Two things:<p>1) In this piece, Joel Hirst makes a reference to Ayn Rand as though she had something relevant to say about Venezuela, civilization, or for that matter, anything. That alone raises a red flag for me. He&#x27;s declaring himself on the side of the Objectivists. Who is John Galt? The embodiment of selfishness and much of what is wrong with capitalism.<p>2) Joel Hirst is a &quot;Fellow in Human Freedom&quot; at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bushcenter.org&#x2F;people&#x2F;joel-hirst.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bushcenter.org&#x2F;people&#x2F;joel-hirst.html</a> I&#x27;m not sure there is a single title in America that denotes greater intellectual fraudulence or moral bankruptcy than that. You can trace a straight line from Kissinger, the Argentine Junta and Reagan&#x27;s Contras down to George W. Bush and his fellows in human freedom. So Joel is firmly on the side of oppression in Latin America. Remember that when you read his fairly shallow analogy between Venezuela and fallen civilizations.<p>I do not support Chavez or his politics, but I do recognize that America and US allies have presented very few palatable choices to the peoples of Latin America, and the Joel Hirsts of the world will not save the Amazonian peasants with their visions of John Galt.