Generational Dynamics World View

[John J. Xenakis]

*** 1-Jul-16 World View -- Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Puerto Rico - three amigos in Marxist economic destruction

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• British government shocked as Boris Johnson stands down
  
• After decades of destroying the economy, Zimbabwe wants investors
  
• Venezuela and Puerto Rico join Zimbabwe in economic destruction
  
• After Trump's exit, Miss Teen USA dumps its swimsuit competition
  

****
**** British government shocked as Boris Johnson stands down
****


Boris Johnson, next to his wife Marina, waves goodbye on Thursday after standing down (Daily Mail)

It's being described as a complete shock, totally unexpected -- that
Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London and the leader of the
successful campaign to win the Brexit referendum, which mandates that
the UK leave the European Union, announced that he would not run to
replace David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party and become
Prime Minister on September 9.

Reports indicate that Boris Johnson was stabbed in the back by a close
former ally, Michael Gove. Gove had said repeatedly when asked that
he (Gove) was not qualified to be PM, but that he was going to support
Johnson and even be his campaign manager. But early on Thursday, Gove
flip-flopped and announced that he would run. He announced, "I have
come reluctantly to the conclusions Boris cannot provide the
leadership or build the team for the task ahead." He added that he's
decided that he can.

Although Johnson's announcement was a shock, it cannot have been
totally unexpected, since Johnson is completely unqualified. His
pro-Brexit campaign emotionally targeted anti-EU nationalism and
anti-immigrant anxieties about both east European Catholics and Syrian
Muslims. Once his side won the referendum vote, he almost completely
vanished from view, and it was clear that he didn't have the vaguest
clue what he'd been talking about during the campaign, or what to
do after winning.

The Brexit outcome has done a great deal of damage to the UK and the
EU, and is continuing to do more damage, as we've been reporting the
last few days. Perhaps Boris Johnson should be thanked for standing
down before he did any more damage. After all, sometimes it seems
that the most successful politicians are also the most destructive
politicians. Daily Mail (London)

****
**** After decades of destroying the economy, Zimbabwe wants investors
****

In a move of total desperation, Zimbabwe on Thursday announced that
foreigners who invested their money in Zimbabwe will be permitted to
repatriate their profits and dividends back to their home countries.
Previously, investors were required to leave all money in Zimbabwe.

As in Venezuela and Puerto Rico, the economy of Zimbabwe is crashing.
There are shortages of fuel, sugar and cooking oil. Cash withdrawals
from banks are strictly limited. ATM queues typically contain dozens
of people, and frequently the cash machines run out of money. School
teachers have been told that they will not be paid, and many don't
even have money to buy food.

The change in policy is driven by total desperation. In order to keep
the economy from crashing completely, Zimbabwe's Finance Minister
Patrick Chinamas is visiting business leaders in Paris to beg for
further investments. Currently Zimbabwe owes 10 billion US dollars to
the IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank, with $1.86
billion in debt repayments in arrears. Chinamas is promising that the
arrears will be repaid, but Zimbabwe has no money with which to pay
the arrears.

If the most successful politicians are the most destructive, then one
of the most successful politicians of all time is 92 year old
president Robert Mubage, who has been in power for almost 30 years,
and has been responsible for an almost unbelievable amount of
destruction, in one incredible Marxist policy after another.

Mugabe is from the Shona tribe. Shortly after taking power in 1980,
he consolidated power by launching "Operation Gukurahundi" (The rain
that washes away the chaff before the spring rain). During that
campaign, accomplished with the help of Mugabe's 5th Brigade, trained
by North Korea, tens of thousands of people, mostly from the Ndebele
tribe, were raped, tortured and slaughtered.

As recently as the 1999, Zimbabwe was still the breadbasket of Africa,
exporting up to 500,000 metric tons of surplus food. By 2003,
Zimbabwe was starving. What happened during those three years was a
Marxist socialist "land reform" program by Robert Mugabe that
confiscated 4,500 white-owned commercial farms and redistributed the
property to his own Shona ethnic group. After 2003, more and more
Zimbabweans were dying of starvation, because Mugabe has destroyed the
farm infrastructure. By 2008, the official rate of inflation was 231
million percent. ( "24-Feb-2014 World View -- Mass murderer Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has 90th birthday"
)

In 2009, Mugabe abolished the Zimbabwe dollar, which wasn't worth the
paper it was written on anyway. The US dollar and the South African
rand became the official currencies. But instead of ending the
destructive land reform policies, Mugabe added on a new one:
Indigenization.

Indigenization required all Zimbabwe businesses to be majority owned
by Zimbabweans, again mostly from Mugabe's Shona tribe. Zimbabwe
continues to shut down businesses, including foreign banks, that do
not comply with the indigenization requirements. Just as Mugabe's
"land reforms" destroyed the farm infrastructure, Mugabe's
indigenization law is destroying the entire business infrastructure.

So now, with Zimbabwe's Marxist economy close to total collapse,
Mugabe's finance minister is in Paris to convince the capitalist
investors to pour more money into Zimbabwe. It's laughable except for
the fact that so many people are suffering because of Mugabe's
destructive Marxist policies. RFI and Financial Times (27-Jun) and Independent (Zimbabwe) and Zimbabwe Government and The Zimbabwean

****
**** Venezuela and Puerto Rico join Zimbabwe in economic destruction
****

Venezuela's Socialist president Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor
Hugo Chávez are also among the world's most successful politicians, as
measured by the amount of destruction they've brought about in their
own country. Like Mugabe, they've destroyed Venezuela's economy with
Marxist policies, even though its oil reserves should make it one of
the wealthiest economies in the world. ( "15-May-16 World View -- Venezuela economy close to collapse as Maduro orders jailing of factory owners"
)

Puerto Rico faces $70 billion in total debt, a 45 percent poverty rate
and a shrinking population, as a result of years of massive spending
on social programs. ( "27-Apr-16 World View -- Puerto Rico headed for new financial default on May 1"
) Puerto Rico was saved from default on Friday, July 1, as
President Obama signed a Puerto Rico rescue bill into law on Thursday.

Let's not forget Cuba and North Korea, two more potentially wealthy
countries that have been destroyed by their successful politicians.
Washington Post

****
**** After Trump's exit, Miss Teen USA dumps its swimsuit competition
****


The sexist, outdated swimsuit competition will be eliminated by a thoroughly modern, feminist update

Now that Donald Trump has severed his relationship with the Miss
Universe Organization, it has announced that it's dropping the
swimsuit competition from Miss Teen USA.

According to a Miss Universe statement: "In a society that
increasingly prioritizes feminism and equality, watching women parade
across a stage in bikinis can feel outdated."

However, some critics complained that the contest was becoming "Sharia
compliant." The Daily Good (Iceland) and Irish Times

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Britain, Brexit, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove,
Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, Shona, Ndebele,
Operation Gukurahundi, Patrick Chinamas,
Land reforms, Indigenization, Puerto Rico, North Korea, Cuba,
Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, Hugo Chávez,
Donald Trump, Miss Universe, Miss Teen USA

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John J. Xenakis
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