Adam Smith said there is a lot of ruin in a country, but Venezuela is getting ridiculous. How much lower can socialism drag that once-prosperous place? Venezuelans have eaten their pets and raided zoos for dinner; now, Telemundo reports (via Breitbart) that thousands of Venezuelan girls are turning to prostitution out of desperation:

A report from the American Spanish-language channel Telemundo recounts a 13-year-old girl’s experience of the sex trade. “Neither my mother nor my father can give me the things I need, such as food or school necessities,” the girl said.

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Oscar Misle, the director of the CECODAP, an organization seeking to prevent child abuse, said that approximately 45,000 young people had been forced to give up their ambitions to work as sex slaves or child prostitutes. The number of Venezuelans selling sex has risen exponentially in recent years, as people are forced into the industry as a means of survival. Women charge between 80,000 to 160,000 bolivares, the equivalent of two to four dollars an hour, although some can be found for under a dollar.

If this is the destiny you want for your daughters and granddaughters, it can easily be achieved. Just vote for socialists like Bernie Sanders.

Of course, one problem with being a prostitute in Venezuela is that Venezuelans don’t have any money:

Thousands of young women have also fled the country to sell sex at higher rates elsewhere, primarily in neighboring Colombia, leading to a huge increase in human trafficking activity.

Advocates of a higher minimum wage should take note of the fact that Venezuela has a minimum wage; in fact, the Maduro government increased it by 50% just three months ago. Strangely, that failed to ameliorate the crisis.

According to latest exchange rates, Venezuela’s monthly minimum wage of 97,500 bolivars is now down to $2.37, equivalent to just over one cent an hour.

How bad do things have to get before the people rise up and hang Maduro from a lamppost?