{"id":15591,"date":"2026-01-06T10:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T15:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/?p=15591"},"modified":"2026-01-06T10:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T15:03:00","slug":"im-venezuelan-i-lived-there-most-of-my-life-until-my-early-twenties-before-socialism-venezuela-was-not-perfect-but-it-worked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/im-venezuelan-i-lived-there-most-of-my-life-until-my-early-twenties-before-socialism-venezuela-was-not-perfect-but-it-worked\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m Venezuelan. I lived there most of my life until my early twenties. Before socialism, Venezuela was not perfect, but it worked."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mike Netter<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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Sentiments of Venezuelans <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m going to say this once, and I don\u2019t care if it makes people uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

If you have never lived in Venezuela
\nIf you did not grow up there
\nIf you did not watch your country collapse in real time
\nIf you did not stand in food lines
\nIf you did not watch your parents lose everything they built
\nIf you did not have to leave your home with nothing <\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then shut the fuck up. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
You do not have an opinion. <\/span><\/div>\n
Your opinion does not matter. <\/span><\/div>\n
And you don\u2019t get to lecture anyone about what\u2019s happening there. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m Venezuelan.
\nI lived there most of my life until my early twenties.
\nI watched my country go from a functioning democracy to full blown socialism right in front of my eyes. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This is not politics to me. <\/span><\/div>\n
This is trauma. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Before socialism, Venezuela was not perfect, but it worked. <\/span><\/div>\n
There was trade. <\/span><\/div>\n
There was money coming in. <\/span><\/div>\n
There was investment from the US. There were jobs. <\/span><\/div>\n
There was food. <\/span><\/div>\n
There was medicine. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My family had five businesses. <\/span><\/div>\n
We had our home <\/span><\/div>\n
We had investments. <\/span><\/div>\n
We had a future. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then the government started nationalizing everything. <\/span><\/div>\n
Private companies were taken. <\/span><\/div>\n
Foreign investors were pushed out. <\/span><\/div>\n
Imports were blocked. <\/span><\/div>\n
Price controls destroyed production. <\/span><\/div>\n
Corruption exploded. <\/span><\/div>\n
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And everything died. <\/span><\/div>\n
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Not slowly. <\/span><\/div>\n
Violently. <\/span><\/div>\n
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People didn\u2019t suddenly become poor because of \u201ccapitalism\u201d or \u201cthe US\u201d or whatever bullshit slogan people like to repeat online. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They became poor because socialism destroyed incentives, destroyed production, destroyed trust, and destroyed hope. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
People today in Venezuela are not debating ideology. <\/span><\/div>\n
They are trying to survive. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They are trying to find food. <\/span><\/div>\n
Trying to find medication. <\/span><\/div>\n
Trying to keep their families alive. <\/span><\/div>\n
So when I see people in the West posting from comfortable homes, full fridges, stable currencies, and safe streets talking about \u201cimperialism\u201d or \u201cUS bad\u201d or \u201cTrump this or that\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
No. <\/span><\/div>\n
It\u2019s not complicated. <\/span><\/div>\n
You\u2019re just ignorant. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
China is not rebuilding Venezuela. <\/span><\/div>\n
Russia is not rebuilding Venezuela. <\/span><\/div>\n
Cartels are not rebuilding Venezuela. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They are stealing. <\/span><\/div>\n
They are extracting. <\/span><\/div>\n
They are draining what\u2019s left. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If the US comes in and reinvests <\/span><\/div>\n
If refineries get rebuilt <\/span><\/div>\n
If infrastructure gets restored <\/span><\/div>\n
If imports open back up <\/span><\/div>\n
If food, water, and medicine become accessible again <\/span><\/div>\n
If people can work and earn with dignity <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then yes. <\/span><\/div>\n
Let them take all the oil they want. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Because at least something gets built instead of destroyed. <\/span><\/div>\n
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This is something to celebrate. <\/span><\/div>\n
Not because it\u2019s perfect. <\/span><\/div>\n
But because for the first time in a long time, there is hope. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hope that families can eat. <\/span><\/div>\n
Hope that people don\u2019t have to flee their country. <\/span><\/div>\n
Hope that Venezuela can function again. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If you\u2019ve never lived through a country collapsing <\/span><\/div>\n
If you\u2019ve never watched socialism destroy everything around you <\/span><\/div>\n
If you\u2019ve never had to leave your home because staying meant starvation <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then again <\/span><\/div>\n
Shut the fuck up. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This isn\u2019t theory. <\/span><\/div>\n
This isn\u2019t politics. <\/span><\/div>\n
This is lived experience. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
By Stephen Subero<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00b7<\/span><\/div>\n
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Mike Netter Sentiments of Venezuelans I\u2019m going to say this once, and I don\u2019t care if it makes people uncomfortable. If you have never lived in Venezuela If you did not grow up there If you did not watch your country collapse in real time If you did not stand in food lines If you … Continue reading I\u2019m Venezuelan. I lived there most of my life until my early twenties. Before socialism, Venezuela was not perfect, but it worked.<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15595,"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591\/revisions\/15595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}