10/7 A lot of people say how bad Castro is, but how come Cuba does
so well at sports and also things like infant mortality, in spite
of decades of US sanctions? :
http://www.economist.com/markets/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3270702
\_ Well, universal healthcare has its benefits as well as universal
education and state-sponsored atheletics. I don't know, do you
prefer a communist dictarship where people have to wait in line
all day to buy stuff and any opposition is brutaly squashed
and everyone is equally poor to get a lower infant mortality
rate and a better international baseball team over an oligarchy
run by a couple of rich industrialists and plantation owners which
also brutally squashed opposition to its rule? I guess it depends
on your perspective.
\_ It is true that Cuba is poor, but a lot of it has to do with
our economic sanctions. Without it, there is a big chance that
Cuba might follow China's step.
\_ I'm glad you believe this. Why don't you go over there
and do business then?
\_ because it's ILLEGAL. Weren't you paying attention?
\_ So you must be outraged about Halliburton
doing business in Iraq during the US sanctions
\_ I'm outraged we wasted more than 10 years
"sanctioning" Iraq while every corrupt piece
of shit at the UN, in France, Germany, Russia,
and other places was making billions in bribes
at our expense while the Iraqi people suffered
and the Hussein regime grew stronger.
\_ This is an excellent reason for filing a
grievance with the WTO and then punishing
those nations with crippling tarriffs and
sanctions. If the US would follow through
with its convictions, the world would have
no recourse but toe the line.
\_ Economic sanctions don't do shit. The entire rest of the
world freely trades with Cuba. In fact, our Cuba sanctions
policy going on for decades now should be proof enough that
sanctions are a mindless and useless tactic to use against
any country.
\_ Against Cuba I tend to agree. In general, though, I do
not. Sanctions prevented Saddam Hussein from building
WMD.
\_ Sanctions also made Libya give up WMD programs.
It's harder to control a country when the people
are miserable.
\_ Lie. Libya gave up their WMD a few days after
SH was pulled out of a hole by US troops.
\_ Maybe the guy is just WRONG. You need to
get a little perspective here, guy.
\_ Uhhh, Libya giving up their WMD and coming
back into the world community was a diplomatic
effort going on well back into the Clinton
administration. Gaddafi didn't just watch
Saddam Hussein be captured on TV and suddenly
decide to give up WMD.
\_ None of you can tell the difference between coordinated
multilateral sanctions and unilateral pigheadedness?
Yes, you have to "corner the market" for sanctions to
be effective. No, this is not a surprise.
\_ And universal sanctions are a joke. Look how Saddam
made *billions* (with a B) corrupting the 'global'
sanctions put on his country. It hurt the people to
no end while further empowering his evil government.
\_ Economic sanctions does a lot of damage to small countries,
the reason it does not work on China is because China can
self sustain and be on their own. The same is definitely
not true for small countries. Take Korea for example, if
the US sanctions them, they will starve and die, it's as
simple as that. Cube is poor partly because of our economic
sanction.
\_ No. If the US sanctions Korea, other countries will
simply cash in as they have in Cuba and anywhere else
the US has tried to impose sanctions while our EU
"allies" ignore them for the bucks. Sanctions do not
work. I'd like to see a place where they have.
\_ Because the numbers are faked?
\_ oh yea, where a majority of the people shower with buckets.
One would think that after Communists killed 60+ million
in the 20th century people would learn.
\_ You are a moron.
\_ Comrade, the united peoples of our great state thank you
for your heroic efforts against the propaganda of the
western capitalist pigdogs! You shall be rewarded by being
moved up the People's Moscow Apartment Waiting List by
15,000 spots! You have served the Motherland nobly!
\_ Careful with that broad brush, it paints both ways.
\_ Like I said, you would think people would learn.
\_ You think people would learn to not support imperialism
too, after the hundreds of millions of people the
imperialists killed in the 19th and 20th century.
But they never do, do they?
\_ Oh the horror of an improved standard of living,
a longer life expectancy, and a technologically
based society. What hath we wrought!
\_ At the expense of a psychological scar on the
American psyche (see: Slavery and Race Relations),
the wholesale slaughter of indigenous people
(see: Indians, American), and the continued
exploitation of and dependence on underprivileged
workers and illegal labor in the agrarian sector
(see: Migrant Labor and Illegal Immigrants).
\_ Victory of the proletariat, comrade!
\_ What improved standard of living? Improved
standard of living only happened after the
Imperialists got kicked out.
\_ Cuba spends a huge amount of government money on athletics
(compared to zero in the US). Also, I note that I see athletes
defecting from Cuba to the US frequently, but I can't recall anyone
defecting the other way.
\_ They don't defect to Cuba because the US government has
effectively imprisoned our atheletes and does not allow them
the opportunity to travel to the Golden Land of Cuba. |
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