Forget what you've heard about Venezuelan socialism and watch this.

If you roll in libertarian circles like I do, you are well aware of the situation happening in Venezuela. Long story short: they are trying communism and it's not working. What else is new...

As many people will tell you, communism has been tried many times and every time it has failed.

But does that mean communism is doomed to fail as a concept? It's tempting to think so. Communism is, after all, associated with Stalin. And Stalin was a batshit crazy murderer. Heck, Stalin murdered more Jews than Hitler amiright?

But communism is a concept and Stalin is a person. If you conflate a person with a concept, then you're doing it wrong.

Any good student of history will agree that as far back as WWI, and especially since the Cold War began, America has been putting its proverbial thumb on the scale with regard to communism.

You see, America has strayed far from its "laboratory of democracy" phase. Far from the "freedom is the greatest ideal" phase. Modern America is now the world police - enforcing the American way across the globe whether they like it or not. And the American way is democracy.

So when any nation begins to stray from democracy, it is not only unfortunate - it's a direct threat. And God forbid that communist nations be near us (Cuba) or have powerful weapons (Cuba/North Korea).

Untold misery has been visited upon mankind because America is scared of the possibility that communism might catch on.

I'm not just embarrassed that we invaded Vietnam to stop communism. I'm ashamed at that part of our history. I want the right to determine my own government, and I want that for others as well. That we have been involved in these conflicts - killing people for making a choice that we don't agree with... that's reprehensible. It's ugly. And it's certainly NOT the American way.

The American way is a foreign policy of non-intervention. That is the way of George Washington. It the way we treat our friends and neighbors. We let them be. Live and let live. And although our government has strayed from that ideal - the nation is still united behind the ideals of individual liberty and tolerance.

The American way is NOT to interfere with other governments - even when we think they're doing it wrong. And that is why our recent history of trying to stomp out socialism and communism is so deeply damaging. It is abandoning our greatest ideal. And for what? To crush an idea in it's infancy?

A deep dive into the history of the CIA shows dozens of smaller nations whose communism has been undermined by our government.

But belief in CIA conspiracies is not required to see out political espionage at work. In plain sight we enforce embargoes on countries just because of the way they govern. Get too communist and we'll go full embargo.

This is all unnatural. It is messing with their communism experiment. It is putting our powerful thumb on the scale. And it lessens the impact of the conclusion that "communism has been tried and failed". No, we've made it fail.

In light of that, I can't say that we really know what happens when communism is tried in ideal conditions. We've never given it that chance. Perhaps if we stopped threatening them, undermining them, and putting sanctions on them, their failure would be more meaningful.

In other words, if you really believe that communism will always implode - then let them implode. Let them prove your point.

And for the record, I'm not pro-communist nor pro-socialist. I'm just against categorical conclusions like "communism will always fail" that are based on tainted evidence. We just don't have good data to back that conclusion.

Which brings me to Venezuela. The nation that, we are told, is drowning in its own incompetence because of socialism.

Most of the mainstream media coverage on this topic has been one-sided to say the least. Venezuela is imploding and it's all because of that terrible socialism.

Knowing what we know about the propaganda our government and media have participated in, is it not wise to be skeptical about claims such as this?

It all follows a pattern, doesn't it? "This state tried communism. This is state now bad. This state is now super evil. And everyone is sad. They are now a danger to Americans somehow."

I'm concerned that we are being played by the same powerful interests who have continually tried to sabotage communist experiments.

These interests are controlling the flow of information, and they have been doing a bang-up job. We generally hear the same few talking points about Venezuela over and over again.

To get real useful data on the situation, we're going to have to turn to a trustworthy journalist doing on-the-ground reporting within the nation of Venezuela itself.

Enter Abby Martin.

Abby is one of my favorite journalists because she never shirks from the opportunity to criticize authority. I trust her to speak the truth despite the consequences to herself or her career. She often takes on the US government and the media establishment with her show The Empire Files.

But recently Abby went to Venezuela to get the scoop on what was really happening there. The results may surprise you. They sure surprised me.

If you want to speak with authority on Venezuela, then it is imperative that you watch these videos. Abby will give you a glimpse into what is really happening there.

And while Abby sticks to the facts, I can tell you what all this looks like to me. It looks like a continuation of the unethical American policy of undermining communist nations. It looks like foreign sabotage and a complicit media. But I'll let you be the judge of that.

Video 1 - in which Abby gets hit with tear gas, her co-worker is shot by protestors, and the Venezuela media doxxes her.

Video 2 - in which Abby tests the "barren Venezuelan supermarket" rumor.

Stay vigilant my friends. There are powerful interests that seek to manipulate your opinion. They are trying to control what information reaches your ears. They want to limit your choices by presenting you with one false dichotomy after another.

Don't fall for it.

Don't let them control your mind.

Stay online.

Stay free.

And follow this account. Because while they're peddling lies - I'm pushing truth.