- Thread starter simpson Homer
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Poor, clean and safe
I dunno. Maybe I'm just another whack-job anomaly. But I value my freedom as a sovereign man more than any security any gubmint can provide. It's my single most prized possession, my paramount unalienable right.
As a member of a democratic process where citizens agree to what role gubmint should take in the affairs of men, we can collectively choose what that role is. But when gubmint becomes the master, and not the servant, that democracy ceases to exist.
I have a really difficult time believing that a gubmint that disarms it's citizenry, imprisons, exiles or kills it's domestic political opponents, indoctrinates it's children in a particular political ideology, and mandates and directs how folks live is doing it to benefit it's citizens, and not itself. I don't see the DR gubmint doing any of those things.
But then again, Janis Joplin crooned that "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose...". I suppose in that respect, Cubans are "free".
As a member of a democratic process where citizens agree to what role gubmint should take in the affairs of men, we can collectively choose what that role is. But when gubmint becomes the master, and not the servant, that democracy ceases to exist.
I have a really difficult time believing that a gubmint that disarms it's citizenry, imprisons, exiles or kills it's domestic political opponents, indoctrinates it's children in a particular political ideology, and mandates and directs how folks live is doing it to benefit it's citizens, and not itself. I don't see the DR gubmint doing any of those things.
But then again, Janis Joplin crooned that "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose...". I suppose in that respect, Cubans are "free".
in a utopian society both karl marx communism or ayn rands capitalism/individualism would work but neither benefits all in our present state of affairs. i wish it were that simple. can we decide this in the fantasy football arena cb??? lol no hard feelings on yesterday's comment i hope:squareeye
My sovereingty is not fantasy. It's the birthright of all humans. It's gubmint that restricts it by force.
you are too serious this morning and i refuse a shouting match on this issue. i am for individual freedoms and rights as much as you are and we'll leave it at that. peace and good day to you.
The only thing I can say in the 70' I was studying English in the Instituto Dominico-Americano. One of the students was a Cuban civil-engineer that relocated to DR. He told the class that he had 3 houses in Cuba that he worked hard for them. 2 were taken away from him to be given to generals and other high rank people. I do not know if now things changed but he said he had the money but could not buy what he wanted to keep the style of life he had before.
One of my co-workers here in NY is Cuban. He spent 10 of his youth life in jail because he is outspoken. He dreams to go back to visit his country.
One of my co-workers here in NY is Cuban. He spent 10 of his youth life in jail because he is outspoken. He dreams to go back to visit his country.
:classic: Some things in life are worth taking seriously.
It's a beautiful morning here in God's hammock...
I had several employees in my old Miami office who were Castro refugees. Two, brothers, spent over a year in a political prison for being present at a public meeting complaining about Castro. Both escaped to the US by boat in the late 60's.
There are estimates that Castro is responsible for as many as 73,000 deaths: executions, deaths in political prisons, or deaths from fleeing in boats.
I'm doubting the DR has that kind of track record during the same period.
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Where did you get that idea ? It has absolutely no basis in fact. If you think sanky-panky isnt alive and well in Cuba you are sadly mistaken. The cuban's are doing as much, if not more damage to gringas than the DR sankies. Simply check the cuba forums and read the damage for yourself.
AnnaC-Sanky Panky is just as if not more rife in Cuba. We don't hear about it all that much but quite a few of my friends who go there are up to their necks in it, supporting whole families with remittances.
And yes, their girlfriends over there are well-educated-one is even a doctor.
And yes, their girlfriends over there are well-educated-one is even a doctor.
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Sanky panky is alive in cuba but rarely would you find cuban hotel workers involved in this business unlike in the DR. In cuba, it is forbidden for a hotel worker to date a tourist staying in the hotel at which they are working and if discovered could lose his/her job. It could happen in secret but not in the open like in the DR where you will see male hotel workers openly trying to hit on female tourists. That is a no-no in cuba and hotel workers are not too eager to jeopardize their employment for a gringa. The fact is that a hotel worker in cuba could earn as tips in a day, what his fellow cuban would earn in a month. The average wage in cuba is about $20 per month and some hotel workers can earn this in tips in a day. Also is the fact that most tourists will bring them gifts and so it is really considered a privileged job in cuba and sought by many. A doctor earns about $30 per month and I have heard stories of educated professionals who have left their jobs to go and serve food in some A.I.
Most sanky pankies in cuba usually operate from the clubs/bars or at the beach to pick up gringas and when you see them, it is so obvious that they come from the lower end of the economic ladder in cuba. Also in cuba, the stigma of dating a tourist is much higher than in the DR. Also you have to consider the fact that in cuba, there are many girls who have been sent to prison on suspicion of being a prostitute while caught in the company of a tourist.
Sholly
I have to admit, I've never been to Cuba, partly because I can't see giving my financial support to a regime like Castros, but in the 80's Cuba came to me while growing up in South Florida. I had friends who captained their boats in the Mariel boat lift and I actually watched Cubans(and Haitians) wash up on the beach in front of my house, the dead bodies in the boats with those that survived. My spanish teacher in high school spent years in prison after Castro came to power, and had an impressive facial scar to show for it, and stories to match. Sounds like a delightful place!
Sholly, please send me the links to where you got this information. Because most of it seems to be incorrect.
What lower end of the economic ladder - everyone is supposed to be equal. Castro actually advertised the beauty and hotbloodness of Cuban women to attract tourist Dollars after his revolution was no longer subsidized by the Soviets. Unfortunately he underestimated two things ; the spread of Sexual related diseases and the attractive of the business to poor people and the buying power they suddenly had. Prostitutes are thrown in rehabilitation camps mainly as a power move- its all about control under Castro.
There is some truth in what Sholly said. The only place I encountered a couple of people trying to be "charming" was in Havana along the malecon while waiting for my tour bus to return. They certainly didn't sound like the Hotel workers.
aranoid: You can't make force people to go to school and if you can, you certainly can't force them to retain anything. So the hustlers were in a place where they don't fear the loss of a job. They hang out on the Malecon or at the Capital steps
And just because they speak Spanish doesn't always mean they were Cubans though.
A great theory
Communism is a beautiful theory...too bad it doesn't work in practice. Why work hard when you get the same as the rest. Why do Cubans risk life and limb to get to the USA? All communist leaders are egomaniacs driven by what's good for them not the people.
Democracy has its faults but people have a chance to make it. No chance in communism. Ronald Reagan didn't defeat the Soviet Union, communism defeated the Soviet Union.
Communism is a beautiful theory...too bad it doesn't work in practice. Why work hard when you get the same as the rest. Why do Cubans risk life and limb to get to the USA? All communist leaders are egomaniacs driven by what's good for them not the people.
Democracy has its faults but people have a chance to make it. No chance in communism. Ronald Reagan didn't defeat the Soviet Union, communism defeated the Soviet Union.
I did not get the information from any links. I have been to cuba several times and I am writing based on personal experience of what I have seen and also have been told by cubans living there.
If you had indicated the aspects that seemed incorrect to you, then perhaps I might have more to say.
Sholly