Freedom and Democracy: How Do They Stack Up Globally?

We’ve all heard that America is the home of democracy. The land of free and home of the brave. We hear it every time our National Anthem is sung. There’s few things which make us feel more secure and proud than watching Old Glory gently blowing in the breeze on a sunny day or watching a military parade rolls down the street. While there’s no questioning our military strength or the dedication of our men and women in uniform, have you ever wondered just how free we really are?

America was founded on the concept of individual freedom. We took on the world’s greatest superpower of the time over freedom and the notion of issues like taxation without proper representation, and yet here we are, some 250 years, and our Founding Fathers wouldn’t recognize the nation they fought to hard to create.

Most of our freedoms, even the most basic ones likes speech, expression, or right to bear arms are challenged on a daily basis And what about taxation without representation, the core reason we fought the British? How often do you get to vote on a tax or rate increase? Many of these are decided by some appointed committee, not by anyone you voted for. Some have built-in increases that don’t even require public debate.

 Partisan political primaries are taxpayer funded by state legislation. But what if you don’t belong to one of the two corporate owned and controlled political parties? Well, too bad.  Independents, who are the nation’s largest political bloc, and people who’ve joined a third party for whatever reason, are still required to pay for the Democratic and Republican primaries, and it gets worse.

While they are involuntarily taxed, they are legally prohibited from participating in their primaries (as an aside third party primaries are strictly self-funded. No taxpayer support)  Fair? No. Legal? Questionable. Democratic? Hardly. In keeping with the founding tradition of “no taxation without representation”? Hell no! So, I can almost hear you ask “well, if you don’t like it, why don’t you just vote them out?”. That’s a great question. Very logical, but the answer is, sadly, not quite so clear cut.

The reason is that both parties, in the spirit of bipartisanship (some might call it “collusion”) have made it nearly impossible for them to be voted out of office. Briefly, the 2010 Citizens United and the 2014 McCutcheon rulings, declared that corporations, which are actually artificial legal fictions, are now “people” with the same rights as ordinary flesh and blood humans, with one key exception, and that concerns “free speech”.

According to the (un)Supreme Court, declared that money is now the same as “free speech”.  And while we are free to voice our opinions via donations to political campaigns, we are capped in what we can give. Corporations, on the other hand, are not. Apparently they have more “free speech” than you or me, and that means more influence.  They can give essentially as much as they want (not that we have a spare $10 million laying around to give to some candidate). As a result, they finance not just campaigns and political parties but also fund so-called “leadership funds” (which are basically political “slush funds”), and through various legal loopholes run commercials and ads on behalf of a candidate or issue supported by that candidate. Independents and third parties typically don’t get a dime.

Through state legislation, unequal ballot access is the norm. That means there are one set of rules and requirements for Independents and third parties and another set for the two corporate owned parties. They don’t even have their own election representative to protect their interests! As a rule, they are lumped in with whichever party has the smallest voter numbers and forgotten.

Other issues, such a partisan gerrymandering all but guarantees control of a district by the majority party. It allows districts to be drawn to ensure they retain control of it. It’s a case of a party choosing the voters instead of voters choosing their representatives. This is why gerrymandered districts have reelection rates in the high 90% range.

Also, despite approval ratings in the upper 20% or low 30% range (and occasionally as low as 9%), Congress has a reelection rate of 97%. Do you think that’s by coincidence?  Corporate lobbyists help write (or write altogether) legislation as well as review bills, provide summaries, and so forth. Do you think any of this is for our benefit? Don’t bet on it.  So, I will again ask you, do you think we are free? How do compare with the rest of the world?

According to the 2024 “Freedom Index”, published by the CATO Institute, the freest country in the world in terms of personal and economic freedom, is Switzerland, followed by New Zealand and Denmark. The next three are Luxembourg, Ireland, and Finland. Seventh place is a three way tie between Australia, Iceland, and Sweden. Then comes Estonia, Canada, and Japan. Rounding out the top 15 economically and personally freest nations are Norway, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

Did you notice anything particular here? Who is missing? That’s right, the United States. We are not only not in the top five, we’re not in the top ten or even the top 15! What the hell? If we’re supposed to be the “home of the free”, why is nobody at home? Where are we?

Before getting to the U.S., I’d like to mention that according to the Freedom Index, of the top 15 freest country, the index points out that 13 of those 15 countries have seen a decline in their ratings. Just two saw improvements. The nation which has seen the greatest loss of personal and economic freedom was the Czech Republic with Finland and Canada close behind. Only Japan and Denmark have both experienced slight improvements at 0.07 and 0.02 respectively in personal and economic freedom.

As for the United States, we ranked 17^th of the 165 countries on the Freedom Index. For the record, Mexico was 94^th overall. India was 110^th. Russia was 139^th. Taiwan was 19^th. Brazil was 70^th, South Korea was 32^nd, and China was 150^th. The freest regions were North America, Western Europe, and Oceania. The least freest was the Middle East, Northern and Sub Saharan Africa, and South Asia. In terms of freedom for women, the top regions were North America, Western Europe, and East Asia. The worst areas for women were the Middle East, Northern and Sub Saharan  Africa, and South Asia.

When it comes to democracy, representative governments, political participation, civil liberties, and electoral pluralism, we need to turn to the Democracy Index compiled by the Economic Intelligence Unit of The Economist publication. They looked at various factors, such as to those just mentioned,  to determine just how effective the political system is in a given country. Countries were ranked as “Full Democracies” (10.00 – 8.99), “Flawed Democracies” (7.99 – 6.99), “Mixed” (5.99 – 4.99) and “Authoritarian” (3.99 - .99).

The chart rates each of the 165 countries surveyed on a scale of 0 to 10 with zero being the most authoritarian and ten being the most democratic. At the top of the list are Norway (9.81), New Zealand (9.61), Sweden (9.39), Iceland (9.38). and Switzerland (9.32) rounding out the top five democratic countries in the world.

These were followed by Finland (9.3), Ireland (9.19), Netherlands (9.0), Luxembourg (8.98), and Australia (8.85) finishing the top ten. Honorable mention goes to Taiwan (8.78), Germany (8.73), Canada (8.69), and finally Uruguay (8.67).  

As for the United States, we are ranked 28^th of the 165 surveyed with a democracy rating 7.85. Again, not a real good selling point as the “home of the free”. In fact, the U.S. is actually listed as a “flawed democracy” and may be teetering on becoming a failing democracy.  Some of the main reasons for why are mentioned at the beginning of this article.

In fact, countries like Costa Rica (8.29), Mauritius (8.23), Estonia (8.13), and Malta (7.93) are more democratic than the United States. As if that’s not bad enough, we barely beat out Chile (7.83) and Slovenia (7.82). That’s not good people. Of course, there’s nothing wrong or negative about these countries. In fact, good on them for doing a great job representing their people. However, the United States can and should be doing a much better job serving the people and not on Wall Street executives.

Out of curiosity, I wanted to know what the least democratic nations on the planet were so that I could go ahead and mark them off any future itineraries should the occasion arise. Liberia was 5.57. Mexico was 5.32.  Palestine (West Bank) has a rating of 3.44, while Nepal was 4.6 (so much for Buddhist enlightenment). The North African nations of Morocco,  Tunisia, and Algeria  were 4.97, 4.71, and 3.55 respectively. Egypt was 2.79. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was 1.78, making it sound neither democratic or a republic.  

Saudi Arabia, a Sunni monarchy, was only 2.08. Yemen, home of the Houthi which keeps attacking Israel amid its claims of Israeli brutality in Gaza, has a 1.95 on the Democracy Index. Syria, which is still dealing with a civil war, was 1.32. Iran, an Islamic theocracy, was 1.96. Iraq was only a little better at 2.8. Jordan, another Sunni kingdom, was 3.28. Kuwait, also a Sunni monarchy, where we fought a war to liberate Kuwaiti oil under the guise of “restoring democracy”, has democracy rating of 2.78. South Africa was 7.16 and India was 7.29.

 Turkey, whose government is secular despite a 98% majority Muslim population, was a notable 4.6. The highest rated nation in the region was, not unexpectedly, Israel, the only parliamentarian democracy in the region. It’s democracy rating was 7.8 (remember, America’s was just 7.85). Russia was 2.03 while China was 2.11. Ukraine was 4.9 and Belarus was 1.99.  However, the worst places to be if you’re looking a democratic government were the Central African Republic (1.18), North Korea (1.08), Myanmar (0.96) and Afghanistan (0.25).

Finally, in terms of regions, Africa was 3.92 overall. Asia was 4.06. North America was 5.64. South America was 6.01. Europe was 7.41 and Oceania was rated 7.46. The Middle East as a region wasn’t specifically mentioned, but averaging the numbers would be approximately 2.11 (excluding Israel) on the Democracy Index.

Additionally, did you know that there are only 25 “full democracies” in the world today? There are 46 “flawed democracies” (of which the U.S. is one), 36 so-called “hybrid” governments or that global democracy had been declining for 19 years straight?  Just 20% of the world lives in a “free country”. 42% live in a “partly free” nation, and 38% live under some form of authoritarianism, all according to the Freedom House.

It’s bears mentioning that most of the nations facing the worse influx from migration from countries with little or no tradition of freedom or democratic governments are the ones highest on both the Freedom Index and the Democracy Index lists. This begs the question of what happens when a country or region with a history of personal liberty and economic freedom is overrun by peoples with a history and culture based on oppression?

Well, historically speaking, the latter will almost always win out unless the former has the will to either enforce assimilation through regulation and legislation or expels the latte by whatever means necessary. If you’re looking to create a society of compliance and blind obedience, then you do exactly what the West is doing now. There is no middle ground.

Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

Human Freedom Index

Democracy Index

Freedom House: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle ForDemocracy

Is a Civil War in the Cards for America?

 It's been said here many times, and I think it's appropriate to say it again. America is more divided than at any time since just before the Civil War just over 150 years. We are actually more divided on the number of issues than were our forefathers, and the division on those issues appears to be at least as deep as it was back in the late 1850's. There seems to be the same lack of interest in compromise. Politics has become, for all intent and purpose, scorched earth.  It's all or nothing.

Let's look as the recent 2022 election. For the first time (at least in recent history), there was a protest which morphed into an attempt at a coup by intimidation. Such was the anger directed at Congress. But who was really surprised? The approval rating for the House has been in the toilet for decades as has that of the Senate.

 In most countries, with approval ratings like these (some as low as 9%, but most around low 20's) would have already triggered a revolution.  What did we expect? Even the judicial system has shown negative numbers along almost every other institution in America. Ironically, despite the Antifa and BLM "peaceful" riots and lootings, the police was one of the few institutions whose numbers were positive (along with the military).  

As of September 2022, some ten months after the Presidential election, 61% of Republicans believe the election was rigged; that Joe Biden didn't win the election fairly. On the other side of that coin, some 64% of voters don't believe the January 6 protest was spontaneous. In both instances that's 6 out 10 individuals (as an aside, immediately after the election 70% of Republicans and conservatives that the election was stolen).

To make matters worse, the majority of Americans no longer trust the mainstream media (or as conservatives now call it, "lamestream" media). To further irritate the Right, the liberal media continues to call the opposition to Biden's election the "Big Lie", echoing Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels' use of the term when referring to his brand of propaganda (a backhanded way of calling Republicans and conservatives "Nazis").

When Trump was President, the Left routinely waved flags and chanted "not my President" and the media encouraged it. When Trump supporters did the same thing (referring to Biden), it's suddenly "anti-American". Could the bias get any more obvious? 

Meanwhile, political establishment has lined up to go after Trump and his supporters every way they can, with the media carrying virtual non-stop coverage despite continuously getting some of their lowest viewership numbers ever.

The media's role has traditionally been providing the American People and the world with impartial and unbiased news. It's essential to a free nation. However, since Watergate the media (which has come under an ever tightening control of a smaller and smaller number of corporate owners) has become increasingly biased as to be essentially nothing more than the mouthpiece of their owners.

According to a Gallup Poll from October 2022, only 34% of Americans trust the mainstream media...despite how slick or sincere they look. When broken down by the partisanship, 70% of Liberals and Democrats trust the media, which given its liberal list, isn't surprising. 14% of conservatives and Republicans agree (likely Fox viewers), along with 11% of Independents (the nation's majority political bloc).

In case you're wondering, 96+% of all media is owned by just five corporations. That means everything you read, see, and hear. It also includes the movies you watch. The music formats you hear. The newspapers, magazines, and even what books are published.

They control internet content (and who gets censored, blocked, or "shadow blocked" such as yours truly). They even willing cooperate with government agencies in turning over personal information. Joseph Goebbels would have wet dreams over this kind of clout!

So, how serious it is...really? Well, it ain't good. According to a poll taken in August 2022 said that 66% of Americans believe that the divisions in this country have gotten worse since 2021. 62% of those think things are going to get worse with 60% expecting an increase in political violence.

Another poll from August 2022, roughly 43% of those polled think a civil war is likely in the next 10 years. A further 14% expect something close to a Civil War within the next decade or so. 55% of Republicans and conservatives agreed. So did 40% of Democrats. A earlier poll, from July 2022, indicated the number of Americans who expected a civil war sometime "over the next several years" was 50%.

The liberal leaning Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights was even more pessimistic. They said that 78% of Americans believe democracy is currently "under attack" (it is, but not by who they think). 53% think that America will no longer be a democracy in four to five years (not breaking news: we never were a democracy. We were a Republic, but no longer. We're a neo-fascist Corporatocracy). 54% say we're on the path to a civil war.

As an aside, their polling also indicated that race relations in America is getting worse. 62% say that discrimination against blacks is a "big problem". 62% think the government should do more to protect blacks. 66% want the government to take steps to lessen racial inequality while 55% want to see the government to do more to end income inequality. 67% want to see gay marriage protected while 62% want to protect abortion rights. 

A University of Virginia poll from  October 2020 said that they felt America was already in a cold civil War. The same poll also showed that 41% of those who voted for Joe Biden thought it was time to "split the country".  The Institute of Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School released an even more stunning poll result.

According to their poll, over half of those under 30 years of age saw America as "failing" with over one-third expecting a civil war in their lifetimes. But what if that happened? Well, the Civil War was the bloodiest America has ever experienced bar none. Approximately 600,000 people died during the four year conflict. 

Using the same percentage killed based on population, that would translate to about 19.8 million today, and that number could easily go higher. Much higher given that we have a far greater percentage of trained veterans as a percentage of population now than they did then, not to mention the deadliness of the weapons available.

They say that every revolution contains within its own seeds for self-destruction. While the Civil War was fought to preserve the Union, America's future might be more balkanized. Our increasing diversity---racial, ethnic, and so forth, all under the guise of "multiculturalism" may well be the culprit.  It has already manifested itself in our politics by challenging our values, traditions, and even language.  

These changes are showing up in our neighborhoods and communities in the form of more drugs, more crime, and more violence, especially in the form of racial and ethnic gangs murdering for control of territory. In some instances, they demand "their own" do the policing, which is rejection of our legal system.

We already see "Little Havana", "Little Vietnam", "Little China", "Little Columbia", and so on. No longer do they seek to mix and integrate into their new homeland as our immigrant ancestors before them had done. Instead, they remain aloof and separate. Some don't even bother to learn English or allow their children to be taught the language despite being supported by taxpayer dollars, adding insult to injury.

Perhaps the only solution would be the balkanization of America, leaving  it a loosely based confederation of regions. It's happened before. It happened in Ancient Greece, in Ancient Rome, the Holy Roman Empire, the British Empire, and elsewhere. We are, as humans, naturally tribal after all.

 One thing is for sure, doing nothing will not only result in a de facto balkanization along various social, racial, and economic lines, under a neo-fascist Corportracy, but also allow the increasing diverse cultures to come into conflict, providing a greater excuse for the expansion of the surveillance state.

It seems there is only one other option, and that's to accept the multiculturalism on our own terms. But that means that the country we've known---our collective history---and we grew up with has to be allowed to fade into the past. No dominance of any one race or culture or language. It means changes in laws, values, and acceptance of different or perhaps new religions which could dominate or replace older ones. It means starting over again as a country surrounded by those who wish us harm.

It's possible. It's too has happened before, under Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great, the Kings of Persia, and, albeit briefly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You could even include the Mongol Empire. But it's all dependent on maintaining liberal societies along with tolerant leaders and capable administrators. The instant someone comes who shows a preference or a tendency toward despotism, and it crumbles. Some have suggested an economic and political system run by artificial intelligence.

The power elites who dominate this country has been trying to divide us any way they can for decades. In that they've been largely successful. Divided we are easily controlled and manipulated. United and we're unstoppable, but can we do it? We've reached one of those historical crossroads. A "Rubicon" if you'd like, which will be crossed whether we want to or not. What will it be?  

 

 If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

Poll: 61% of Republicans still believe Biden didn't win fair and square in 2020

64% Think The January 6th Attack On The Capital Was Planned

Americans' Trust of the media Remains Near Record Lows.

Two in five Americans say a civil war is at least likely inthe next decade...

Leadership Conference  Poll:  54 Percent Fear America Is on the Path to Another Civil War...

Imagine another American Civil War, but this time in everystate

The Rise and Fall of Multicultural Empires

 

Reaping the Whirlwind: Ending Illegal Immigration

Once again, we're being force to turn our attention to our southern border. At present, there's over 200,000 immigrants gathered along the Mexican border looking to cross into America. Reports indicate that there another 60,000 or more working their way up from South and Central America in hopes of crossing too. 

Meanwhile, 1.1 million illegal immigrants have been caught this fiscal year. Many (perhaps a majority) are unvaccinated, be it Covid, TB, measles, mumps, chickenpox or whatever. What motivates these individuals to make a thousand mile (or more) trek to come to the United States?

The majority of these individuals are coming to seek a better life, which is pretty much the motive millions of others have made to come this once "Land of Plenty".  Many of the countries they are fleeing are rife with  governmental corruption, from the local cop on the street on up the line to the president. Nevertheless, "economic asylum" is not consider a bonafide reason for acceptance according to the United Nations and U.S. immigration law (even Amnesty International agrees).

Their economic opportunities are limited, primarily due to a poor social infrastructure, poorer education, and history of suppression dating back centuries in which wealthy and powerful land owners, in conjunction with the Catholic Church, conspired to keep the much poorer "peon" class of workers just that---poor and largely uneducated.  As a result, a large viable middle class never firmly took root.

Attempts to form unions or adopt a more "liberal" interpretation of the Christianity through doctrines like Liberation Theology which promoted breaking up large estates, better pay, and improved education, were crushed, often violently. In the case of Liberation Theology, everyone from bishops and priests down to parishioners were threatened with excommunication from the Vatican itself.  Union organizers, community activists, doctors, and teachers, were often beaten, jailed, and on numerous occasions, found to have "gone missing".

Meanwhile,  governments elected by popular vote (often democratic socialists) typically found themselves overthrown in violent coups (under the ubiquitous term of "regime changes"), such in as in Argentina, Paraguay, Columbia, Bolivia, and elsewhere, thanks to backing by the CIA and other agencies.  Key officials were assassinated, especially if these governments or their policies ran afoul of certain special interests in the U.S.. 

For instance, under CIA backed Chilean General Augusto Pinochet's government, an estimated 40,000 individuals suffered human rights violations (some were formally arrested. Many weren't). Some 10,000 were tortured. 1,312 were exiled, and at least 2,279 simply "disappeared", while dozens of opposition leaders and members of unions, political associations, and opposition media were assassinated.

With these ousters, right wing military juntas typically stepped in, with the blessing of the U.S State Department and the virtual guarantee of American economic and military aide (in exchange, of course, for strategic concessions of natural resources, support of U.S. regional policies, or perhaps the use of local facilities for military or intelligence purposes ("enhanced interrogation" anyone?).   

The end result, was the creation of a society which had a underlining theme of distrust of the government (including the police and military), which were often corrupt, an economy with a small and powerless middle class with limited opportunities; both of which being highly dependent on the U.S. corporations for jobs and foreign aid to keep their government afloat---$314 million just for fiscal year 2021 went to Latin America alone. 

What happens without American corporate investment or foreign aid? Take a look at Cuba or Venezuela. The U.S. imposed its embargo in 1963 (which was loosened in 2002 for Humanitarian purposes). Nevertheless, Cuba's economic development is decades behind most countries, despite past assistance from the former USSR and other countries which ignored the embargo, such as Venezuela, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Brazil, and the Netherlands.

It's worth nothing that in the 1950's, almost two-thirds of Cuba's imports came from the United States, not to mention billions in U.S. tourism which viewed Cuba as another Las Vegas or Reno but cheaper and with better weather and beaches! 

Beginning around 2004, Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, created the "ALBA", or the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America, which was designed to circumvent U.S. political and economic dominance of the region and the America led Free Trade Area of the Americas. 

 Thanks to Venezuela's booming oil soaked economy, ALBA also created a central bank of its own---the Unified System of Regional Compensation, which sought to provide financial support of regional countries, as well as help develop infrastructure, create a unified military for ALBA members similar to NATO, a trade arbitration court, collectively  improve education and medical care independent of the World Bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund) while simultaneously reducing the use of the U.S. Dollar as the default currency.  Needless to say, the U.S. was not pleased with ALBA or Hugo Chavez.

The collapse of the Venezuelan economy is viewed by many economists, political scientists, sociologists, and historians as one of the worse since the end of World War II, outstripping the fall of the USSR and the Eastern Bloc, Zimbabwe under dictator Robert Mugabe, post-war Europe and Japan, Cuba post-embargo, much of Africa, and perhaps even Haiti which has face numerous natural disasters amid an corrupt and incompetent government. 

The causes of Venezuela's collapse are as disputed as they are varied. Some claim that the collapse was over extension of Hugo Chavez's "socialist" or "populist" economic policies which focused on social welfare. Others point out that the economy was doing well until Chavez's death in 2013 of a massive heart attack and ongoing complications from stomach cancer. It should be noted that his supporters claimed and still maintain that because of his "independent" and "democratic socialist" polices, he was assassinated by the CIA; a charge the U.S. has steadfastly denied.

Before going further, we need to briefly examine Chavez's policies and political ideology. Chavez regarded himself as a populist first and foremost. He was an avid supporter of economic communes and co-ops, land reform, extending public education, ending income inequality (which took Venezuela from near the top of the worse in 1998 to one of the best, just behind Canada by 2011), improved healthcare ( particularly improved infant mortality rates), and greatly reduced poverty levels.

Chavez was never "anti-American". He considered himself a supporter of the American People. It was, however, the American government that he both disliked and distrusted. He was a strong opponent of what he regarded as "colonial imperialism", especially when it came to foreign corporate dominance of local economies, as well as "welfare economies" which were dependent on U.S. foreign aid.

In terms of ideology, Chavez was hesitant in referring to himself as a "Communist". He did acknowledge being a "Trotskyite" in that he believed in a "permanent revolution" for social justice. He was a "democratic socialist" which blended the best of capitalism with the best of socialism and democracy. Overall, he saw himself as a Marxist (which differs from the Stalinist version of Communism we're all so familiar with).

Chavez's chief failure was his economy's near total dependence on oil and gas to run the economy. He failed to develop an adequate supporting economic infrastructure such as manufacturing which could pick up the slack should oil and gas prices take a sustained drop in price (which it did). With this, his second major failure was his direct challenge to the IMF, World Bank, along with United States and its potential corporate investments which could have brought in jobs and tax revenues.

After Chavez's death in 2013, Nicolas Maduro was elected president based on his promises to continue with Chavez's policies. However, amid claims of corruption, incompetence, increased authoritarianism, inadequate trade partners, and economic sanctions by the U.S., the European Union, the Lima Group, and others, plus the lack of economic investments, the economy began to falter.

 Once U.S. sanctions were extended to include oil and gas, along with the suppression of oil and gas prices globally, the Venezuelan economy went into a freefall. Venezuela suffered mass unemployment, widespread power outages, massive shortages of food, fresh water and other necessities, plus a huge uptick in crime, especially gang violence backed by narco-crime cartels. The IMF has predicted that Venezuela's inflation rate by the end of 2021 will be 5,500%.  As an aside, in October 1923, the inflation rate in Germany's Weimar Republic was 29,500%. Prices doubled ever three and a half days.

Meanwhile, supporters of President Maduro blamed the U.S. for instigating a de facto economic coup to overthrow Chavez's polices to build a viable democratic socialist country by merging aspects of capitalism, democracy and socialism, bypassing the "predatory capitalism" of U.S. regional policies, the World Bank and the IMF. Maduro's supporters call it a undeclared "economic war" on Venezuela.

Nevertheless, the implosion of Venezuela's economy affected the entire region, including Honduras, Panama, and Columbia. Even larger economies such as Brazil and Mexico have been affected. The result is the mass exodus to "el Norte" and ultimately to what they hope will be a new start. Most don't want to become citizens. They have no interest in learning our laws, traditions, or values. They don't want to learn anymore English than necessary to get and hold a job. 

Many have been told by the drug cartel "coyotes" who led them on their thousand mile journey that America and "Tio Sam" will welcome them, along with their fellow Latinos in America (many "coyotes" make up to $10,000 per head illegally smuggling people into the U.S.). The "anti-illegal immigration" rhetoric they've heard is just that---rhetoric. It's "BS" by the corporate media to discourage the rest of the world from coming to America. If they can just reach and cross the border, all their problems will be over. They will receive free housing and healthcare, good paying jobs, and catered education for their children in Spanish...if they can just reach and cross the border.

Unfortunately, America's off again/on again immigration policy has created just enough doubt to make the stories of the coyotes believable. Build a wall. Tear down a wall. More border patrol. Less border patrol with reduced ability to apprehend. Meanwhile, we have defacto criminals in the U.S. willing to defy immigration laws to help people illegally cross the border. Most are churches and religious organizations who believe the Church is above any laws. They've built complex networks to help whisk individuals away from the border and on to a new life forever on the run. 

These naive "do-gooders" will pass them on to individuals who will teach them how to circumvent law enforcement and play the system to get free (and unquestioned) healthcare, housing, jobs, and how to get their children into schools (and often taught in their native language) as well as "free" legal assistance should they need it... all on the taxpayer's dollar of course.

Of course, all are subject to deportation the instant they're caught. But even that's not so bad. Anyone caught, either at the border or someplace else, is subject to a taxpayer paid medical checkup for one and all (along with any needed medication), three meals until they're put on a taxpayer paid bus or airplane and returned home where they're free to try it again.

We are seeing the thousands upon thousands trying to illegally cross our borders on a regular basis. Most are doing so as a result of our foreign policy, which is directed by powerful corporate players. Until we stop meddling in the affairs of other countries, we will continue to face the specter of illegal immigration which will increasingly stain our near broken social safety net and overwhelm us.

This doesn't mean withdrawing into ourselves and cocooning away from the world as we tried in the first half of the 20th Century. It does, however, mean that we stop interfering with other nation's elections regardless of whether we like who they chose or not. It also means that we should work within their economic and social policies to create a fair and just outcome. Until we do, we will continue to reap the whirlwind we've sown. Want to know more? Check out the sites below.

 

CRS: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Latin America and theCaribbean: FY2021 Appropriations

Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America

Venezuela's Collapse Is the Worse Outside of War on Decades, Economists Say

 

How one migrant family got caught between smugglers, the cartel, and Trump's zero-tolerance policy

Migrant encounters at Us-Mexico border are at a 21 year high

U.S.-Mexico border apprehensions for the fiscal year surpass1 million this June

The Lima Group