First lady Melania Trump’s request to borrow a Vincent van Gogh painting from the Guggenheim Museum was refused, but a curator did offer another work of art: a functional 18-karat gold toilet. The curator at the Guggenheim responded to Trump’s request by offering to loan the White House a working toilet made of gold called […]
21st Century Socialism Brings No Toilet Paper, TV, Or Long Distance Phone Service To Venezuela
April 27, 2016 by
In 2005, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved quickly to remodel his nation by weaving “21st Century Socialism” into its socioeconomic fabric. Chavez was known for being an unabashed leftist, who chided the Bush administration pervasively–remember when he said the podium at the United Nations smelled of sulfur? Then-President George W. Bush addressed the […]
Venezuela’s socialist utopia ends up in the toilet
April 24, 2016 by
Venezuela has fallen into an economic pit. Dirty air and water have caused widespread sickness. A drought has led to pervasive water and electricity shortages. The country’s economy has contracted and inflation runs in the triple digits. Food, medicine and common items like toilet paper are increasingly scarce. Violent crime ravages the streets. To be […]
Venezuela Reaches the Final Stage of Socialism: No Toilet Paper
April 5, 2015 by
In 1990 I went to a Cato Institute conference in what was then still the Soviet Union. We were told to bring our own toilet paper, which was in fact useful advice. Now, after only 16 years of Chavista rule, Venezuela has demonstrated that “Socialism of the 21st Century” is pretty much like socialism in […]