I guess I either assume they're sincere, or if not then they should at least be aware enough to realize that it's a bad argument. I realize this assumption may not be very well supported, but it can be hard to adjust.

Propaganda doesn't have to be a good argument.

Yes points. And perhaps there's a larger discussion about what the role of the federal government should be is now discussed in our daily lives, not just hacker news, with such topics as student aid debt forgiveness, basic income, mandatory health care, etc.

And also maybe it's an example how power can be purchased with social programs.

Also points. Gotta get those points. I hear someday I'll be able to cash them in for bad karma debt forgiveness.

valid things to discuss. while doing so you might want to start form the point of having an actually relevant example to draw from? why would you attempt to use Venezuela for that discussion? Are you honestly trying to assert that Venezuela's social safety net programs are _really_ what went wrong there?

At what point did my comment switch from being my personal opinion to propaganda?

at the point you said this

> an example of why spending big on social programs doesn't produce long-lasting social benefits.

which is not a statement of opinion, but rather, is an unjustified assertion that conforms with your ideological agenda.

an opinion would have been something like "I prefer to vote for politicians that are fiscally conservative because I don't think the government has a good track record of implementing positive social change with spending programs"

but that's now what you said or how you said it. instead, you implied that social programs ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE are comparable in some meaningful way with a failed state that collapsed under the weight of corruption and authoritarian dictatorship.