Moralities, Money and Extractive Capitalism

Abstract

Venezuelans know the price of everything and the value of nothingVenezuelan actor and intellectual Julio Motta, cited in Strønen and Waerness (2007) Caracas, spring 2011: I was sitting on a tall bar chair in a little DVD and CD stall located in a small and worn-down basement shopping mall close to La Hoyada, in downtown Caracas. I was doing an interview with Ricardo, a family man in his 30s from 23 de Enero, and a newly elected vocero (spokesperson) for the communal council in his street. He was the owner of the stall, and I was interviewing him as passing customers stopped for a peek, to purchase something or for a chat. Ricardo had recently been elected vocero for the Committee for Ideology. At the meetings I had attended in his community, he was always trying to cut through the quarrels, urging people to come to their senses, stop fighting and rather think about the collective good. The community was in the midst of finalizing housing projects that would benefit around 20 families. This was a project that had been going on for a long time, causing a lot of rifts, quarrels and dirty maneuvers among the neighbors. Now, the money seemed to be on its way, and with some secret horse-trading and heated public arguments, the matter of who would be benefiting from it was settled. However, it had been a long process. Allegations of robbery, fraud and ulterior motives had stirred tempers and caused the consolidation of two factions in the community competing to gain control over the process. Ricardo was frustrated about his community and the way people behaved: