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Would You Trade Your Freedom for Survival?

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro inside the Cartagena Indias Convention Center in Cartagena, Colombia, on September 26, 2016. [State Department Photo/Public Domain]

In Venezuela, reports The Wall Street Journal, the socialist Maduro government is using the threat of food ration curtailment to force citizens to vote for the regime.
Ryan Dube, Kejal Vyas and Anatoly Kurmanaev write:

A 32-year-old teacher, she’s fed up with President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Her salary has fallen to the equivalent of $2 a month with Venezuela’s currency collapse. She struggles to feed her 10-year-old son and is unable to treat the small tumor on her breast because the health-care system is in shambles.

Still, Ms. Meza voted for the ruling Socialist Party in recent mayoral elections, fearing that otherwise she would have lost her state job and benefits—especially the monthly bags of rice, corn flour and other subsidized food she says keeps her family alive. She also plans to vote for Mr. Maduro in the May 20 presidential election

“If I didn’t vote, there would be trouble, I was told,” she said in this arid town near the Colombian border. “They are playing with people’s hunger.”

Would you trade your freedom for mere survival? It’s hard in America to imagine the plight of those living under despotic socialist regimes, using hunger and health as tools of power.

Venezuelans gave away their freedom long ago, with the election of the now deceased Hugo Chavez. With promises of a socialist revolution, Chavez charmed his way into the hearts of poor Venezuelans who were simply looking for a better life. What they got instead was despotism, hunger, pain, and suffering. Now they are so dependent on the government, it can hold them hostage to the hunger it created for them.

The takeaway here is, never sell out your freedom to the false promises of a snake-oil salesman.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com