There are cash-strapped governments, and there are broke governments. And then there's Zimbabwe, which, after paying last week's government salaries, has just $217 in the bank. No, we didn't forget any zeroes to the end of that figure. Zimbabwe, the country that's home to some of the world's largest plutonium and diamond reserves, is literally as rich as a 14-year-old girl after a really good birthday party.
Ouch. So much for socialism, I guess. Well, in a sane world. In our world, I am pretty sure that we will be told by all the Right Thinking People (TM) that they just didn't do it right. The progressive equivalent of Bullwinkle saying, "Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!"
The country's finance minister admitted as much in a press conference on Tuesday. "Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 [left] in government coffers," Tendai Biti told reporters. "The government finances are in paralysis state at the present moment. We are failing to meet our targets."
"We are failing to meet our targets."
Sir... I humbly submit to you that if you have mismanaged the governance of a land, so rich in natural resources, to the point where you can't afford take a visiting dignitary out to lunch, you not "failing".
You have failed.
Just accept that fact, list the entire country on Craigslist, and find a spot in a nice little retirement home for former socialist dictators. Or take a job as a political commentator with MSNBC, which is essentially the same thing.
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