Opinion
How Will We Feel When They Turn Out The Lights?
Why do migrants come to us in such huge numbers, unable to speak the language, to be shunned, abused, and maligned?
In a book, “Things are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse”, William Neuman included two unforgettable eyewitness accounts of the economic collapse of a once-wealthy U.S. ally, Venezuela, with a hard-won democracy that was suddenly unplugged:
“[We] were isolated. There was no news. No TV. No radio. No cell phone signal. No data plan. No internet, no social media. No one from the government ever came to say what was going on. The government never sent water, never sent food or medicine. No police officers, no firemen, no rescue workers, no one to tell you what was happening and how long it would last. That was the most important question as the days dragged on — How long would it last.” (Neuman, 2022, p. 21)
“The power goes out. At first you think, no big deal, it’ll come back on in a few hours. Then as black night settles down all around, you think, It’ll come back in the morning. Then in the morning you think, later today we’ll have power. Later that day: Certainly the lights will come back on by tomorrow. And as the days go by and there is no power and no news, you start to wonder: What if it doesn’t come back on at all? And then the food runs out. Or it spoils in the heat. And you have no cash (hardly anyone has cash anymore, because on top of the shortages of food and medicine, there’s a cash shortage). And without power the bank machines don’t work. And the stores can’t sell you food because the card readers don’t work. And it’s over 90 degrees. And there’s no air conditioning. And there’s no running water. And you can’t bathe. And you can’t sleep. And still no one tells you what’s going on. Or how long it will last — And time starts to bend.” (Neuman, 2022, p. 22)
The following report from the AP explains how it happens. By refusing to buy their oil, we just made it worse for them:
It is worth noting here that AP (Associated Press) reporters were recently banned from our White House, allegedly for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico something else.
Creating chaos in other countries and then refusing refuge to the victims of that chaos is inhumane. Why are we doing this?
Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and the companies once benefiting from it were U.S. companies. Venezuelan oil was critical to winning WW II. Since then, Venezuela took back control of their own resources but the US still imported their oil. Maduro was, it turns out, duly elected in spite of destabilizing lies to the contrary. So, why are we forcing them to again side with Russia? I leave it to you, the reader, but will the last one out of our federal government turn out the lights?
Reference: Neuman, W. (2022). “Things are never so bad that they can’t get worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela” — St. Martin’s Press.
C.A. Wulf
Warren County, VA
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