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the rightwing opposition. They're the ones living in upscale rich enclaves in Caracas and buying imported Gucci bags and caviar--the ones who were basically giving the oil away to multinationals, when they were in charge in the 1990s, while raking off the top for themselves and utterly neglecting their own country and its massive poor population--the ones who supported the 2002 coup attempt, cuz they don't just want to be rich, they want ALL the money.
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"...if no one seems really well off then everyone thinks they are ok."
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Believe me, they don't just seem well off--they ARE well off--and everybody knows it. It's not as if they don't flaunt it.
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"Put one rich person who gets to buy stuff in the mix and the equation changes."
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There are plenty of rich people "in the mix"--and that has not changed the fact that 64% of Venezuelans give their well-being a high rating--one of the highest in the world. Your premise doesn't hold up.
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Nobody's taking their property. The Venezuelan constitution protects private property and the Chavez government has respected that provision. They've also been extremely careful about land reform--a well thought out program that requires 5 years of food production before new farmers or farmer co-ops get title to the land, and they are given technical help, marketing help and loans by the government. The government has mostly distributed unused government lands and lands for which there is no clear title.
But they have instituted fair taxation and consistent collection of taxes. And, though the Chavez government didn't nationalize the oil, they renegotiated the oil contracts to favor Venezuela and its social programs. There is now more oil money and it is being more evenly distributed instead of going straight into pockets of the rich with no benefit to anyone else.
They've nationalized some businesses in critical sectors (either scofflaw businesses or major industries, like steel, where management refused to sign a union deal and had brought construction projects around the country to a halt, or, for instance, a big supermarket chain that was hoarding food to drive up prices and/or to cause unrest). Venezuela has a mixed capitalist/socialist economy, with the government doing a lot of jawboning about sharing and "raising all boats" (common decency).
Your point is therefore not relevant and does not explain why 64% of the population rates their well-being very high--putting Venezuela among the five best countries in the world on this indicator.
Income, though greatly improved, as to equality, is NOT equal. The Chavez government has cut poverty in half and extreme poverty by more than 70% but there is still that other half, and that other 30%--and the ones raised out of poverty are not rich. They merely now have the minimum income needed not to be categorized as "poor" or "extremely poor." They are not rich, but now they have prospects. They have hope.
The evidence is that most people feel well-being in Venezuela because everyone is being taken care of. It's an inclusive economy. The poorest can get food, medical care, shelter and can go as high as they are able to in the educational system. Small business is prospering. Unemployment is low. Most are getting decent wages or better. Things are FAIR--or more fair than they have ever been. This makes people feel good--even if they are not rich. They experience a sense of justice and decency around them, and they know that their government leaders care about the poor, the workers, small business and the entire well-being of the society. This creates a sense of security. The feeling of well-being is not entirely about material goods or income--it's about feeling that you are part of a progressive society--a collective effort to make things right for everybody.
Some of the questions in this Gallup poll were about the future--how do things look for you five years from now?
If you were a poor person who, prior to the Chavez government, was trapped in poverty with no hope of getting an education, or of your children getting educated and advancing, and now you are in school finishing your high school degree, or are in re-training, say, to become a nurse, and your children have adequate nutrition and clothing and are staying in school, even if you are still quite poor, by most standards, wouldn't you feel a sense of "well-being"?
And what about your neighbors who see these things happening to a once hopeless and struggling family--say, one where the teenagers, feeling no prospects for themselves, had joined a gang and were robbing people in the neighborhood--and you see all this desperation start to turn around? And meanwhile, you yourself are able to buy food in a subsidized store and are able to put better meals on the table?
Optimism. It's not about envy. It's about optimism, no matter what your situation. Poor Venezuelans DO see the rich people around them, and DO see big inequities all around them, yet large numbers of them feel "well-being." It's not because they don't see poverty and inequality; it's because they see their leaders, their government and their society DOING something about the poverty--giving people a helping hand to bootstrap themselves. Give poverty-stricken people some help--on food, on bus tickets, on schooling, on medical care--and soon they are doing something about it themselves. Nobody's going to let them die of starvation. Nobody's going to let them die of a curable illness, if it can be helped. Nobody's going to let their intelligence and creativity go undeveloped and untapped, for lack of educational opportunities. Society recognizes their worth as human beings. And when you live in a society that is trying to do that--to re-ignite a sense of human worth and dignity--you feel better about your own "well-being."
The syndrome of hopelessness that is now hitting the U.S.A. is INDUCED by those who are LOOTING society. There is a very obvious program to break the collective will of the American people to have a just and fair society--to destroy all the social supports that we've put in place--and to spread a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness as to advancement. That's why U.S. numbers in this Gallup poll are so low for a country as rich as this one. It's not that there are billionaires to envy, which makes your own lot look bad; it's that our leaders, our government and our corporate rulers--sometimes explicitly, other times subtly--convey the message that ONLY billionaires are worthy--and all the people who actually contribute to society, and create the wealth--the workers in various industries, the nurses, the teachers, the emergency responders, the small business people (biggest employers in the U.S.A.), the librarians, the police officers, the environmental inspectors, the mechanics, the retail clerks, the hair dressers, the taxi drivers, the bus drivers, the truck drivers, the small farmers, etc.--aren't worth shit. Let the banks and the insurance corporations and the credit card companies squeeze them to death. Let the corporations steal their pensions and loot Social Security. Let the mortgage lenders, betting on defaults, put them out of their homes. Let Diebold (s)elected governors destroy their unions. And, for many emergency responders, police and private professionals in National Guard service, let them be sent to Iraq as "cannon fodder" for a corporate oil war.
Attitude. It's about the attitude at the top, and the cohesiveness and optimism of the society in every strata. The attitude of "fuck you/ I've got mine" pervades the top layers of our society and infects much of the poor and middle class with LOSS of a sense of well-being. In Venezuela, it's the reverse. Their government is constantly telling them that "you count." It's constantly encouraging them to vote and to participate in public life. People who have always been neglected, ignored, spat upon and exploited feel empowerment and hope for the future. They have done this for themselves--as we, the people here in the U.S. once did it for ourselves--by electing a government that is responsive to the needs of the people and by utilizing the opportunities that their government has created for them.
We can do that, too--as we did by putting FDR in power for four terms--and though our situation is unique in some respects, it is no more difficult than Venezuelans faced, and than much of Latin America faced, a decade ago. They've struggled to achieve what they've achieved, and it looks like we're going to have to struggle, too, and start all over again to create a democracy and a decent life for all.
It's not what you have that creates a sense of well-being. It's that everybody can have it, and that together you can improve what everybody has. Gallup's questions focus on the individual but what the individuals are saying is about society.
Is society working for you? Do you feel comfortable within it? Can you advance within it? Do you feel worthwhile? Are you confident that you will have enough to eat, not be abandoned when you are sick, not be left jobless and homeless? Are you hopeful? Are you happy?
These questions are contingent upon society itself being worthwhile because you cannot have "well-being" alone. Your "well-being" is largely dependent upon how people and institutions regard you. You might maintain a sense of well-being, despite society's disdain, but that is very difficult, and, if society's disdain is severe enough, you could lose everything and you could die.
That's how people are feeling in the U.S. these days, with more to come, I fear. Venezuela is heading in the opposite direction--toward a caring and cohesive and hopeful society. We need to find the way to turn our society around, as they did. And it is not going to be easy; nor was it for them. (A hint at how they did it: They STARTED by creating an honest, transparent, internationally certified election system--something we have lost, or rather, have been robbed of.)
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