Actually, not for that reason.
Several posters on here have vastly different political views than mine but they can express themselves in ways that don’t seem to be one constant gloat over a very rich and powerful few sticking it to the rest of the world.
Have an M16.
Hotel Commodoro in Havanna 2001 or so. Oh my… I never had been blamed by a hotel security guard before I did NOT take a girl up on my room. They really wanted me to do it.
Glad they did not call the doctor to check if everything is okay with me.
Then the help call of my friend being almost attacked by two security guards in the hotel bar, because he was only sitting with two girls in the bar.
He called me down to help him out with my rudimentary Spanish. I blamed him in German to wake me up at 4.00 am because he is messing with bloody prostitutes and cannot get along.
I then learned the two Cuban ladies speak perfect German because they studied Economics in East-Germany in the good old DDR days.
Spent the whole vacation in the hotel bar and never missed a day to blame the US mafia to turn this country into a US Mafia-run brothel so Fidel Castro had to liberate it from prostitution.
A reader paying attention will note a little contradiction in this post.
How long before I have to take down my Castro tree?
[quote=“bob_honest”]Hotel Commodoro in Havanna 2001 or so. Oh my… I never had been blamed by a hotel security guard before I did NOT take a girl up on my room. They really wanted me to do it.
Glad they did not call the doctor to check if everything is okay with me.
Then the help call of my friend being almost attacked by two security guards in the hotel bar, because he was only sitting with two girls in the bar.
He called me down to help him out with my rudimentary Spanish. I blamed him in German to wake me up at 4.00 am because he is messing with bloody prostitutes and cannot get along.
I then learned the two Cuban ladies speak perfect German because they studied Economics in East-Germany in the good old DDR days.
Spent the whole vacation in the hotel bar and never missed a day to blame the US mafia to turn this country into a US Mafia-run brothel so Fidel Castro had to liberate it from prostitution.
A reader paying attention will note a little contradiction in this post.[/quote]
Wenn Sie so gut w
I thought you had the vet castrote it already.
[quote=“rooftop”]Actually, not for that reason.
Several posters on here have vastly different political views than mine but they can express themselves in ways that don’t seem to be one constant gloat over a very rich and powerful few sticking it to the rest of the world.
Have an M16.[/quote]
I don’t gloat over any rich and powerful few sticking it to anyone. I do strongly dislike it when apologists and weasels stick up for “bad actors” because the weasels want to see the rich and powerful writhe in agony and/or die horribly.
And thanks, I already have a 1919 and a couple of AR-15’s. Don’t need the hassles that a legal M16 entails, and if the situation is so bad that I need one, I figure they (or equivalent) will be all over the street anyway.
Thank you.
Che Guevera was a poseur. He does not even deserve the title “revolutionary.” Hah! Is Paris Hilton also a “revolutionary?” Really?
Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union. That was bad. Ergo we supported their fighting for their freedom. Once they regained it with OUR help what did they do? They went crazy and became one of the most intolerant regimes in the world and they allowed terrorists who wanted to attack us and did set up bases in their country. We did support the Muhajadin. We never supported or trained Osama bin Laden.
Fine. Where’s your proof that this is dubious.
Prove all they sent were “teachers” hahaha and also prove that there were no schools in much of the country prior to this Sandinista “revolution.”
If the “people” supported them so much, why couldn’t the Sandinistas win an election and if they were just interested in Nicaragua, why did the Sandinistas try to help destabilize other regimes in Latin America including El Salvador and Honduras? Funny other nations such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia among many others seem to do very well because of US business interests.
Yes, trying to implement communism in a country and trying to fight it are morally equivalent. Anyone else see here that smboor is clearly following the Chomsky line of reasoning. Idiot. Both of you.
Ah smboor has deep insight into American foreign policy. No. The difference is that Cuba has no value for us as a trade partner nor is it a strategic nation that requires our compromise. That is not the case with China. Two very different countries. Two very different scenarios but like so many on the Left, sbmoor does not seem to have the understanding of “nuance” so required in modern diplomacy to see that different countries have different foreign policies and these are always in flux. Funny. I thought the Left admired the French precisely because they possess the nuanced approach that George Bush so “clearly lacks.” Hmm. Curious. The left is being inconsistent again? STrange. Hasn’t ever happened before…
Supply that World Health Organization quote. Also prove that this health care system is accessible to the entire population and not just those with dollars and other hard currencies.
Most of those with health care do not have it because they choose not to buy it. This is most true of the young who are still relatively healthy and who are often still supported by their parents. The true figure falls greatly when looking at poverty and the elderly all of who are given free health care under Medicare and Medicaid if they qualify financially. So this figure is a bit of a misstatement. It is like comparing poverty rates. Is a college student who makes US$11,000 at a part time job while studying really below the poverty line especially when he has a free dorm and his parents still supply him with other things? These figures are often included in America’s so called poverty rate and lack of insurance. Look closely and you will see lots of room for doubt and skepticism.
This statement is so ludicrous that it can be left standing as an indictment of the kant that sbmoor usually trots out. Yup. The US health care system which develops most of the medical treatment and cures is worse than Cuba’s. Also, if healthcare is unaffordable, you could do no better than to blame the trial lawyers that price it out of the reach of the middle class. After all, the poor still get it free under Medicare and Medicaid. Also, why not set limits on compensation. If insurance companies do not have a limit, they cannot provide insurance to you. If you do not know if such and such a suit will result in a payment of US$1 million or US$100 million how can you insure against it. This is the problem we are facing in America in health care today and by the way most trial lawyers actively support the Democrat party. Remember John Edwards. That is precisely how he made his money as a trial lawyer who chased ambulances.
I agree. Your ignorance is astonishing.
It was one of the highest before Castro as well.
Fine, then when would he like to schedule that election so people can show how much they love him?
How the hell would you know?
Um sbmoor. That is what Cuba is now. You have a country that is impoverished because of its leader. Its women and children are forced to prostitute themselves for dollars from fat Canadians to make ends meet. So it looks like you have your resort reality already. And that is Castro’s Cuba.
Which allies are far worse? Does the US not condemn them in human rights reports? AND in certain regions of the world like with Uzbekistan, what would you recommend that we do? Cut off all ties until the human rights situation improves and have no contact with the nation or try alternative means?
Obviously you know nothing about US diplomacy. Countries with human rights abuses which are allies of the US are repeatedly criticized in official reports and human rights abuses are brought up at the official level. Check it out. I cannot believe that you do not know that this happens ALL the time. Ignorant. You clearly have no understanding of the US foreign service and diplomacy. But that has already been abundantly clear from your other posts.
Gosh and just how did you garner this knowledge sbmoor?
I used to live in Miami. My great aunt used to live in Cuba from around 1939 to 1959. What is wrong with wanting your property back? Oh. I forgot communism is okay so it can kick off the rightful owners. Restoring that property is wrong because some of the property owners may have been rich and if they were rich that means that they do not deserve their full rights. Gotcha.
Many Cubans no longer support the sanctions but this blanket statement is ridiculous. It implies that Cuban poverty is based on the embargo, but other nations like Canada and Spain among other European countries and China and Russia have never followed this embargo so are you telling me that lacking trade ties with only one nation: the US is responsible for Cuba’s poverty?
Yet, I for one would say communism and a dictatorship stuffed full of corrupt cronies is to blame. After all, where has communism succeeded? But here again, it is all the US fault. Right. Gotcha.
And where exactly was it that you used to live in Miami? Where did you go to school?
[quote=“MaPoSquid”]
Wenn Sie so gut w
Fred, you seem to love the quote ‘prove it.’ Basically, if you make the assertion it is your burden of evidence to argue your point. You rarely make any attempt to prove any of the propaganda you love to rehash. Your complete lack of understanding of Cuba and Cuban society is quite clear; prostitution is on the rise but far less than in the US itself and not nearly as much as during the Battista regime. Literacy rates fell sharply thanks to Castro’s efforts. Of course data by any organization that isn’t funded by the Republicans would be, in your view, ‘biased.’
The high quality of the Cuban medical system has taken blows due to the embargo, yet Cuba continues to send doctors around the region to help those in times of need, most recently to Haiti. Somehow you feel the Haitians would be better off getting no assistance from them. Having lived in Nicaragua and done several months of political research there, I saw firsthand the positive effects the Cuban teachers had there. 12 of the schools I visited did not exist before the popularly-supported Sandinistas toppled the Somoza dictatorship sponsored by the US. Of course you feel that any positive change in the region not funded by the US is wrong. Interesting how one insignificant idiot feels he has the right to condemn large segments of our species to ignorance simply because he doesn’t feel like he’s on the team. The reality is that no matter what any government or group does to improve the world, you are just a stereotype of the ‘ignorant American’ despite your self-perception as armchair God. Other than using you as proof that ignorance continues to flourish, I’m content to know you will never hold enough power to have any serious influence on the world. It is clear that any opinion that runs against the spoon-fed propaganda supporting your John Wayne view of reality can’t be integrated. Since you feel you already know everything, why both arguing at all? :loco:
When I make an assertion I back it up with evidence. If I do not and am called to do so then I will. You are making several assertions and I am asking you to back these up.
So you have asserted that Cuba’s medical system is better than the US. Prove it.
You have said that more schools were built in Nicaragua under the Sandinistas and that there were no schools there before. Prove it.
You have said that the US has a Third World heath-care system. Prove it.
I suggest you look through all these threads. Many of them already contain this information. Ask me specifically what you would like and I will try to find it for you but I am not going to prove your own assertions for you.
What does the US have to do with Cuba. You may be right that there is less prostitution in Cuba now than under Battista. I don’t know but since you are making the assertion, prove it.
Hmmm, not quite sure how this assertion supports your argument but will assume graciously that you have made a typo?
Prove that I will not accept non-Republican sources of information.
If Cuba can trade with all other nations excepting the US, then how exactly is it being hurt by the embargo. Perhaps, is is being hurt by the corrupt cronyism that masquerades as “communism” in Cuba. Perhaps it could be the Communist system itself. What do you think? Is the US embargo more to blame than the corruption and communism given that these two factors are clearly related to standard of living and economic development.
Where have I said this. I never said anything of the kind. BUT I did say that I doubted very much that Cuba was sending only “teachers” to Nicaragua and other countries during the 1970s and 1980s. I believe that the evidence shows that these “teachers” were doing a lot more than “teaching” reading, writing and arithmetic. More like how to agitate, destabilize and fight as an insurgency.
Having visited Nicaragua for two months during my interim and a second-rate liberal arts college is what you mean. I know the visits. I know how you probably helped the peasants pick coffee and all that but what if, and I know this is incredible, what if you were allowed access to only certain areas and that these happy peasants so keen to support the Sandinistas were like a Potemkin village? Do you suppose that it is possible you were being manipulated? Say it isn’t so?!
Probably really 3.5 weeks. That is usually the length of most interim classes. Your paper was probably titled. “My Sojourn Picking Coffee with the Nicaraguan Peasants: How I Learned from Communist Manipulators that American Actions Against the Peace-Loving Nicaraguan Peasants Are Wrong.” Grade from pseudointellectual teacher at said second-rate institution A+ for having learned the “right lessons.”
[quote]
I saw firsthand the positive effects the Cuban teachers had there. [/quote]
I have no doubt that you did. Whether that was an “objective” and “true” understanding of Nicaragua however is open to question.
How do you know that they did not exist? I am not doubting that they may not have but how do you know that they did not exist? Did the Sandinistas “tell” you this? Also, how does it follow that the nonexistence of these schools under Somoza mean that we can logically infer that there are no more schools in the whole country? Do you have those figures available? You may be right, but you have NOT proved your point.
I also like how you add “popularly-supported” and I do recall this a lot in my time during Central America too. You might have wanted to take a public relations course. This was one of the tags that was added by the regime to foster greater “understanding” and “sympathy” in the WEst. Sort of like how Carter is our “best ex-president.” Funny how these same lines keep emerging. Brainwashing? Key Ad messages? Somoza was a shit but communism is obviously a failed system and fighting was right. Communism was bad. Somoza was bad. Supporting one and fighting the other did not necessarily have clear outcomes and benefits but hey looking at history, in hindsight, communism failed everywhere so we were right to fight it in Nicaragua as well. That does not mean that perfection will suddenly drop from heaven and Nicaragua will develop overnight. Sorry, things are just not that simple.
Interesting leap. Where have I said this. No. I said that communist systems were wrong. Why did not the Sandinistas win the democrat election that was finally held if they had so much popular support? Why did they have to use coercion to enforce compliance with their system?
Did I say I was against sending teachers to Nicaragua even Cuban ones? No. I said I was against communism and you are a little naif if you think that Cuba was sending only “teachers” to Nicaragua. Comparing our written discussions here, I suggest that you not bandy the word around about ignorant American too much. I doubt very much that I will be the one getting stuck with the epithet.
Perhaps you are right but I will still hold my views and espouse them and I will always have the satisfaction of knowing that no matter how little influence I have in the world, it will always be more than you have.
Where have I refused to accept other views. I have strongly held views. I have changed my mind. Given that your knowledge of Cuba and Nicaragua is highly unlikely to be “indepth” how is my questioning of your statements anything other than healthy skepticism? I mean you spend an interim there doing a project that is circumscribed by the authorities and yet we are supposed to take you at your word that you understand this area and that we should listen to you? I value the fact that you have been to Nicaragua but then so have I. I have seen something else. I have seen some good and a lot of bad. It is basically a question of whether you think communism equals democratic. I do not think that it does. Given that its inefficiencies have resulted in massive failure all over the world, why support the Sandinistas and for someone who is so quick to point out US failings, where is your balance? Do you know what the Sandinistas did to dissidents? What happened to property rights? What is going on in Cuba? Where are the success stories in Latin America? Who is more influential in these countries? The US or Cuba? I think that I have made my point and you have not convinced me of anything whatsoever. If this is what being an ignorant American is all about then I fully relish the prospect of wearing this title.
By the way, MT’s avatar of Che is based on a photo which has been done by a Cuban photographer. Has been reprinted millions of times but the poor guy never got a dime out of it. Still strawling along the beach in Havanna with an old camera.
I always thought Che was the more or less democratic revolutionary who left Cuba as Castro turned it into a prison. But I never informed myself about him really. Usually only female intellectuals fall for bearded latin american men, so I ignored him more or less.
As Fred mentioned something like Che was a sadistic …hole with sexual pervisons, I now get interested in him and will read everything about the Guy 
Yawn yawn.
Yes, Fred, in your cowboy world we always support the ‘good guys’ whereas anyone else (Axis of Evil, League of Doom, Great Satan or whatever you call them) always support the bad guys. When we carpet bombed areas of Laos, for example, we were doing the right thing despite the fact that it was a sovereign country not at war with the US. In Angola, the US helped the FNLA and later UNITA, groups with a long record of atrocities against Angolan civilians. Cuba was equally to blame. Politicians used the ‘good’ (capitalism) vs. ‘evil’ (communism) to justify their policies, which were essentially to further US economic interests, but they probably didn’t expect educated people to really buy into this oversimplification. Only an idiot would suggest that one murderous insurgency was better than another simply because of ideology. I think a better measure of an organization’s ‘goodness’ would be the actual benefits it brings to a population; the concept of what is actually good for a country is, in Fred’s mind, what is in the US’ political/economic interest. How interesting. 
Fred also says that pre- and post-Castro literacy rates were about the same. However, statistics show that 43% of people in urban areas and about 24% overall were literate before Castro’s 1957 literacy drives. Nowadays, literacy rates are about 96% according to the Associated World Press. The US has 99% literacy. Since Castro is ‘evil’ in the binary thinking of Bushites, this is impossible along with the fact that Cuban efforts
Since Bush is ‘good’ Fred cannot conceive that US allies might want to keep the general populace ignorant since educated people are more willing to challenge oppressive conditions and seek power. By keeping the population ignorant, they are less likely to rock the boat. But the ‘better dead than Red’ mentality suggests it is better to be illiterate and ignorant rather than leftist. This Republican truth is obvious in spokespeople like Rush Limbuagh, a complete idiot whom Fred has championed. Of course, to Republicans any education that runs counter to their fantasy world is ‘brainwashing,’ so the considerably higher literacy rates of post-Sandinista Nicaragua are just ‘liberal lies.’
Oh, and sorry to inform you my 4-month internship led me to tour the country interviewing members of several political parties, not just the Sandinistas. There are currently several parties, and I won’t say the Sandinistas are my favorite, but the benefits they brought to Nicaragua once they overthrew the US-supported dictator Somoza are obvious everywhere. Despite the fact that Somoza had fled with about $900 million (according to one US intelligence report) and then having to fight a US-funded terrorist group (Contras), education funding was higher than during Aleman’s tenure. Daniel Ortega won a democratic election in 1984, which was overseen by several NGO’s and even UK parliamentarians. However, mass US funding of the ONU (Violeta Chamorro’s party) and threats of US sanctions led most of the population to realize that the US had made democracy impossible in Nicaragua; either you had to go along with the US or be punished, a lesson many countries have had to learn.
Fred, on your sex vacations what did you really learn about the country and its history? Do you even speak any languages other than English? I really wouldn’t expect much from someone who hates the ‘multi culti’ world of cosmopolitan cities and prefers kicking cowpatties on the farm.
I didn’t see you when I was training and advising the Miskito. If we had known you were in the neighborhood we would made you feel right at home. 
Fred Smith won’t be happy untill castro and his brother are gone and the Mafia (sponsered by Washington) move back in and bleed the country dry.
Cuba would become Haiti mark two if left to the US.
Acutally I think Cuba was really in a dreadful situation before Castro.
It was controlled by corrupt Cuban generals and the US mafia. Note Castro was first not communistic, he only wanted to give his nation true independance. His first long speach in the Cuban court which sentenced him as a young man did NOT mention Marx or communism a single time.
Patria o muerte
was the slogan of his movement. But then he was opposed by US and got help from the Sowjet-Union. It seems this made him fall the equation:
USA = capitalism = Mafia
It is still in his head today, although this is wrong.
Now the country is so ruined, you have female university graduates walking around as prostitutes and the country is almost back where it was. Exchanged Mafia for Commies, great result.
I think here US influence was constantly bad to Cuba, since the very beginning.
Please: I am non-US, so I feel kinda strange now saying this in a mostly-US forum. But if I blame US foreign policy on this subject, it does not go against US in general. Got it?
How many former Spanish or Portuguese colonies are NOT shitholes?
So you are calling all of Latin America a heap of crap? Wow, rather a blanket statement. Brazil is still one of my favorite places on earth.
It might be your favorite place on earth, but most of the locals might disagree
wbln0018.worldbank.org/LAC/LAC.n … endocument
Mutual
Have I ever said we have done nothing wrong? No. I have said that we are generally a better system with superior moral values that delivers a host of benefits to our citizenry including more freedom, better protection of rights and higher standards of living and quality of life. I never said we were perfect. But we are better than these other eggregious examples of dictators and oppressed communist systems. If you cannot see that…
Yes, we carpet bombed “a part” of Laos, not the whole country. It was an area known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. According to international law, any nation is capable of acting against such a nation in the scenario provided. If nuclear weapons were being smuggled through Iraq, for example, through Haiti, the U.S. has the right to send commandos to Haiti to take this out. Your example is a good point of a difficult decision made at a difficult time with a lot of gray areas, but it is one that is not as “illegal” as you imply nor is it as “unreasonable” as you imagine.
All true. But how would a communist Angola have a. delivered better rights or b. been better for the U.S. and its strategic interests. Many on the Left have such a biased view that they see all communism as “progress” and any act against its spread as “reactionary.” Yes, you are right, we were acting in our own best intersts. Was this fair to the Angolan people? Not entirely, but the last time I looked the UN, France, Germany and many other countries were trying to “influence” the US election. What are international lobbying groups for? This is a common occurrence and the US is not the only “lobbyist.” And given the complexity of the US and its society, we actually have lobbying groups fighting against each other. You have chambers of commerce fighting international labor organizations, etc etc. so this is not so clear cut and you cannot paint the US with one big paint brush.
Yes, it was and so was the Soviet Union so your suggestion? Not act at all to counter Soviet and Cuban aggression in Angola because it might be difficult for simple minds to digest both in terms of moral value and in terms of strategic interest?
Are you still in doubt that capitalism is better than communism?
Yes, partially in our interests but a gross oversimplification of US foreign policy and conditions on the ground in the mid to late 1970s. Besides, wasn’t that human rights president Jimmy Carter in office then when these decisions were made? How did our “best expresident” fare with this? Are you condemning Jimmy Carter?
Yes, I see it all now. You are far too clever to be fooled by these evil capitalist interests. That is why you are spouting the communist line verbatim. Interesting coincidence?
Call me just such an idiot. I happen to think that those of us who fought communism tooth and nail were proved to have been right. Ever read all the documents that were released by the governments of Eastern Europe and Russia since communism’s fall? They paint a very lovely picture of the system and the policies in place to influence “thinkers” such as yourself. They spent a lot of time and money cultivating such “talent” and you were unwitting pawns but pawns nonetheless in their public relations efforts. I would be ashamed if I were you. How easily people like you were manipulated. Embarrassing.
I completely agree. That is why I supported the fight against communism. Are you arguing sbmoor that Nicaragua and the rest of Central America would better off today if they were communist? Then, why is it that the system has been a failure every place it has been implemented? Why has every nation dismantled it? Why did it lose all credibility? Why are even Western European nations desocializing their economies? I think that yes, I am for the betterment of societies in that regard and fighting communism was the way to go if history is any proof.
Actually, I think that the US does in fact act for the most part for the best interests of the world. We have made mistakes and are not perfect but the interesting thing is that sbmoor is so keen to set up strawmen and to put words into people’s mouths.
Fred never said this. What Fred said was that Cuba has always had one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America.
Yes, truly impressive but have literacy rates also risen in many other Latin American countries at the same time? Then, perhaps this is not the result of communist policies but improving standards worldwide and regionally?
Amazing that these American corporations bother with educating the poor and disadvantaged at home when they are so keen to prevent this from happening in other countries. What accounts for the difference?
binary thinking? No. Castro is evil because he arrests people without due process and does not respect human rights. There is no democracy nor justice in Cuba. The country is an economic basket case. People are desperate enough to take to rafts to flee. This is why he is evil. It is not binary thinking but based on evaluation given an objective moral code. How would you rate him?
[quote]
Since Bush is ‘good’ Fred cannot conceive that US allies might want to keep the general populace ignorant since educated people are more willing to challenge oppressive conditions and seek power. By keeping the population ignorant, they are less likely to rock the boat. [/quote]
Let’s see. US foreign policy is not based on one party or outlined by one president. That is why Bush and Clinton both recognized that Iran, Iraq and North Korea were “evil” states. It is also why despite the change in party, the policy on Cuba has not changed. Argue the merits or demerits but to suggest that the US wants to “keep Cubans uneducated” is a bit rich. AND given that Castro has done such a good job as you have said, we have obviously failed in our “evil efforts” and therefore I wonder why you seem to think that the US is omnipotent and I also wonder how we can be to blame for Cuba’s poverty and oppression when they have the type of system that we have been trying to prevent all along?
Did I say better dead than red? And there is no question of it being better to be ignorant and illiterate than leftist since these are mutually compatible. In fact, most leftists are ignorant and illiterate so there is no question of a comparison in the way that you have outlined.
Where have I championed Rush Limbaugh. My goodness you certainly do play fast and furious with the facts. Care to share the quote that you are referring to here?
Well, when you actually do get around to showing me those statistics, I might believe you but sorry I am not going to take your word for it. Have you supplied any statistics at all regarding Nicaragua and its literacy pre and post Sandinista? If so, I totally missed them.
Oh my goodness, four whole months. Dear me. How easy to guess. How so very predictable in your views. How did I know?
And that’s why during free and fair elections they were not elected. Strange that the people just do not seem to appreciate the benefits from a top-down dictatorship. Wonder when Castro will offer to hold free and fair elections? If not, it must be because the US is oppressing Cuba. It could not possibly be Castro and the Communist Party right?
Possible but show me the link and evidence to suppor this claim. You make a lot of statements and I think you make them up. But when you prove this, I will accept it. Again, I think it is plausible.
Prove that and define that by total dollar terms, per capita income, percentage of budget? This does make a difference you know.
Did he? I was not aware that this waas given the title “democratic.” got a link to support that assertion? The Sandinista Daily won’t cut it for me.
How was demanding free and fair elections “anti-democratic.” Bit of a problem here. We demand you hold elections that are free and fair. Ergo we are undemocratic?
Ah yes, France and Germany are among the many examples that come to mind. Cuba has obviously knuckled under to unremitting US pressure, the Russians, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, UN, etc. etc. Actually, who the hell has given in to US pressure? Please give me some examples to encourage me that we have any influence at all!
No I am there for the sex and cigars. Perhaps, the time to visit Cuba has arrived?
I speak Chinese, some German, French, Spanish and Italian. My Taiwanese generally consists of dirty words taught to me by taxi drivers. I have lived most of my life outside of the US and have been to most of the countries in the world and have studied in several very diverse places.
Ah hating multi culti means hating cities? How does that follow? No, I am pretty much a city boy with some very urban and urbane tastes as anyone will tell you, but I don’t mind a brief jaunt to the countryside as well. So you are pretty much wrong.
My problem with multiculti is pretty much based on the very argument that we are having here. You cannot seem to wrap your mind around the fact that the Sandinistas and Castro are part of the problem not the solution. The US for all its faults is often more a part of the solution than the problem though it has caused problems.
I am very interested in other cultures, from art to music to language to architecture to food to religion to whatever. I am very much au courrant with these subjects but I do not make the mistake of assuming that the value systems of those nations are in fact superior to ours and that they are somehow worthy of being emulated. I can go to China and marvel at Chinese art and eat Chinese food without wanting a Chinese dictatorship at home. I can go to Ethiopia and marvel at the ancient history without thinking that female genital mutilation is a good idea. I can talk to the Nicaraguan peasants and even join their wedding dances without wanting a corrupt Somoza like dictator to take over my country nor a communist ragtag collection of “idealists” with no understanding of economics and geopolitics.
Keep trying though. I relish these conversations. Your responses provide me with the absolutely damning satire of a leftie multi culti in action and that is far more eloquent and persuasive than anything I could possibly come up with. Keep up the good work. People may soon start to believe that I invented you just to provide myself with such a rhetorical punching bag. Bravo!
post deleted