Poor, clean and safe

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simpson Homer

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Nov 14, 2003
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Just recently returned from Cuba second trip first trip to Cayo Coco, for what
I decided to go out to the nearest town to take a look of the Cuban real life
quiet honest I was scared to go, for all the advice people telling me about
all kind of stuff. Well on my first trip after 2 nights I rented a car drove to
the City of Moron people were friendly, outgoing, well behave the city all
I can say was super clean for what I was shocked I said "This is Cuba and is poor country" WTH maybe a big politician live here in this town. Anyways I kept going 1 hour or so to the next Ciego de Avila I was having a little bit of hope I will find the same action we have in DR. but not streets in the barrio
was clean so for what later on I stop for some food and was getting dark
I noticed that most street didnt have light post but all the houses have Electricity......... whatttttttttt

Then second trip 2 weeks ago, went to Varadero then out to Cardenas, Boca and Havana short walk around I was the same.

Dominicans Auth. dont look ahead that Cuba a "Comunist country" people making $20 dollar a month have less way way less crime, is clean and have electricity and turist and local feel safe to walk on the street at any time.

Does the country have to be comunist to be clean, be safe (no Guns) and have electricity..?
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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simpson Homer said:
but not streets in the barrio
was clean so for what later on I stop for some food and was getting dark
I noticed that most street didnt have light post but all the houses have Electricity......... whatttttttttt
Dominicans Auth. dont look ahead that Cuba a "Comunist country" people making $20 dollar a month have less way way less crime, is clean and have electricity and turist and local feel safe to walk on the street at any time.

Does the country have to be comunist to be clean, be safe (no Guns) and have electricity..?
Click to expand...

Hardly I have been in many countries that are not Communist that are clean, safe, and have electricity, New Zealand for example. China is communist and they are not clean...etc. I have also been in many private homes and small towns in Cuba that are no cleaner than the same in the DR, but yes Homer the DR could learn a few things from Cuba.
 
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fightfish

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Jan 11, 2008
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A country certainly doesn't have to be communist to be clean and have electricity, but a communist country probably has the edge keeping its citizenry in line regarding crime. Without basic legal rights found in a democracy, I understand why no one wants to attract the attention of the police for any reason.
 
Squat

Squat

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Jan 1, 2002
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... Sometimes it takes a good dictator to put things back on track...
 
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fightfish

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Another reason crime may be very low in Cuba is that everyone on the island shares the same level of poverty, making it a wasted motion to steal from your neighbor. I would guess that would also be true for those living in a refugee camp in a worn torn area, or a group of castaways on a deserted isle.
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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simpson Homer said:
Does the country have to be comunist to be clean, be safe (no Guns) and have electricity..?
Click to expand...

i have lived in a communist country. so, from experience:
clean: oh yes, much more. but then, we even painted the snow white (true story) if a communist dignitary was to visit our city.
safe: yes, times thousand. funnily enough our only serial killers were active in communist times but there was very little senseless crime. everyone feared the law. and we had death penalty.
electricity: we used to call it "czwarty stopien zasilania" (fourth level of electric feed) which meant "no power whatsoever". :bunny: most of our coal went directly to the soviet union back then. the winter when i was born was the worst in 100 years, power was only delivered was about 2 hours in the morning (before work) and two hours in the afternoon (after work). no light. no hot water. no water at all, in fact. funny times.
 
B

Berzin

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Nov 17, 2004
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Hey DV8-did you have the hot water trucks go by your house and deliver hot scalding water via a hose to be deposited into a tank like in Russia?

This is very true about crime in communist countries-petty crimes and murder almost non-existent, but we had our share of infamous serial killers who became legends.

Which is something I believe the DR does not suffer from, thank goodness. At least I've never heard of one.
 
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ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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Crime globalization hasn't reached Cuba yet, they don't have a clue of what is a civilian armed in the streets. Once Cuba opens up to the world crime will rise...
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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Hey, Homer, maybe your third trip you could tour some political prisons....;)

Are the fences in Cuba to keep folks out, or in?
 
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AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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cobraboy said:
Are the fences in Cuba to keep folks out, or in?
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What fences? There are more fences,barred windows, and gated comunities in the DR.

All I will say is this, a poor person is better off in Cuba than the DR.

Even the hotel workers are educated, that must be why they don't look at tourists like a winning lotto ticket that fell from the sky.:cheeky:
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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Unfortunately, there are too few people here on DR1 that can remember the DR back in the very early 60s or even the 50s...
There was no trash on the streets, there were no blackouts, and crime was practically unheard of.
Ah, freedom and democracy...

Now, as you sit, waiting for a light to change, you can watch rich/almost rich/not so rich people throwing stuff out of their cars, SUVs or monster trucks...I do, all the time.

Sometimes, I get out and return it to them and they are so surprised!!! Oh my!! "But this is my country and I can do what i want to!!" Seems to be the mind set..

Tsk tsk tsk..

HB
 
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dv8

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in poland no water tanks. water is delivered directly though piping systems. same with gas, central connection. we did not have hot water deliveries but trucks did deliver water that you had to collect by buckets. all rationed, of course. gas we had, however, all the time so the water could be heated.

that memorable winter most of the trucks were used to take the snow out of the cities. i have pictures of my dad and his friends, all looking like michelin tyre-man loading trucks with snow ;)

did i mention rationed sugar, candies, alcohol, petrol and toilet paper? but we had oranges available (for xmas only). cuban oranges :cheeky:

indeed education level in communist countries is good, to us education was always presented as a key to get out of poverty.
 
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dv8

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Hillbilly said:
Sometimes, I get out and return it to them and they are so surprised!!! Oh my!! "But this is my country and I can do what i want to!!" Seems to be the mind set..
Click to expand...

yeah, i asked my sister in law why she did not pick up her rubbish while leaving a cinema and she said she does not want cinema cleaners to lose their jobs!
and to think she was educated in HB's university! she got a bit upset when i called her well educated young pig (that was actually a quote from a polish writer who committed suicide the very day russian army entered poland).
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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AnnaC said:
What fences? There are more fences,barred windows, and gated comunities in the DR.

All I will say is this, a poor person is better off in Cuba than the DR.

Even the hotel workers are educated, that must be why they don't look at tourists like a winning lotto ticket that fell from the sky.:cheeky:
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If there are, it's because Dominicans can afford them. My brother is married to an educated Cuban woman. I have visited Cuba a number of times and I can tell you there is alot more crime than you think, unemployment/underemployment is very high, theft is very common, and one of the reasons for less garbage is because there is/has been such a shortage of everything that nothing is thrown away. The Cuban people are geniuses at making something out of nothing. There is no doubt that the average Cuban has more education than the average Dominican but you would be surprised at how limited that education is. One of my pleasant surprises was how many Cubans speak English, and most of them learn it without a book or computer. My impression was that Dominican and Cubans are very similar in many aspects but isolation has affected Cubans and Cuba in both positive and negative ways.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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AnnaC said:
What fences? There are more fences,barred windows, and gated comunities in the DR.

All I will say is this, a poor person is better off in Cuba than the DR.
Click to expand...
And poor Haitians are prolly better off in the DR.

Seriously, how many Dominicans risk death by trying to go to Cuba?

Which is more important: individual freedom or gubmint guanteed security?
 
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AnnaC

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cobraboy said:
And poor Haitians are prolly better off in the DR.

Seriously, how many Dominicans risk death by trying to go to Cuba?

Which is more important: individual freedom or gubmint guanteed security?
Click to expand...


What freedoms do Dominicans have? The freedom to vote for one corrupt government after another? Do they have free education and health care?
Oh wait I forgot the vast majority of poor Dominicans can leave the country anytime they want but no one will give them a visa even for a week's vacation.


Dominicans don't need to risk their life to get to Cuba. They don't even need a visa to get there. But Cuba doesn't have streets paved with gold like NY don't you know :cheeky:

But those with some money go there to get educated.


Anyway,
like Hillbilly said there was a time and even I remember a different time in the DR and it saddens me so much how it's changed now with guns and drugs in the country.
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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AnnaC said:
What freedoms do Dominicans have? The freedom to vote for one corrupt government after another? Do they have free education and health care?
Oh wait I forgot the vast majority of poor Dominicans can leave the country anytime they want but no one will give them a visa even for a week's vacation.


Dominicans don't need to risk their life to get to Cuba. They don't even need a visa to get there. But Cuba doesn't have streets paved with gold like NY don't you know :cheeky:

But those with some money go there to get educated.


Anyway,
like Hillbilly said there was a time and even I remember a different time in the DR and it saddens me so much how it's changed now with guns and drugs in the country.
Click to expand...

The freedoms of Dominicans are more than just Voting - they can move where they want within the country, they can better their lot in life through hard work and intelligence, they can call Leonel a landrone(try that in Cuba), they can hold protests, they can go to university without having to serve in the Army- there is obvious a lot more than that, but I think you should get the point. You don't know what freedom is until it's gone. The biggest thing is you as a individual have more say in your future. If you succeed or not, it's mainly based on the decisions you made. As far as the foreign students going to school in Cuba - merly proganada for Castro to thumb his nose at the Americans, plus it always helps to educate more socialists(from Castro and friends point of view)
 
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