In Socialist Venezuela, Barbie for the Masses

[Bacchus4.0]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/socialist-venezuela-barbie-tree-26834818

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Mothers, grandmothers and beaming little girls are grabbing armfuls of the dolls in toy stores across Caracas, taking advantage of the government's order that large chains sell the plastic figurines at fire-sale prices during the holiday shopping season.

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Within minutes, the entire stock was gone, with the dolls selling for as little as 250 bolivars — $2.50 at the widely used black market conversion rate.

Venezuela's socialist government has long imposed price caps on essential products, from milk to laundry detergent, and threatened merchants who hoard goods or sell them at unfairly high margins with jail time.

Now President Nicolas Maduro is making the Barbie doll, often derided by leftists as a training tool for capitalist consumerism, a highlight of this year's "Operation Merry Christmas," which he presented as an effort to prevent speculators from ruining the holidays.

Maduro's mentor, the late President Hugo Chavez, once denounced "the stupidity of Barbie" and called for Venezuela to develop its own iconic children's toys.

[blueboy2727]

1. Interesting

The state tried to impose it's own ideology on the concept of children's toys, and individual choice just drove on through it.

Guess people don't want to be told what to like by the government.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. Yep, but in places like Ven and Cuba they simply can't deal with personal choice n/t

[blueboy2727]

3. That's why it doesn't work

Even if it were implemented on a global scale, and without outer influences shipping it in, it would and does foster black markets.

[Bacchus4.0]

6. I wonder why the government settled on Barbie as the toy of choice though. Must have been quite

the strategy session on such an important topic.

[blueboy2727]

7. Because another hallmark of modern "socialist" governments

Is corruption and under the table dealing. Pay some military general or department boss on the side and get a plumb deal.

[MADem]

4. Well, no one will buy Barbies to sell in VZ in future if the sellers get ripped off like that.

So those will be the last ones for awhile, I guess.

Given the popularity of plastic surgery in VZ (look at their beauty queens) it is no wonder that Barbie is popular.

[Bacchus4.0]

5. Indeed, they are being forced to sell at a loss for political purposes n/t