Here in the U.S., the press enthusiastically cheers on “democratic socialists” like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. But in the real home of democratic socialism, Venezuela, things aren’t so rosy. We have been covering for some time the long, catastrophic collapse of that country. If you have no need of toilet paper and like to eat rats for dinner–when you can catch them before your neighbors do–socialism is the system for you.

At Hot Air, Jazz Shaw has the latest:

At this point, the United Nations estimates that three million citizens of Venezuela have fled the rule of their tyrant and they are now among the top source of people seeking asylum in dozens of nations. From Canada to Australia, from Spain to Argentina, from Lebanon to Sweden, Venezuelans are not only emigrating in large numbers but nowadays claiming asylum in 41 countries. At present, Venezuelans top the list of foreign nationals claiming asylum protection in United States, Spain, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Aruba, and Curaçao. They are the second largest claimant group in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Last month, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR and the International Organization of Migration IOM estimated the number of Venezuelans fleeing their country at 3 million.

Nice going, socialists!

None of this should ever have been an issue. There was no reason for this tragedy to befall the Venezuelan people. Their country boasts vast agricultural expanses which are fertile enough to feed most of South America and used to do so year after year. They sit upon the largest proven reserves of crude oil in the world. They should be swimming in food and riches. But the socialist tyranny of Nicolas Maduro and his kleptocratic government have destroyed it all.

Yes, but let’s not forget Hugo Chavez, a hero of American liberals including, I think, Barack Obama. Chavez’s family and cronies emerged from the Venezuelan disaster with billions, while everyone else verged on starvation. But hey, that’s socialism!

The system that a burgeoning faction of the Democratic Party is trying to bring to the United States.

By way of comparison, at the end of World War II there were something like 11 million displaced persons in Europe. In Venezuela, socialism has achieved the same order of magnitude in a population of only 32 million. So let’s bring it to the U.S., right? That is what our press and a large part of the Democratic Party are telling us.