This is the story of how the new global economy was born, a century-long battle as to which would control the commanding heights of the world’s economies — governments or markets; the story of intellectual combat over which economic system would truly benefit mankind; the story of epic political struggles to implant those ideas on the nations of the world.

For more than half a century the battle of ideas will rage. From the totalitarian socialist systems to the fascist states, from the independent nations of the developing world to the mixed economies of Europe and the regulated capitalism of the United States, government planning will gradually take over the commanding heights.

But in the 1970s, with Keynesian theory at its height and communism fully entrenched, economic stagnation sets in on all sides. When a British grocer’s daughter and a former Hollywood actor become heads of state, they join forces around the ideas of Hayek, and new political and economic policies begin to transform the world.

Chapters
		Chapter 1: Prologue [2:45] Chapter 2: The Old Order Fails [8:11] Chapter 3: Communism on the Heights [6:16] Chapter 4: A Capitalist Collapse [8:48] Chapter 5: Global Depression [5:26] Chapter 6: Worldwide War [7:00] Chapter 7: Planning the Peace [6:47] Chapter 8: Pilgrim Mountain [3:43] Chapter 9: Germany’s Bold Move [4:11] Chapter 10: India’s Way [3:51] Chapter 11: Chicago Against The Tide [7:32] Chapter 12: The Specter of Stagflation [6:34] Chapter 13: A Mixed Economy Flounders [8:36] Chapter 14: Deregulation Takes Off [7:29] Chapter 15: Thatcher Takes the Helm [3:50] Chapter 16: Reagan Rides In [8:17] Chapter 17: War in the South Atlantic [1:41] Chapter 18: The Heights Go Up for Sale [8:08] Chapter 19: The Battle Decided? [3:26]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/hi/story/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/tr_show01.html

BBC Mundo’s Daniel Pardo tests how long it takes to buy even the most basic goods in Caracas amid massive queues for food.

We live in a land of plenty. In America we can buy almost anything anytime we want. Our system of free market capitalism has given us almost unlimited choices at the most reasonable prices anywhere.

But, this is far different than how people live in Marxist, socialist countries.

When Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez first came to power, he liked to claim that he wasn’t a Marxist. He preferred to refer to his takeover as a “Bolivarian revolution.”

However, over the course of his reign, his tune changed and his real intention quickly became clear. Almost immediately, he announced that “We’re moving toward a socialist republic of Venezuela” and started telling anyone who’d listen that, if Bolivar were alive today, he’d be a committed socialist.Eventually, he was happy to call himself a communist, and in the later days of his reign he was openly singing the praises of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.

So how has Chavez’s Communist “utopia” worked out for the average person living in Venezuela?  As Herman Cain reports, a BBC reporter decided to find out.

Now, despite the horrors he wrought, Venezuela is trying to move forward as the “people’s utopia” he envisioned. Since the stellar global success rate of Marxian Socialism is indisputable, everything there is humming alongwonderfully.

In fact, it’s been so successful that BBC reporter Daniel Pardo decided to engage in a little experiment.

He took a camera crew and filmed himself as he attempted to pluck 8 common household items from the bounty that the glorious state has provided. Those items are:

Milk
Coffee
Corn flour
Detergent
Cooking oil
Shampoo
Toilet paper
Dish soap

If this wasn’t so tragic, it would be almost funny.  But, this is the reality of government control of an economy – no variety of products and vast shortages of even the staples.

If this video doesn’t convince people how silly Marxism is when put into practice, nothing will.

Freedom = prosperity and opportunity.  Marxism = poverty and want.  It always has been this way and it will always be this way; no matter what your average “community organizer” tells you!