You Have Been Volunteered To Have Less

Bad economic management leads, predictably, to bad economic results. Which leads political leaders who have been in power too long to blame their predecessors a few commonly used choices:
1. Admit there’s a problem and change course.
2. Blame external enemies.
3. Lie.
4. Beg/borrow/print money to give government handouts.
5. Steal stuff that belongs to rich people and/or foreigners.
Well, actually #1 isn’t all that common. Hugo Chavez, in the course of gradually grinding down Venezuela’s economy, has sampled liberally from the rest of that menu. Now, however, he’s taking a more audacious step to avoid fixing the economy: “demanding” that Venezuelans make do with less, and in the process discouraging consumer demand:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told his supporters to give away possessions they do not need such as an extra refrigerator because he only wants true socialists to be members of a new single party he is forming.
“Whoever has a fridge they do not need, put it out in the village square. Whoever has a truck, a fan or a cooker they do not need, give something away. Let’s not be selfish. I demand you do it,” Chavez said at a milk producing cooperative, in remarks released on Monday.
Chavez, who calls capitalism an evil, said he would donate $250,000 of his own money and added, “Let’s see who follows the example.”

At least he didn’t wear a cardigan.