I went to the fridge to get some milk for my coffee and realized we were almost out. In a house with four kids, milk is something you don’t want to run out of, so I asked the wife if we needed anything else, and then left for the store.

There were several different stores I could go to to get milk, including convenience stores, but the milk we buy is only sold at one store. It’s from a dairy here in Missouri called Heartland Creamery. We like to buy Heartland because any profits they make go to faith-based work with troubled youth. We buy locally, get delicious milk and get to help a kid at the same time. Win-win-win for us.

The typical American supermarket has about 30,000 items and I have no doubt that this one meets that standard. I shop here often and know where the milk is located. It’s in the opposite corner from the entrance. If you think that is a coincidence, think again. I skip the carts and enter the store.

To get to the milk, I have to walk through the produce department, which is stacked with fruits and vegetables, everything from strawberries to sweet potatoes.

I then enter the bakery, where my friend Tye and his crew are making bread, rolls, cakes and cookies. They give cookies away to the customer’s children, but I am alone today, so I just wave and turn the corner into the meat department.

There are so many different kinds of meat here. In the deli, there are different meats and cheeses for sandwiches, and stacked out in front of the cases are pickles and condiments. In the meat case, there are T-bones, sirloins, salmon, pork chops, chicken legs, chicken thighs…you get the idea. Almost any kind of meat I wanted, I could get.

But I came for milk.

I can see the milk case. It is full. In the case, there is still a decision to be made. The case has whole milk, 2%, 1% and skim. They have it in one gallon plastic containers, but they also offer it in half gallon glass bottles. You have to put down a deposit for the bottles, but it’s your choice whether you want plastic or glass.

I also have do decide whether I want white, chocolate or strawberry. If I want to give the kids a treat, I could get them a pint of strawberry or chocolate milk in a little glass bottle. And, if I felt the urge, I could switch to goat’s milk. It’s quite a bit cheaper in some stores. Lactose intolerant? Try the soy milk or the rice milk.

If, for whatever reason, you didn’t want to buy from this producer, you could choose from other sellers. In the same store, they carry milk from Robert’s, Anderson/Erickson and the store brand. Their gallons come in plastic containers also, but their half-gallons and quarts come in cardboard containers, like you probably got with your school lunch in elementary. They also offer chocolate, but not strawberry.

I grab three gallons of 2% milk from the Heartland Creamery case and head for the check-out. Since it is made locally, Heartland is a little less expensive than the others, so I don’t have to pay too much for it. The cashier tells me my total, the bagger bags the milk up, I pay and walk out the door.

Buying milk is such a simple, common everyday thing. Most people don’t even think about all the choices they have, just in buying milk. So why write about it?

In Venezuela, they are now standing in line to get powdered milk. Not whole, 2%, 1%, or skim, but powdered. Not chocolate or strawberry in half-gallons, quarts or pints, in cardboard or glass, but powdered.

It isn’t just milk either. Beef? Good luck. Sugar? Try again. Chicken, eggs or rice? Not in Venezuela.

The food shortage is so bad, that Venezuela imported 74,000 tons of food items last month, just to avoid a “food crisis.” Chavez has demanded that food producers increase production, but the country still faces shortages.

Rather than accept that the socialist policies are once again failing, as they have failed throughout history, leftists blame capitalists:

It is undeniable that the campaign by the right-wing private media has been a crucial factor in fuelling (sic) discontent, demonstrating the ongoing influence the old ruling elites that own the private media continue to have. This campaign has helped make the shortages worse as spooked customers rush to stock up.

What is undeniable is the inability of socialism to meet the needs of people. In Zimbabwe, they face the same problems, for the same reasons. And respond in same socialist fashion.

Zimbabwe is what Venezuela will look like in a few years. It is already walking down the same path. Recently, Zimbabwe released a $10,000,000 bill, because inflation in Zimbabwe is 50,000% a year. In Venezuela, Chavez proudly announced his own new currency, the “strong bolivar.” Why does Venezuela need a “strong bolivar?” Inflation:

While Venezuela earns record proceeds from oil exports, consumers face shortages of meat, flour and cooking oil. Annual inflation has risen to 16 percent, the highest in Latin America, as Chávez tripled government spending in four years.

…

The bolivar has tumbled 30 percent this year to 4,850 per dollar on the black market, the only place it trades freely because of government controls on foreign exchange. That compares with the official rate of 2,150 per dollar set in 2005. Chávez may have to devalue the bolivar to reduce the gap and increase oil proceeds, which make up half the government’s revenue.

Chavez’s socialist policies will reduce Venezuela to the same level as Zimbabwe, despite the record oil revenues. There are already food shortages, and inflation. For $10,000,000 Zimbabwe, you can buy one gallon of Heartland Creamery milk, but not much else. The strong bolivar will follow the same path.

Only, in Venezuela and Zimbabwe, there isn’t any milk to buy. Telling someone, “I bought a gallon of milk today” would be a big deal. People would want to know where you bought it and was there any left. But in America, I can find anything I want in a small town of 10,000 people. In fact, in the nearby town of 1,500, I could get just about the same choices.

Socialism fails everywhere it is tried. It always has, and always will. While capitalism may be the unequal distribution of wealth, socialism is the equal distribution of poverty. The only exception is the ruling elite.

I doubt Hugo was waiting in line for powdered milk.

UPDATE

To read about this situation from a Venezuelan perspective, read this post from Antipatriotic Venezuelan. We Americans should count our blessings every day we wake up in the United States. -Andrew