Chavistas

In a long and rambling comments section (when don't long comment sections ramble?) at Caracas Chronicles a number of commenters say that it is important to understand the grievances Chavez supporters have. The supporters want to participate in the economic life of the country. They should be understood and integrated into the political life of the country.

Here is my answer to that:

I don't see how you can come to an accommodation with the Chavistas.

You go to the doctor and say, "I'm not feeling well."

The doctor says, "Try arsenic."

You come back later and tell the doctor, "I feel worse." "More arsenic" , says the doctor.

Later the doctor gets a report of your death, "Obviously a case of not enough arsenic", says the doctor.

How do you respect such a doctor when you know that in the amounts suggested arsenic is a serious poison?

I added some more:

The transition from a marginal agricultural civilization to one based on high energy consumption is difficult.

The traditional wealthy have electricity and the poor are starving. There is much new wealth and yet, the poor are still starving.

I know of no place or time where this transition was painless.

You have to have the courage in the face of the hungry poor, to let economic forces build.

In Latin America every time the engine starts to run on its own power some one shorts out the electrical system, with the excuse that the battery is not recharging fast enough.

Wrenching inequality must be endured to get to self sustaining at a higher level.

The real heartless bastards are those who want to reduce concentrations of wealth. When you do that you greatly reduce the possibility of creating wealth generating infrastructure.

H/T Instapundit