Robert G Goodby wrote:
>
> >I hope that I have educated you to this end. In short, if you are looking
> >or socialism, don't look to Russia, Cuba or China. Look to the
> >"capitalist" economies that have "dared" to institute socialist policies.
>
> One of the easy traps to fall into when discussing things at this level
> of generalization is the tendency to lose sight of important differences.

snip

 Unfortunately, we will
> never be able to know how democratic Cuba MIGHT have been had this
> threat not been maintained for the past four decades. Certainly, the
> measures enacted to limit dissent in wartime by the capitalist
> democracies (e.g. the US in the Civil War and WWI) aren't really that
> different from what the Castro regime has kept in place while under
> constant attack (economically or through CIA-sponsored terrorism).
>
> At the same time, the Cuban system has created, by far, the highest
> standard of living for the greatest number of any Latin American country.
> Literacy, basic medical care, housing, education, are unparalelled in a
> Latin American context. Cuba's medical system is so well developed that
> they continue to send doctors to other countries for humanitarian work,
> most recently to South Africa. It is only recently, with the introduction
> (under severe economic pressure) of limited "market reforms" that Cuba
> has seen the reappearance of some of the features that are ubiquitous
> elsewhere in Latin America: poverty, malnutrition, prostitution, etc.
>
> My point here is simply that there is much to be learned from, and much
> that is valuable in, the Cuban example. If nothing else, it shows that
> when freed from neo-colonialist rule, it is possible for an agrarian,
> third-world country to make substantial improvements in standards of
> living, education, and health care. None of which excuses the oppression
> of genuine dissidents, religious people, homosexuals, etc. that have gone
> on, and continue to occur, under the Cuban regime. But let's not simply
> lump Cuba in with Stalinist Russia, or the state-capitalist tyranny in
> China. Important, sometimes subtle differences exist and need to be seen
> and appreciated.
>


Bravo,

We needed that interjection. When one goes from the lowest in literacy
to the highest, etc., something must be happening that is good. When one
can walk about, relatively "sans bodyguards," amidst armed people,
somebody likes him. We forget the shame that had been visited on the
greatest number of Cuban people by Batista and ours and others
contributions...  We have proved that a giant nation can wreck a tiny
island economy permanently and seriously.


Bob

--
Bob Grimes

http://members.aol.com/bob5266/
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/RGrimes_3/
Jacksonville, Florida
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Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore....."