANCE for good government. Just look at this hands-tied-behind-his-back, "military-industrial complex"-controlled President and the Scumbag Congress they have inflicted him with. The American people did not vote for this. It's so obvious!
I believe they DID vote for Obama but a different Obama than we see now. And it is only a belief. There is not a single public official in this country who can prove that he or she was actually elected. The proof has been TAKEN AWAY--privatized. You no longer have any right to see it. It is a 'TRADE SECRET.'
And that IS the problem.
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