Human suffering is so easily lost in numbers. Knowing the numbers is essential to get the bigger picture, but never lose sight of the fact that every number is an individual with hopes and dreams and loved ones who is experiencing suffering and pain as a result of factors beyond their control.

So when there are reports of over 120,000 people taking bus journeys of up to 10 hours to cross the border out of Venezuela and buy food they can barely afford in the ‘evil capitalist’ country of Colombia, stop and take stock. Those are 120,000 representatives of families. Many of those people will have hungry children waiting anxiously for their safe return with… rice, maybe bread, maybe some cornflour to make Arepas… basic stuff that they can’t get at home.

Let me say it again: Venezuela is the Socialist Object Lesson of our generation. We must ensure that the world watches and learns. THIS is what it looks like when you allow a government to ‘run’ an economy. THIS is what it looks like when you buy into the lie that fairness beats freedom, that the rich make the poor poor, or that governments can create wealth by redistributing it.

The human suffering in this crisis is growing fast. Things are getting worse, not better. And we need to confront the pro-socialist campaigners in this country who are claiming that they are all for ‘Human Rights’, with the fact that this is what will happen in any country where these socialists get their way. Humans suffer.

This is suffering, indeed borderline starvation for some people, on a massive scale, in what should be a wealthy country. No, let me rephrase that, in what should be one of the wealthiest countries on the planet.

Venezuela has everything you could ask for. Rich soils, great climate, stunning appeal for tourism, access via land and sea to hundreds of millions of wealthy consumers, more oil than than anyone else in their half of the planet… and they’re starving. There’s only one thing wrong… they picked socialism.

Sure, the dictatorships they had before they took a left-turn into Chavez worship were far from perfect and certainly not governments I would have supported any more than they did. I certainly understand their drive to try something different to their status quo from the 70s… but they went the wrong way. Instead of choosing freedom they chose a different kind of slavery, and they’re reaping the bitter consequences of their collective decision.

When I talk about the disaster that is happening in Venezuela right now, the people who are suffering, I’m not speaking out of ignorance or relying on second hand information. I was there in April last year. Things weren’t as bad back then, but they were bad. You can see a short talk I gave about my time in Venezuela here:

I have been updated by my friends in Caracas from time to time since then, and yesterday I received another update: [Note, english is his second language, so forgive the typos and grammatical errors please]

It’s been a tough six months. We’ve faced a very difficult economical situation, having to lean on our parents’ help, since we tried to start up projects like the one about the shoes to no avail, without good or prompt results. We have been sick with different viruses like Zika and we also faced gastric problems because the water is very contaminaned and it’s not being treated at all. Going out to buy food is aalways a quest and let’s not talk about medicine!! We’ve been robery victims more than five times so far this year. Because of that we decided to move abroad. We think Spain is the best place for us because of documents and legalization reasons. Some friends and relative live there and they can be our hosts and help us the first days. We started doing the paperwork and selling our goods so we can leave as soon as possible, but one of the most difficult things is buying a plane ticket. Not only because of price but also because it is difficult to find tickets. It is almost impossible to find an international flight at a fair price.

Stop and think about how bad things have to be to feel that Spain is a better place to try and find work for a young man and woman, given that the Spanish youth unemployment rate is over 40% and the overall rate in excess of 20%. But for a young couple trying to survive in Caracas, they like those odds…

This young man and his wife played ‘tour guides’ to my wife and I when we were there. We had a great time, they showed us the best aspects of their home city whilst keeping us safe and out of trouble in the most dangerous non-warzone in the world. They understand, and said in as many words, that Socialism is the problem. They have tried to start businesses and create opportunities for themselves time and time again to no avail. They did not bring this upon themselves, they are trapped in a country where others chose economic suicide against their wishes (and the wishes of millions of other Venezuelans as well, there are a lot of Venezuelans who understand that socialism is killing them, but they don’t have power) and they are now paying the price for other people’s greed and naivete.

I have a real soft spot for them and my wife and I are discussing what we can do to help them get out. Yes it’s only two people in a sea of misery, but they’re two people we can help, and two people that I know will work their asses off if given half a chance at a better life.

I know from when I was there that a ticket from Colombia to Caracas (a 1 hour flight) was nearly $1,000AUD each. Consider the plight of Venezuelans who are lucky if they earn the minimum wage of $30USD PER MONTH. The idea that they could ever get out on their own is laughable. Their ‘socialist paradise’ has become a prison for them. Tickets to Spain will cost 5-10 years worth of their minimum wage, and that’s if someone is lucky enough to have a job.

If you’d like to help my wife and me to help them get to Spain, please send me an email via my Contact page and lets see if between a few of us we can pull together the necessary thousands (I’m trying to confirm exactly how much these tickets will cost right now) to get these guys out, and at least give their story a happy ending before things get worse.

Follow Topher:
Website: topherfield.net
Facebook: Facebook.com/topherfield
Instagram: @topherfield
Twitter: @topherfield
Youtube: Youtube.com/topherfield
Subscribestar: Subscribestar.com/topherfield