No, no, no, you simply don't understand. the rules of the game here.

Any country that is doing tolerably well with a mixed economy - even if, like Sweden it is actually 80% capitalist and only 20% socialist, - must always be acclaimed by all leftists globally as a triumphant role model for socialism. Any country that is doing humiliatingly badly with a mixed economy - even if, like Venezuela, it is 80% socialist and only 20% capitalist - must always be condemned by all leftists globally as an embarrassing failure for capitalism, which tells us nothing about the real nature of true socialism, which is always wonderful and perfect, although actually it has never ever been tried anywhere in the world yet.

They are generally perceived as socialist countries. Its is their model most left leaning people in this country would want to emulate, not that of more extreme socialist regimes.

Tell that to the thousands who have died under the current Tory regime & the hundreds of thousands made homeless since 2010.

Yeah, by people who don't understand what socialism actually is - the intermediate step between capitalism and communism.

Unless of course you can demonstrate that communism is the Nordic countries' endgame?

Oh, I know the rules all right

Whereas full-on neoliberal capitalists do the complete opposite. The 2008 financial crash was all down to Gordon Brown and his socialist spending policies

Well the current government of Finland is a right wing coalition which includes some members of The Finns, which is a far right party. Now I know some leftists are so desperate for validation that they include Angela Merkel, the committed capitalist from the centre right CDU, as a hero, but to describe The Finns as Socialst stretches credibility well passed snapping point.

Similarly the ruling coalition of Denmark is a Liberal Conservative coalition committed to free market economics. That's a whole new definition of "socialism" which to my knowledge advocates centralist planning of the economy.

But wait a minute! Haven't some posters stated that there have been previous socialist countries. Indeed enough such examples to show that a vast majority haven't suffered hyper inflation. Of course one can come to the conclusion that if leftists regard the mere avoidance of hyper inflation as a sign to economic success they are setting their bar very low. But well this is the left we're talking about, everyone has to get their Participation Certificate.

And I notice that other than a few ludicrous attempts to claim that the Scandanavian countries are socialist no one has been able to name these countries. To aid them there is a potential list here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...cialist_states

I can't see the Scandanavian countries listed, but hey ho. I also wonder were ( Danish) Lego fits into the socialist model of production for need and not profit, because for the life of me I can't see the societal necessity for a scale model of the Death Star. Maybe it's to serve as a subtle psychological reminder of the dangers of dictatorship? Although to be fair didn't Attack of the Clones establish that the Stormtroopers were all equal, lived in the same mess, ate the same food and even shared the same DNA. Very socialist. The character Finn in The Force Awakens even shows that they have since embraced multiculturalism, very socialist in the modern SJW sense.

Indeed, if anything the historic success of the Scandinavian countries presents the argument that the best form of organisation of society is not socialism but as monocultural lutheranism, but nobody wants to listen to that message.

We never hear any socialists boasting about the success of Laos, do we? You'd think they'd make more of it. I believe it has a unique distinction in that not only is a hereditary communist state a la North Korea and Cuba, but that the ruling family is actually a branch of the historic royal family. It's as if Britain were a Communist State ruled by Comrade Anne Phillips, with Zara Tindall as her designated successor.

Things get even more horrific in Venezuela.

Gangs of out-of-work fishermen have turned to a life of piracy and have killed dozens who still venture into the sea in Venezuela, as the country's economic crisis worsens.
Once home to the world's fourth-largest tuna fleet, now the fishing trade has collapsed and those who continue to fish are falling prey to the vicious bandits.


But don't worry, Comrades! It is only the Daily Mail that says so! Do not believe their imperialist lies!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-unravels.html

The truth, as top Labour adviser Seamus Milne says, is this:

For all their problems and weaknesses, Venezuela and its Latin American allies have demonstrated that it's no longer necessary to accept a failed economic model, as many social democrats in Europe still do. They have shown it's possible to be both genuinely progressive and popular. Cynicism and media-fuelled ignorance have prevented many who would naturally identify with Latin America's transformation from recognising its significance. But Chávez's re-election has now ensured that the process will continue – and that the space for 21st-century alternatives will grow..

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...-latin-america

All joking aside there is a major humanitarian crisis unfolding here. Shades of the Ukraine under Stalin.

And of course like Ukraine under Stalin, there will be millions of leftists world wide queueing up to say a) It' s all a pack of lies and b) those kulak b@st@rds deserved it anyway..

If they even acknowledge it's happening at all.

What is happening in Venezuela will happen here if there's a hard brexit.

Really? An extreme crackdown on the media. Opposition figures like Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon, Tim Farron, Caroline Lucas and Diane Abbot summarily arrested and imprisoned without trial. A shortage of bog paper (at least we'll finally find a use for the Guardian). Armed gangs roaming the streets of Saffron Walden. A return to piracy, the Jolly Roger flying over the harbour in Hull. A spike in the sales of wheelbarrows to cart money around to purchase an egg (although would you need a van full of money to purchase a wheelbarrow?). London replaces Caracas as the murder capital of the world.

And the only thing saving us from this anarchy is membership of the EU? . What an amazing institution. It makes me wonder why not even 50%+1 could be arsed to vote for it even after 40 years of membership to bear witness to the miracles it can create.

And shouldn't all leftists be, therefore, in favour in Hard Brexit? As surely to imitate Venezuela, a country with a commitment to implementing socialist policies, is the culmination of their lifetime of political aspirations. Why stop now when we are so close!

Exactly. What was it that stopped Syriza, and Francois Hollande from turning Greece and France into Venezuela-style socialist paradises? Why, nothing but the frowning hatchet face of Angela Merkel and the EuroApparatchiks in Brussels, insisting on the hegemonic fascist problematic of "budgetary discipine" and the bourgeois concept of "fiscal responsibility" and the reactionary neo-Imperialist notion of "paying back some of the money you have already borrowed before you are allowed to borrow more money."

Freeing Britain from the Brussels Capitalist Cabal is the only way that Corbyn, Milne and all the rest of the prophets of IngSoc will ever realise their dreams of a radiant future!

I'm talking in pure economic terms. Brexit means britezuela in terms of inflation and poverty and a currency that is about as valuable as sheets of toilet paper.

Good news, Comrades! Christmas will be merry in Venezuela this year! Anyone not having a Merry Christmas will be sent to jail.

http://live.att.net/news/read/articl..._christmas-afp

More good news comrades!!!!! Under Bolivarian Socialism it is the Army, and not Santa Claus, who will ensure that children have Merry Christmases.

Venezuelan authorities have arrested two toy company executives and seized almost four million toys, which they say they will distribute to the poor.

Officials accused the company of hoarding toys and hiking prices in the run-up to Christmas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38274267

Naughty children will get six months in a re-education camp, rather than lumps of coal. Scrooges will be shot.

Good news, Comrades! President Maduro's campaign against wreckers and hoarders continues! He is now going to withdraw the most commonly used banknotes from circulation entirely!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38284485

People will have 10 days just before Christmas in which to cash in all their existing 100 Bolivar notes or see them become worthless. Predictions that this will result in mass impoverishment, despair and utter chaos are surely imperialist lies! After all, remember what leading British Socialist and Trade Union Leader Len McCluskey said about our Glorious Leader, Nicholas Maduro on his election:

“We welcome this result which is an endorsement of the government’s progressive social policies.and another step forward for those who put working people and the poorest in society first in Latin America. Furthermore, In electing a former bus driver and trade union leader to the presidency, Venezuela has also show that politics is not a preserve of an elite few.”