State failure is a term that no modern state would want to be associated with. But unfortunately, there are many states in history, and in the present times, that are considered failed states. To be a failed state, they are not able to fulfil the basic tasks of the modern state, and are so weak that their political structures collapse, leading to anarchy and violence. A state must be able to defend their territory, make and enforce rules, give rights to citizens, collect taxes, manage the economy, and provide and maintain infrastructure. The point where many states fall is in the difference between a weak state, and a failed one, as weak states have not resulted in anarchy yet. But the citizens of these states are the ones that are affected the most, as they are no longer able to safely live their lives and sometimes, cannot sustain proper means of survival. In this case, Venezuela fits the criteria of a weak state, but they are on the brink of becoming a failed one.
Venezuela was on the rise until
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According to the article, from September 2014 to September 2015, the economy had fallen 7.1% and inflation rose 141.5%. This is not the worst of it either, as it is predicted that inflation will rise to 720% this year and the economy will contract by 10%. The ability for a state to maintain their economy is perhaps the most crucial task, because without money, the state has no ability to protect people, resources, and territory. They are currently in a 20% deficit to their GDP, and their liquid international reserves have fallen to 1.5 billion dollars. The importance of money to a state cannot be overlooked, as it controls all aspects of daily life for the people. In the last year, real-wages fell 35%, and upwards of 76% of Venezuelans are now poor, according to the article, which also says that only 55% were considered poor in
Historically, Venezuela has been a considerably rich country. For instance, in the work of Cannon (2008), it is noted that Venezuela was among the richest countries in the world. All citizens experienced this richness because the population in late 18th Century and early 19th Century was considerably small. The country made an effort to buy slaves from Africa leading to over 100,000 slaves entering Venezuela. The population increased but these slaves were humiliated and stigmatized. As the population increased, the number of Venezuelans living in abject poverty increased rapidly. A large majority of income from oil and natural gas among other vast resources that Venezuela holds remained in the hands of a select few. By the end of the colonial rule, Venezuela had over 60 % of the population being Africans and an additional 25 % being from America (Cannon 2008, 735). Out of the 25 % Americans, an estimated 90 % were suspected to be of African descent. The per capita income has been historically high prior to 1992. However, Venezuela experienced a sharp decline in per capita income following the failed coup attempt by Hugo Chávez due to dwindling income to the populace. Cannon records that per capita income fell by almost half, from US $ 5192 to US $ 2858. On the other hand, human development index was noted to have fallen to 0.7046 from 0.8210 between 1990 and 1997. These challenges in economy led to Chávez’s election in 1998.
Just like a corporation issues shares of stock to function as a productive entity, a country has to issue currency in order to fund its operations. This currency is the lifeblood of a nation, creating wealth for its citizens by fostering economic development and providing public infrastructure and services. In a true democracy, the government is owned by the citizens and operated by representatives of the population as a whole, who control and more importantly regulate the issuance of this currency. This is a critical point to remember.
This essay gives examples and reasons for why socialism will not work in Venezuela. It also shows how socialism has failed so far.
Since the 1970s, Venezuela has gone from being South America’s richest nation into a nouveau-poor society in search of an identity. Once known as the Saudis of the West, Venezuelans have seen their economic fortunes decline in exact proportion to the general fall in world oil prices. Even so, Venezuela’s many problems were hidden from view until relatively recently, when severity measures heralded the sort of economic crises so painfully familiar to other Latin American countries. Runaway inflation, currency devaluations and even food riots have marked this new phase in Venezuelan history, to which the country is still trying to adjust.
...ns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD., and also a Senior Fellow and Director of the Troubled Currencies Project at the Cato Institute in Washington,D.C. offers on this article a synopsis about Venezuela’s economic. Steve Claims Venezuela’s downward economic spiral began in earnest when Hugo Chavez imposed his “unique” brand of socialism on Venezuela. For years, the country has sustained a massive social spending program, combined with costly price and labor-market controls, as well as an aggressive foreign aid strategy. This fiscal house of cards has been kept afloat barely by oil revenues. As the price tag of the regime has grown, the country has dipped more and more into the coffers of its state-owned oil company, PDVSA, and (increasingly) relied on the country’s central bank to fill the fiscal gap. This has resulted in a steady decline in the bolivar’s value.
Glusing, Jens. "Venezuela President Maduro Faces Economic Distress and Protests." SPIEGEL ONLINE. Der Spiegel, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
Throughout the story, Dian was able to connect the country Venezuela to her book in great detail. She explains the toll on the rise in oil prices, which lead to the force of deportation out of the country. In the year of 2013, there was a total of 30 million people who ranged from whites, European, middle eastern, and Africans living in Venezuela. The official language that is spoken there is Spanish, however, many others speak English, French, Italian and Chinese. The country was faced with extremely high oil prices in the years of 1999-2003 which lead to the loss of people's homes, and jobs due to the inability to function within society. The population consists of mostly Mestizo, while some are white European, and middle eastern. (Index Mundi,
Venezuela has been met by a series of anti-government protests since February this year. These protests are being influenced due to various factors and intentions. The protestors are being accused by the government as inciting violence, and are being highly oppressed by military forces. This is causing high social unrest and leading to excessive violence throughout the protests. Economic factors, have significantly influenced and pressured the Venezuelan people towards these protests. The presidencies of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, the socialist regime, the soaring high levels of inflation and stagflation and the crime and murder rates in this nation are all factors leading to the Venezuelan conflict.
Venezuela was one of the richest countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Ecuador). For most of the first half of the 20th century, Venezuela was ruled by generally benevolent military strongmen, who promoted the oil industry and allowed for some social reforms. Democratically elected governments have held sway since 1959. Current concerns include: a polarized political environment, a politicized military, drug-related violence along the Colombian border, increasing internal drug consumption, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations, and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples.
Hugo Chavez was a powerful and positive force in addressing social issues, however, his singular focus on social issues at the expense of other matters of the country left the Venezuelan economy in tatters. In 1998, 50.4% of the Venezuelan population was living below the poverty line, where as in 2006 the numbers dropped to 36.3% (Chavez leaves). Although he aggressively confronted the issue of poverty in Venezuela, many other problems were worsened. Some Chavez critics say he used the state oil company like a piggy bank for projects: funding homes, and healthcare while neglecting oil infrastructure and production. Without growth in the oil ind...
When people such as writers, philosopher, and scientists of the past would imagine and predict what the world would be like in the twenty-first century, most thought of a glorious advanced human civilization. A civilization with a stable and unified global government and global economy that is beneficial to all. It seems that now, in year 2011, we are far from a stable international community. With a vast majority of people living without food, clean water, and basic political rights, the future envisioned 100 or 200 years ago is still far away. There are numerous nations with either weak or failed states. Since the people living in these states are usually suffering enormous hardships, something needs to be done. This leads to a few central questions like, how can a weak state be made stronger? What strategy is most likely to be effective? What would it take to turn a weak or failed state into one with sufficient strength to carry out the main functions of a state? All of these questions will be answered in order as this paper is read. Before diving into these questions, it is important to examine the key features/characteristics of a weak state.
revolution, but in times when the state itself becomes weak or poses a threat to
Economic on personal life play a very important role , without money we cannot service in the world ,to earn money we need to have good education. Money is play an major role in every individual.
The. The “Failed States,” Democracy, War and Peace. Convocation Hall, Toronto, Canada. March 5, 2012. Krasner, Stephen.
To conclude, Why Nations Fail is a simple novel that explains the authors view on why our world is the way it is today. Some countries are abnormally rich and powerful while others are left in the dust. Although some of their points are vague and don’t necessarily come across as simple reasons, they do a great job at trying to sum down this huge question into a well written novel.