Week-05: Response

What impacts to the individual, both economically and emotionally, are witnessed within a totalitarian government?
by @mackenziejones

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While the country I am going to talk about is currently proclaiming itself as a socialist country, which is, in fact, a major lie, I personally view it and many from the said country view it as a totalitarian or even a dictatorship. The country in question is Venezuela. I pick this country to focus on because I have witnessed firsthand some of the effects of totalitarianism but also my family who still live there are experiencing it today. There are for sure emotional and economic impacts that are occurring in Venezuela because of the past and current presidents. I visited Venezuela in the winter of 2010, and as soon as I entered the airport in Florida to fly to international I noticed the emotional impacts. At the time Venezuela was not on terrible terms with Americans but they for sure were not a fan of us either. The TSA employees had informed us about the possibility of them trying to detain my father once he landed in Venezuela because he had given up his Venezuelan citizenship to be an American citizen. President Chavez had tried to enforce a law saying that all native Venezuelans were required to have their Venezuelan passports in order to enter the country which he no longer had.
However, we were able to enter the country without a problem. Once we landed and were driving on the highway I had seen fully armed military with heavy auto guns standing at random areas on the freeway. There was an uneasiness in the country and I could feel the never-ending feeling of uncertainty and fear from everyone I interacted with. Economically the country had slowly been on the decline and some of the most beautiful tourist attractions had been dilapidated for years. While it was very sad the worst experience was yet to come under the rule of Nicolas Maduro. He began enforcing strike laws of inhumane order and sent in the military to violently suppress protests. The bolivar, the Venezuela currency, had already been equal to about 1/100th of a dollar when I visited but since Maduro has taken over 1 USD is equal to about 4 million bolivars. I have watched the people and my family be emotionally abused, suppressed and fear for their lives because of this new president and Economically Venezuela went from being the richest country in South America to be one of, if not the, poorest countries in South America. The people are struggling to survive and are severely depressed by the situation.
Totalitarian or dictatorship do not give any regard to the people of their country unless they passionately support the leader. If the countries are lucky, the leader will strive to be a wealthy country however most of the time any wealth that comes into the country goes into their pocketbook. There are zero positive effects of totalitarian governments, all they bring is pain and suffering to innocents purely for their own personal gain.

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