<div>--- <A href="http://us.f514.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ylle521@highstream.net&YY=4969&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=up&sort=date&pos=0&view=a"><FONT color=#003399>ylle521@highstream.net</FONT></A> wrote:> <BR>> 40 months max, according to Wikipedia.<BR>> <BR>> And it may be that the "live within capitalism"<BR>> approach of Chavez is <BR>> not the ultimate answer, but I'd argue that the<BR>> poorer (aka browner) <BR>> folk of Venezuela are doing better than right now<BR>> than they were <BR>> before. And as is the case in Cuba: how can a<BR>> third world leftist <BR>> govt hope to survive on this planet without<BR>> exercising the controls <BR>> they do on their media, etc? Isn't it plain that<BR>> the spontaneous <BR>> support of "the people" is not always enough to cut<BR>> it, to "safeguard <BR>> the revolution"?<BR>> <BR>> Maria
<BR>***********************************************</div> <div> </div> <div>While I appreciate the realities of expropriating surplus value and</div> <div>funneling it back to the workers, I would also think it possible</div> <div>to be able to do this within a civil libertarian context. A worker should</div> <div>be able to say, "Chavez sucks" without being thrown in the slammer</div> <div>for an uttered thought crime. After all, if we don't know why other workers</div> <div>might say, "Chavez sucks", we wouldn't be able to solve the problem or</div> <div>clear the air which generated such a thought. If it is just, "Chavez sucks because</div> <div>my employer is unhappy or the religious authorties don't like seeing</div> <div>the women going to school (a la Afghanistan) then, we can ignore </div> <div>the comment. But, if it is something akin to, "Chavez sucks because </div> <div>he is siphoning money into a secret Swiss bank
account....." well, that's</div> <div>another matter. </div> <div> </div> <div>Best,</div> <div>Mike B)</div><BR><BR>Read "Penguins in Bondage":<br>http://happystiletto.blogspot.com/<p> 
<hr size=1>How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/postman8/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=39663/*http://voice.yahoo.com"> PC-to-Phone call rates.