Though I don’t know who you are, sir, you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. I loved this letter you wrote to the editors of TheMorningCall.com:
According to a Dec. 4 editorial, Hugo Chavez is taking advantage of the ”disparity between Venezuela’s ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-nots’ that really threatens democracy there.” If Venezuela was at our southern borders rather than Mexico, Americans would be celebrating his efforts to educate, provide health care and create jobs for the ‘Have-nots.’ But that’s not happening in Mexico, so there is illegal immigration.
The recent referendum was criticized as Chavez’s attempt to be ”president for life.” But there is no guarantee that Chavez would be re-elected if presidential term limits were lifted. When will the U.S. Constitution be amended to limit the number of terms that senators and representatives may serve? Or is there some virtue in having elected officials continue in office?
After Franklin Roosevelt was elected for four terms to serve from 1933 to 1949 (he died in office in 1945), the U.S. constitution was amended. The 22nd Amendment limits the president to two terms in office.
Saying that Chavez intends to replace democracy with socialism is misleading. Socialism is part of our democratic system. Fire and police departments, educational facilities, roads, water and sewage works, recreational areas, parks and rivers are just some of our socialist institutions.
Good, solid points all. I would add that socialism is to economics what democracy is to politics–a process of more equitable distribution of powers. In fact, you can’t have real socialism without democracy in some form, because a process of more equitable distribution can’t work if it’s run from the top down. It needs grassroots participation, and it needs to give the people a say; it’s a no-brainer. What political system provides that better than democracy? (BTW, Canada’s socialist system also provides healthcare, old-age pensions, and unemployment benefits.)
Bless you, sir, and keep setting them straight.
Wow, what a great, powerful, encapsulation of the stakes that are at play in the current corporate political fray.
It three sentences, he punctured the corporate media’s favorite memes concerning Venezuela and the idea of democracy.
Nice work!