Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, March 1, 2019

Emma Chang

Joel Danilewitz

Samantha Goldstein

Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram

Jeremy Kaplan
Elias Khoury

Magdalena Mihaylova

Ellery Rosenzweig

Jason Rowland

Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Alex Satola

 Ashley Zhang

Erin White

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Editor in Chief
MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA 

AND JOEL DANILEWITZ

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Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. 

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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

As an editorial board, 

we express our solidarity 
with 
victims 
of 
clerical 

abuse 
and 
urge 
serious 

ramifications and judicial 
impositions on members of 
the Catholic Church on both 
local and national levels, so 
as to encourage true change 
within the institution.

Pope 
Francis 
will 

soon 
issue 
a 
document 

motu proprio — a rescript 
initiated and issued by the 
pope of his own accord 
and apart from the advice 
of others, as defined by 
Merriam Webster — which 
shows his commitment to 
offering 
some 
concrete 

proposals. But how realistic 
is it to believe that the same 
institution that sponsored 
this abuse will now root 
it out? Defrocking priests 
who 
engage 
in 
sexual 

abuse 
should 
have 
been 

a consistent policy of the 
Catholic Church. Instead, 
we know that the opposite 
occurred.

In 
the 
United 
States, 

the 
2002 
Boston 
Globe 

investigation 
of 
clergy 

sex abuse in the Roman 
Catholic 
Archdiocese 
of 

Boston 
revealed 
a 
vast 

network 
of 
cover-ups 

and 
institutionalized 

sexual abuse. The face of 
public 
relations 
for 
the 

Catholic Church following 
that 
scandal, 
Theodore 

McCarrick, 
was 
recently 

defrocked from his position 
as a U.S. Cardinal after he 
was found to have solicited 
sex during confession and 
sexually abused both minors 
and adults. About one-third 
of living U.S. bishops have 
been accused of ignoring 
cases of sexual misconduct 
in 
their 
dioceses, 
while 

at 
least 
15 
bishops 
are 

themselves 
accused 
of 

committing sexual abuse.

Sexual 
abuse 
by 
the 

Catholic 
Church 
is 
a 

public safety threat to U.S. 
citizens, 
and 
since 
the 

Church has proved unable 
to police itself, it is now the 

turn of legislators to step in 
and protect the American 
people. American Catholics 
represent 
over 
one-fifth 

of the population, and our 
governing bodies need to 
do a better job of defending 
the rights of victims as well 
as taking a stronger role in 
prosecuting those involved.

Instead 
of 
providing 

a 
clear 
and 
actionable 

response 
plan 
to 
abuse 

within the church, Pope 
Francis has only offered 
“reflection 
points” 
to 

drive 
the 
conversation 

surrounding 
the 
issue. 

Since the Catholic Church 
has shown an inability to 
police itself, we at The 
Daily believe that tangible 
policy changes, as well as 
some cooperation between 
the Catholic Church and 
state governments, are the 
only path forward to help 
protect 
Americans 
from 

what should be described as 
a serious danger to Catholic 
Americans.

The issue of clerical sex 

abuse is a deeply ingrained 
problem within the Church 
and has no simple solution. 
It is difficult to overcome 
the immense wrongs of the 
Catholic 
Church 
without 

taking its vast power and 
institutional 
influence 

into 
consideration, 
while 

still acknowledging its role 
in religious and cultural 
practice. As an Editorial 
Board, 
we 
recognize 

these 
factors 
and 
again 

emphasize the importance 
of changes in policy and 
judicial relations between 
the state and Church in 
order to protect Catholic 
Americans. 
Through 
this 

acknowledgement, 
we 

propose several amendments 
that 
can 
be 
utilized 
to 

make the Church a safer 
institution.

Almost as deplorable as 

the abuse itself is the web 
of cover-ups among church 
officials, and encouraging 
reporting to outside entities 
is a way for victims to have 

an objective, legal voice. 
Allotting social workers or 
representatives to serve as 
a resource for members of 
the Church can ensure that 
victims 
are 
being 
heard 

and represented to the full 
extent of the law, while 
simultaneously 
holding 

abusers 
accountable 
for 

their crimes. Furthermore, 
in the hopes of increasing 
reporting, we urge the U.S. 
government to get involved 
legislatively 
by 
extending 

the statutes of limitations 
for these crimes. Reporting 
crimes 
— 
especially 
sex 

abuse — is a trying process, 
and allowing victims more 
time to process their trauma 
and choose a course of action 
will give more victims the 
ability 
to 
report, 
while 

re-emphasizing the fact that 
abusers of any era need to 
face 
severe 
ramifications. 

We also implore Michigan 
Attorney 
General 
Dana 

Nessel to increase judicial 
action in regards to clerical 
abuse. This is already a 
part of her platform, and 
we encourage it to be taken 
seriously 
and 
extended 

across the country.

The 
Catholic 
Church’s 

lack of willingness to self-
regulate in the aftermath of 
these crimes is indicative 
of a threat to the safety of 
Catholic Americans across 
the nation, and symbolic 
condemnations 
are 
not 

enough to overcome this 
long-standing problem. The 
absence of tangible policy 
change is inexcusable and 
underscores 
the 
Church’s 

position as an institution 
that cares little about the 
victims it has left in its path. 
The number of allegations 
and scandals has reached a 
point where we can no longer 
expect them to hold their 
own 
leaders 
accountable, 

and we therefore must urge 
our own policymakers and 
attorney generals to enforce 
greater action to protect 
the public from clerical sex 
abuse.

DYLAN BERGER | COLUMN

The catastrophic failure of socialism in Venezuela
W

hile 
it’s 
nearly 

impossible 
to 

imagine 
now, 

Venezuela 
was 
one 
of 
the 

wealthiest nations in the world 
until the 1990s. With a healthy 
democracy 
and 
burgeoning 

middle class, Venezuela was 
poised to remain prosperous for 
generations to come. Following 
the rise of socialism in Venezuela, 
however, that all changed. The 
people of Venezuela are now 
forced to endure unimaginable 
suffering due to a socioeconomic 
collapse brought about by failed 
socialist policies. Shockingly, 
the type of big government that 
has caused so much needless 
suffering in Venezuela is now 
popular in the United States. 
We must learn from Venezuela 
and reject socialist policies that 
breed human misery.

When 
I 
use 
the 
word 

socialism, I mean the wholesale 
government takeover of the 
economy. 
That 
is, 
out-of-

control government spending, 
socialized 
medicine, 
price 

controls and the like. I feel the 
need to define socialism because 
the word means a lot of different 
things to different people. In our 
discourse today, there is much 
disagreement over who or what 
qualifies as socialist and for that 
reason, I think it is necessary to 
define the term. 

Before the onset of socialism, 

Venezuela was a true economic 
powerhouse. In the 1960s and 
1970s, the country produced 
10 percent of the world’s crude 
oil and maintained a GDP per 
capita approaching that of the 
United States. At the same 
time, Venezuela could boast 
a 
democratic 
government. 

Elections occurred at regular 
five-year intervals and were 
contested peacefully by political 
parties committed to democracy 
and sensible economics. While 
the country persisted for some 
time after, the seeds of the 
inevitable decline of this thriving 
socioeconomic 
system 
were 

sown with the nationalization of 
the Venezuelan oil industry.

Former 
Venezuelan 

President Carlos Andrés Pérez 
argued that more government 
control over the oil industry 
would benefit the people instead 
of greedy industrialists. In 1976, 
he created a state oil monopoly 
called Petróleos de Venezuela 
(PDVSA) and banned foreign 
companies from the Venezuelan 
oil market. When a global oil 
glut hit the industry in the mid-
1980s, the Venezuelan state 
proved unable to cope with the 
market change. Within 10 years 
of nationalization, Venezuelan 
oil production fell by roughly 50 
percent to less than two million 
barrels a day.

Instead 
of 
embracing 

market reforms, the people 

of Venezuela turned to even 
more 
extreme 
government 

intervention to turn around the 
economy. In 1998, Venezuela 
elected self-proclaimed Marxist 
Hugo 
Chávez 
as 
president 

of Venezuela. After he was 
elected in a landslide, Chávez 
promised cheering supporters, 
“Venezuela’s 
resurrection 
is 

underway 
and 
nothing 
and 

nobody can stop it.” 

Unfortunately, the socialist 

policies 
implemented 
by 

Chávez 
proved 
devastating 

to Venezuela’s economy and 
society. 
Chávez 
instituted 

aggressive 
policies 
to 

redistribute wealth from select 
industries and individuals to his 
working-class constituency. For 
example, Chávez nationalized 
the Banco de Venezuela, or Bank 
of Venezuela, and the nation’s 
largest 
telecommunications 

company, 
CANTV. 
To 
cope 

with rising inflation resulting 
from nationalization, Chávez 
implemented price controls on 
a wide array of basic necessities.

By the time Nicolás Maduro 

was elected president following 
Chávez’s 2013 death, Venezuela’s 
economy was in full free-fall. By 
over-inserting the government 
into the economy, Venezuela’s 
socialist leaders have brought 
about the disintegration of the 
country’s economy and society. 
Venezuela has been brought to 
its knees by poverty, corruption 
and hunger.

The Venezuelan economy 

has halved in size over the past 
five years and inflation has 
reached above 2 million percent 
annually. The Venezuelan people 
are 
enduring 
unimaginable 

suffering as a result of this 
crisis. Due to food shortages, 
the average Venezuelan lost 
24 pounds in body weight 
during 2017 alone. With an 85 
percent shortage of medicine, 
Venezuela’s entire healthcare 
system is at risk of total 
collapse. More than 3 million 
Venezuelans 
have 
fled 
the 

country, desperately searching 
for a better life.

Venezuelans are no longer 

willing to sit idly by while their 
great country is ravaged by man-
made disaster. Being faced with 
resounding defeat at the ballot 
box, Maduro jailed potential 
opponents 
and 
threatened 

others in the run up to the May 
2018 election. Following this 
fraudulent 
election, 
Maduro 

is using state security services 
to hang onto power in spite of 
his people’s wishes. Make no 
mistake, Maduro has morphed 
into a full-blown dictator willing 
to watch his people suffer so he 
can hang onto political power. 
The world must support the 
Venezuelan people in their quest 
to liberate themselves from 
the scourge of despotism. I’m 

confident that the Venezuelans 
will 
emerge 
victorious 
in 

their quest for the restoration 
of prosperity and individual 
liberty.

While 
the 
Venezuelans 

struggle to free themselves 
from a socialist system, an 
increasing number of Americans 
are fighting for one here. In 
fact, a 2018 Gallup poll found 
that 57 percent of Democrats 
view 
socialism 
positively 

while 45 percent of those aged 
18 to 29 favor socialism over 
capitalism. 
Illustrating 
this 

trend 
of 
increased 
support 

for 
socialism, 
leading 
2020 

presidential contender Bernie 
Sanders openly identifies as a 
“Democratic Socialist.” Sanders 
has pledged to “... create an 
economy that works for all, not 
just the very wealthy.” While 
we all can support an economy 
that works for everyone, the 
socialist 
policies 
creeping 

into the mainstream of our 
society would do anything but. 
Replacing human innovation 
with a big government proves 
destructive to any society. 

A 
plethora 
of 
such 

destructive socialist policies is 
currently finding burgeoning 
support among the American 
electorate. For example, U.S. 
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 
D-N.Y., 
has 
introduced 
the 

Green New Deal. This initiative 
would rob the American people 
of consumer choice, raise taxes 
and lead to countless job losses. 
As further evidence of this 
trend, a significant number of 
2020 Democratic presidential 
contenders such as Sen. Kamala 
Harris, 
D-Calif., 
and 
Sen. 

Elizabeth 
Warren, 
D-Mass., 

have come out in support of the 
elimination of private health 
insurance in favor of government 
control. 

Unfortunately, 
the 

Venezuelans know this kind 
of state takeover all too well. 
Campaigning under the guise 
of equality, socialist leaders 
there robbed the country of 
its prosperity and democracy 
while 
enriching 
themselves. 

Socialism 
is 
destructive 

wherever 
it’s 
implemented 

due to its desire to repress 
individual liberty in favor of 
absolute power for the state. 
However, the human spirit 
always triumphs. There’s no 
socialist system strong enough 
to quash our innate desire to 
be free from the constraints of 
absolute government control. 
The American people must 
reject socialism so that we never 
face the same terrible plight as 
our Venezuelan neighbors.

Dylan Berger can be reached at 

dylberge@umich.edu.

FROM THE DAILY

Calling for action on the Catholic Church
O

n 
Sunday, 
Pope 
Francis 
concluded 
an 

unprecedented global summit addressing the 
widespread issue of clerical sex abuse in the 

Catholic Church. The Church has been at the center 
of a massive scandal involving sexual misconduct, 
implicating members of the Church from local priests 
to the highest-ranking cardinals. It has also become 
clear that clerical sex abuse was something of an 
open secret among members of the clergy, creating 
a culture of cover-ups and protection of offending 
priests. Though Pope Francis delivered strong words 
against perpetrators of abuse in his closing remarks, 
declaring an “all-out battle”against sexual predators, 
many were left unsatisfied by what seemed to be a 
speech devoid of tangible solutions.

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