Name: When Insanity Becomes Normal - Venezuela
Uploaded: 2020-03-28T09:14:30.000Z
Duration: 6 min 10 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

For weeks my friend Ever has been living under siege.

He's not a soldier, a diplomat, a protester or a revolutionary.

Adverbs of degree

He's just a regular citizen of Venezuela.

Venezuela is in the middle of an uprising.

The reasons, of course, are complicated myriad

but since the death of President Hugo Chavez  one year ago

the economic situation has become increasingly dire.

And major nationwide protests began on  February 12, 2014

This news is largely been overshadowed by recent arguably more serious events in Ukraine,

but just because Venezuela is not a conduit for petroleum products

between Russia and Western Europe nor a  proxy for the conflict between the two

and just because the death toll during protests in Venezuela hasn't yet reached the hundreds,

doesn't mean that life is good for its citizens.

He lives in Ciudad Guayana, a city of a million along the Orinoco River in eastern Venezuela.

It is Venezuela's sixth-largest city with a dozen universities

a major industrial center for iron and aluminum,

because on an average day in Ever's neighborhood

and protesters barricading the main roads

so the Guardia Nacional and everyone else can't get to where they're going.

about the dysfunctional nature of life and so-called socialist Venezuela.

Whenever the internet or power in  Ciudad Guayana would go down

or Ever had to wait three hours in line to buy rice,

He would describe the situation with the hashtag: #ThirdWorldProblems

Now Ever and his family and neighbors and countrymen have spent two months in a state of uncertainty.

They still have third world problems on their hands

(even while those problems continue to persist).

And then this week something else caught my attention.

I'm getting a little worried that your standards for quiet

and several vehicles were lit on fire on your street.

Today it was quiet and a National Guard  man was hit by a bomb.

I'm saying this partly in jest, but also to remind you what peaceful life is really like,

so you don't become complacent and start accepting

I forgot to give you context for the video.

They call it mata suegra, tu ma rancho, bin laden, etc.

That guard was the captain that was leading.

He got a very bad looking injury in the upper left leg.

was referring to what happened after those events

And that made me think about my personality

I mean I know that it shouldn't be happening

and even end up fighting and looting to get those goods

I live in the country with an insane dysfunctional economy,

where there's nothing cheaper than gasoline.

Where people have gotten rich making money

by trafficking it and other subsidizing goods.

that took the life of more than 24,000 during 2013 only.

and live with a comfort that honest working people

Where at least half the population ratifies the disaster

by voting in favor of the 15 year long revolution.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

When Insanity Becomes Normal - Venezuela

insane

situation

frustration

toll