In 1979 before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the exchange rate was 70 Iranian Rials to one U.S. Dollar. Today that number has grown to 119,000 to 1 U.S. Dollar. Iranian currency is in a dramatic death spiral. It's dropped 18 percent in the past two days alone. Annual inflation is now at 221 percent.
And why is this happening now? Primarily due to the threat of U.S. sanctions returning. The first round is set to begin on Monday. The second round, hitting Iran's oil industry, begins in November.
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Iran's economy is collapsing and the sanctions haven't even officially begun yet. Social unrest has been breaking out all over the country. Food and water shortages are pushing people to the brink. Protesters have been heard yelling "Death to Khamenei" rather than "Death to America."
This is what would have happened, had the Obama administration not given Iran a lifeline with the nuke deal. They were at the breaking point, but we decided it was wise to infuse the world's largest state sponsor of terror with billions of dollars.
But let's pivot quickly to another failing state... Venezuela. The IMF just announced that the inflation rate in Venezuela will hit one million percent by the end of the year. I won't even bother telling you what the exchange rate is. Let's just say... it's bad. Fortune magazine reported back in May that the fake currency in the video game World of Warcraft was more valuable than the Bolivar.
So why group Venezuela and Iran together? Yes they're both failing states, but what else do they have in common? You'll never hear a Leftist, or probably even a Democrat, make this admission, but Iran and Venezuela are both examples of a failed socialist experiment. Sure, the revolution in Iran was anti-West, but it was also anti-capitalist. Redistribution and socialist ideology were co-partners with their Islamic ideology. In Iran, the government owns and operates all aspects of the economy. It's state owned and state directed. It's true Islamic socialism.
The fake currency in the video game World of Warcraft was more valuable than the Bolivar.
And, like Venezuela, socialism is killing the country. It's sucking it dry. Iran and Venezuela are two countries with vast amounts of oil reserves. There's no reason why they shouldn't be economic juggernauts.
When the state controls the economy, their people suffer. How many more examples do we need before we finally see the lie that is this new popular wave of American Democratic Socialists?
It doesn't matter how flashy the PR campaign. In the end... socialism kills.
