When Hugo Chavez, the late socialist dictator of Venezuela, died, critics and maverick lawmakers of that starving, destitute wasteland began a daring campaign to expose to citizens just how much the Chavez family had enriched themselves at the people's expense. It wasn't pretty:

[T]he late-president's family owns 17 country estates, totaling more than 100,000 acres, in addition to liquid assets of $550 million (£360 million) stored in various international bank accounts, according to Venezuelan news website Noticias Centro.



While ordinary Venezuelans suffer growing food shortages and 23 per cent inflation, the Chavez family trades in US dollars that now fetch four times the official bank rate on the black market.



Living in numerous mansions in Alto Barinas, the city's most affluent district, the family and their children live a life of privilege…

Sadly, this narrative isn't unique to Venezuela. Instead it's the long-repeated playbook of socialist regimes and dictators throughout history:

Vilify the country's rich and successful. Exaggerate the plight of the common man. Cast themselves as the champion of the people.

And the outcome is always the same:

Destroy the country's wealth and prosperity. Exacerbate the suffering and spread the misery. Enrich themselves personally at the people's expense.

With as routinely as this has happened in the last century, it is depressingly astounding that so many are yet to grow wise to it. Biblically, there's an obvious explanation for it: envy and greed. A shrewd and charismatic socialist seizes upon these two human vices to sell the masses their snake-oil. If you doubt that, consider what's happening right here in the richest country in the history of the world.

Socialist Bernie Sanders has mobilized an entire swath of the population by making them believe that people like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are unfairly profiting off of what rightly belongs to the rest of us. Of course, the reality is that far from taking food off my table, the efforts of those two men have greatly improved my lot in life, my financial position, and my future. But gratefulness and contentment aren't lucrative to the socialist – covetousness is.

So devious the socialist strategy, his acolytes don't even realize what he's doing. And if they start to see warning signs, they ignore them. The Dear Leader will not be questioned.

Not even if he rails against millionaires while himself being a millionaire.

Not even if he bemoans obscene wealth while owning 3 mansions.

Not even if he denigrates the elites while flying private and First Class.

Not even if he demonizes the powerful while attempting to consolidate power himself.

Not even if he maligns the exploitative corporatist while he commits the same sin:

Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont faces numerous scandals or potential scandals regarding his family's financial practices and the bookkeeping practices of his past campaigns. Sanders' former congressional campaigns funneled money to Sanders' wife and stepdaughter. Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign fed millions of dollars to a makeshift political ad buying company run by Sanders' wife's friends.

The man takes his donor's dollars, then pays his "consultants" their fees not ever disclosing that those "consultants" are dummy companies headed by friends and family. He's pulling a Chavez, dishonestly enriching himself from his subjects (donors).

And just like Chavez enjoyed the mindless support of many he so gratuitously exploited, watch the Bernie Bros rally to defend the man manipulating them for power and profit.

It's no surprise the facts prove Bernie Sanders is deceitful – socialists always have been. It's a necessary part of aspiring to be a socialist leader. The only question that remains is whether America's political left will have enough brains to see through him and self-respect to demand better.

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