The concept of Homeland property

President Chávez practices the Property of the Homeland concept which is superior to the concept of Social Property. He wraps it, and he gives it meaning. He makes it more human, more understandable and he brings it closer to the people’s souls.

Property of the Homeland should be, as its name implies, the property of the entire nation. There is no room for doubts, or for different interpretations. What’s left is figuring out how far the concept extends itself, what it includes, who administers it?

It’s important to discuss the idea:

The means of production made into Property of the Homeland is indispensable in socialism, and that property will only have said dimension if it is administered by the state. Only intertwined with that property can Conscious of the Homeland be built, which socialism requires. The feeling of belonging to her (the Homeland) is thus rescued.  

Another aspect that must be addressed is that Homeland is not a concept above social classes. The homeland of the capitalist is his/her capital, his/her earnings: If s/he sees any difficulty, s/he emigrates without shedding a tear. For him/her it’s the same installing her/himself in Caracas, in Miami, Bogotá, Peking, or in Athens, depending on the dictates of capital. The capitalist doesn’t hesitate to ally her/himself with the lord of the flies, if that alliance will guarantee s/he can continue exploiting the people of the world.

The capitalist, with the same lack of scruples, steels the labor of a gringo (U.S) worker, a Chinese worker or a Brazilian worker. With the same disregard s/he contaminates the Gulf of Mexico or the Northern Sea, deforests the Amazon or African forests, contaminates the Caribbean ocean of that of Japan. If there are earnings, everything is valid. His/her homeland is the checkbook, the bank deposit.    

The Homeland concept that belongs to the dispossessed peoples is different than capitalism’s. The feeling of solidarity is alive, there are ties to territory, but the ties to others are even stronger. The solidarity of humble peoples has resisted all the blows of capitalist manipulation. Selfishness fights to install itself in the souls of the people but it is only able to do so halfway. It has been unable to remove fraternity from the popular heart.

That was how the people easily understood the call of the Liberator (Simon Bolivar) to free the continent, the call of “América is the Homeland.” 

The humble incorporated the idea of humanity into their concept of Homeland. They accompany Martí’s sentiment when he told us, “Homeland is Humanity,” or the conduct of Che, who trembled with indignation at any injustice committed in any part of the world.

That is how it is. Today, the concept of Socialist Homeland includes all of humanity. The people know that their destiny is tied to the rest of the planet’s, that there are no isolated solutions. The Liberator loved Caracas, but he knew that the Homeland reached the end of the earth.

The concept of Socialist Property of the Homeland should be understood as Property of the Homeland of the dispossessed.

Long Live the Homeland of the Poor of the Earth, Long Live Chávez!

Translated by Juan Reardon for Venezuelanalysis.com