Castro: Cuban Model no longer works

[amadeus]

You know things are good for your country when you're willing to risk death in order to escape it.

 

[Yeekim]

Wait, when did the Cuban system ever work?

Indeed.
@civver

• Only 4% of Cuban peasants ate meat regularly; only 1% ate fish, less than 2% eggs, 3% bread, 11% milk; none ate green vegetables.

Forgive me my curiosity, but what did the Cuban peasants eat then according to this "data"? Fermented sugar cane?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

You know things are good for your country when you're willing to risk death in order to escape it.

Like the Blacks who migrated from the USA to the USSR, right? Though I honestly think you would approve of that.

 

[Yeekim]

Like the Blacks who migrated from the USA to the USSR, right? Though I honestly think you would approve of that.

They risked death doing it? Also, how many of such people were there, approximately?

 

[civver_764]

Which ones, exactly? Ostentatiously, we "liberated", them from an "oppressive", Spanish colonial government, though by the time of the revolution that was decades in the past. They pretty quickly got back some form of sovereignty, at least not as a nominal dominion of the United States (Puerto Rico), after said incident, and since then and prior to the Revolution were a quiet vacation spot with a head of state unpopular with the native population.

We took them from Spain and kept them for ourselves and our corporate interests. Ever heard of the Platt Amendment? We consistently backed brutal dictators for the simple reason that it was profitable. Then when they revolted we tried to suppress them(which is so disgustingly hypocritical I don't even want to get into it) via the Bay of Pigs as well as numerous assassination attempts on Castro.

Is it really any wonder why they hate us?

Addressing the first portion of your post, exactly, the Cold War is over. Communism is a dead societal force in the immediate vision of the geopolitical stage, so Castro's "system", has no place in the "modern world", as it were. It's natural to expect his regime to die out with him and his immediate lieutenants. Addressing any sort of message for observation and study to his efforts is a point best left well alone; the Cuban Revolution has no meaning anymore. It is history, will remain so barring any sort of major conflict within Cuba following the end of the "Castro Regime", and will fade well into the past as time moves on.

If his regime will die out naturally then why are we trying to force it with the blockade?

 

[amadeus]

Like the Blacks who migrated from the USA to the USSR, right?

That numbered several hundred out of millions?

Though I honestly think you would approve of that.

Well, it certainly weeded out the ones goony enough to think that Stalinism was better than having to sit on the back of the bus.

 

[aelf]

You know things are good for your country when you're willing to risk death in order to escape it.

You're telling me there aren't a lot of people who are willing to risk death for a shot at being wealthy?

 

[Lord of Elves]

If his regime will die out naturally then why are we trying to force it with the blockade?

The blockade is an arbitrary measure left over from the Cold War that no one has yet bothered to repeal.

 

[civver_764]

Speaks wonder for how much we care about the welfare of the Cuban people.

 

[Lord of Elves]

Speaks wonder for how much we care about the welfare of the Cuban people.

To be objective, as much as we might like to think of ourselves as, "the good guys", no country, certainly not a world power, can survive on high morals alone.

 

[civver_764]

To be objective, as much as we might like to think of ourselves as, "the good guys", no country, certainly not a world power, can survive on high morals alone.

Cuba haven't been a threat to us for 40 years.

 

[Takhisis]

Chavez is a Trot.

Only in discourse. In his actions he's far closer to the likes of J. D. Perón.
'Narcissit-leninist' is a transliteration of a local pun -in Spanish-. Never mind now, this is a Cuba thread

We took them from Spain and kept them for ourselves and our corporate interests. Ever heard of the Platt Amendment? We consistently backed brutal dictators for the simple reason that it was profitable. Then when they revolted we tried to suppress them(which is so disgustingly hypocritical I don't even want to get into it) via the Bay of Pigs as well as numerous assassination attempts on Castro.

Is it really any wonder why they hate us?

No, it's no wonder. The US basically annexed Cuba while keeping a friendly overseer/President to oversee the gambling dens and sugar plantations. But, still, that doesn't make Castro's actions right.

If his regime will die out naturally then why are we trying to force it with the blockade?

Because right-wing propagandists need a left-wing enemy to fight and slander and viceversa.

Cuba haven't been a threat to us for 40 years.

And Iraq wasn't a threat ebfore Mr. Bush decided to invade it, so what?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

They risked death doing it? Also, how many of such people were there, approximately?

While I have no exact numbers, the impression left is one of many thousands.

That numbered several hundred out of millions?

It is far more expensive to go from the US to the USSR than it is to go from Cuba to Florida.

Well, it certainly weeded out the ones goony enough to think that Stalinism was better than having to sit on the back of the bus.

They fled more than that. Lynch mobs, political disenfranchisement, and social ostracism. It was obviously pretty bad for them here if they chose Stalinist (and post-Stalinist) Soviet Union over here! Which should give you an idea of just how badly they were treated in our gloriously superior and free country.

 

[Yeekim]

While I have no exact numbers, the impression left is one of many thousands.

I must then respectfully guess the "impression" may be a bit exaggerated.

It was obviously pretty bad for them here if they chose Stalinist (and post-Stalinist) Soviet Union over here!

Or that they simply didn't know what they were getting into.

Which should give you an idea of just how badly they were treated in our gloriously superior and free country.

...its superiority quite clearly demonstrated by the fact it actually enabled its citizens to leave, if they preferred so.

 

[Zarn]

Cuba is not going to be free any time soon.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I must then respectfully guess the "impression" may be a bit exaggerated.

Or that they simply didn't know what they were getting into.

...its superiority quite clearly demonstrated by the fact it actually enabled its citizens to leave, if they preferred so.

Fair points all around.

I could say the same of Cubans who came the US, though. Or even of immigrants in general. How many came to the "land of prosperity" expecting streets paved with gold, and found themselves in a tenement working 50 hours a week for miserable pay, worse off than the place they left?

Volume really means nothing, it is quality that matters. The Blacks who left the United States for the Soviet Union did so because the society they found was superior enough for them, where their talents were rewarded because of their skill, not demeaned because of their skin color, and there they made valuable contributions to Soviet society. I would dare say that immigrants to the USSR, both from former imperial colonies and the West, generally found life better than where they left. The ones who didn't went back where they came. And some of those American Blacks did just that. I would also say that most immigrants to the United States have remained relatively poor in comparison to their new countrymen. If anything, it was that immigrant labor that made their new countrymen richer.

 

[Zarn]

I could say the same of Cubans who came the US, though. Or even of immigrants in general. How many came to the "land of prosperity" expecting streets paved with gold, and found themselves in a tenement working 50 hours a week for miserable pay, worse off than the place they left?.

This explains why we generally vote Republican.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

This explains why we generally vote Republican.

No, you vote Republican because you don't understand the teachings of your own religion.

 

[Zarn]

No, you vote Republican because you don't understand the teachings of your own religion.

That makes no sense.

 

[Abaddon]

Cuban Model no longer works

Were you paying her enough?