It started off like this:

Socialism: You have two cows. Give one to your neighbor.

 Then

 Communism: You have two cows. The government takes both and gives you some milk.

 And

 Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

I started thinking about this last week when I was in Caracas, because it turns out that Venezuela is a real life example of the two cows metaphor.

It started back in 2001 when the then-President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, introduced a law that called for the redistribution of land.