A functioning example...

Want to see a functioning example of what I think those that still embrace "hope and change" really want to see happen here in America since the 2008 elections? Look at the headlines and news coming from Belarus.

Here is a post-Soviet state that has retained the government-controlled economic system implemented by the Soviets since their independence in 1991. The leadership in Minsk still "owns and operates" more than 51% of all jobs in the country, and dictates both exchange rates and domestic value of the Belarussian ruble. 12 months ago, that ruble was trading at a rate of 1900 to 1 against the US$... today it is at over 5,300 to 1, and they are looking at devaluing it another 50% before the end of the week. In short, the state-run economy is on the verge of a complete meltdown, and Belarus has no EU membership to partner it's way out of this mess, either (as Greece and Spain have already done).

Vital services like mail, trains and fuel distribution are facing utter failure, and gasoline and diesel prices are 40-50% higher in Belarus than they are in any other European state. National infrastructure is decaying fast, and ranks in the bottom tier for the entire continent (and that is really saying something).

Unsustainable government spending, massive national debt, a shrinking national revenue base with a growing portion of the population more dependant on government support than ever before... all on the shoulders of a freely elected and (seemingly) popular leadership party that openly declares itself to be "soviet" in nature and structure.

This is, perhaps, the last vestige of soviet-style planning in a free, democratic society where we (as Americans) can watch the centralized system of socialism fail utterly. No one can blame repressive, authoritarian regimes for not representing the will of the people in Minsk... they keep electing these "socialists" in free elections. This is socialism at its most free and functional best... and it is failing right before our eyes.