The Socialist Result: Want to get your hair cut in Venezuela? Forget about it.

As I wrote in a previous article, hyperinflation is making it nearly impossible for the people of Venezuela to buy everyday items like bread and toilet paper. 

Over the past seven years, the Venezuelan bolivar has lost 99.99% of its value against the US dollar. Here’s a comparison: In 2013, a single US dollar was worth 31.45 Venezuelan bolivars. Now it’s worth over 10,000. 

For the people of Venezuela, that means a savings of $10,000 is now worth about $30. A common item that once cost the equivalent of $2 now costs more than $600. 

Millions of Venezuelans live in poverty, and sanitary products like toothpaste and tampons are in short supply.

Despite three minimum wage hikes so far this year, the Venezuelan minimum wage is equivalent to less than $6 per month. As reported by Breitbart last week, a Venezuelan woman earning minimum wage would need to save up ten days’ worth of her salary just to get her hair cut.

“Us Venezuelans like to keep ourselves orderly, keeping our nails and toes painted and our hair well cut, we consider it part of our personal hygiene,” says a Venezuelan woman named Mariana. “In the past, I could go to the beauty parlor regularly, but now I have to do it myself as I could never be seen with gray hairs.”

“You have to prioritize your spending,” says another woman. “But there are times when I simply do not have enough money.”

Less fortunate Venezuelans skip meals to feed their children. Others perish of preventable diseases because hospitals can’t get their hands on essential supplies like antibiotics.

A report on living conditions in May showed that up to 75% of the country’s population unintentionally lost an average of 19 pounds during the past year. They’re calling it “the Maduro diet.” 

Speaking of Maduro, the dictator president is facing growing political outrage following a power grab that will change the country’s constitution and give him even more control over the suffering populace.