Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Socialism by Gucci by Alexandra Beech

Socialism by Gucci
by Alex Beech

http://www.tu.tv/videos/carreno-tartamudea-con-la-pregunta

This video (in Spanish) exposes the astounding hypocrisy of the Chavez regime. Fast forward to minute 4:25, where Venezuela's Interior Minister Pedro Carreno says:"The only path is to peace, is justice. It says so in the Bible, and Commander President Chavez says it. The only path to justice issocialism. It's not capitalism, it's not the cannibalism that wants tobe implemented -

"A reporter interrupts: "Isn't it contradictory for you to talk about capitalism when you're wearing a Louis Vuitton tie and Gucci shoes? "Minister Carreno then stammers. When he recovers his composure, he answers: "I don't know...of course... it's not contradictory...I wish Venezuela produced all that and so I could buy everything that is produced here and not have to import the 95% of the things we import..."Venezuela may not produce most widgets, but it does produce ties and shoes. In fact, many of its Italian descendants make shoes that would rival any Gucci mass-produced item. But as the video demonstrates, the Chavez regime is comprised of individuals who yearn for the finest,while asking Venezuelans to accept the mediocre.

For kicks, I googled Louis Vuitton and Gucci in search of prices. A Louis Vuitton tie, on its website, retails for $180. Men's shoes retails for around $550. According to Venezuela's National Statistics Institute, Venezuela's poverty index stood at 53 percent at the end of 2005, and its extreme poverty -- classified as households unable to cover the cost of the basic food basket -- at 25 percent. Crushed by inflation and food shortages, a poor household could really use the$550 which Carreno spent on his shoes. I wonder, as always, where the money trail trails off...if they'rebuying designer ties, Chavistas are also buying designer homes, designer cars, designer boats - who buys for them and where? And if we were to calculate their sources of income - could they legally afford it all? How? Pedro Carreno, when he was a lawmaker, warned Venezuelans that DirectTV was spying on them through "the little boxes on their TV sets."Suppressing a giggle, the Direct TV representative in Venezuela said that the lawmaker's accusation sounded like a Dick Tracy episode. Only Dick Tracy could solve the mystery of how Chavistas get away with sporting Gucci while preaching Guevara.

Alex Beech
Hat tip: William Klemme
www.alexbeech.blogspot.com