/lit/ - Literature

I went there once.

Fuck no

>>>/pol/

I've been there, and it's pretty nice. I don't think it really is a successful Marxist nation but considering their situation they are pretty well off - their education, infant mortality, etc is all really great. I think the main issue limiting the country is the lack of trade with the US.

Successful at pissing off the US

My notion of success is allowing me as a hypothetical citizen to do as I please. First world centrism satisfies me more in that than Cuba could, I think.

>>4279240
>implying you do anything other than sit on 4chin all day

Pretty much yes, high percentage of participation by the people on the politics, health, education and culture with incredible standards, high respect for nature, after the homossexual persecution during the 80's they were able to admit their failure and now have one of the most receptive societies in the world, etc... Taking into account they are the only ones in power right now and suffering from severe pressure from the US, forbidding the trade of construction or electronic equipment, they are doing extremely well.

>>4279243
>implying I don't indulge in more traditional lowlife activity as well

Is Cuba NEET friendly?

>>4279259

>sarepta, cyber-pank extraordinare
>stan.jpg

keeping le keks alive

>>4279136

I think it's a successful state. Let's see

Ideology: Whether you're leftist or not, as Walter Sobchak says, at least they have an ethos, and that's more than you can say about most nations in this world. Honestly I would envy the people living in such a progressive nation, despite its mistakes. I give them 9/10

Economically, they deserve a good score for becoming one of the most successful South American nations despite having more hurdles to tackle. Their system is closely modeled on the soviet system so props to them making it work. 7/10 for not become a first world nation and for some long lasting economic crises.

Socially: Not that I'm as gullible to believe what Cuban refugees claim, but the fact that there are so many indicates the situation is problematic. Cubans not being allowed to leave their country at will is also a typical problem of the old socialist bloc. I also read about high rates of corruption. Despite this limited political freedom, they do enjoy free education, material comfort and free time. 7/10

Ecologically: Cuba is the only sustainable developed country in the world. Hence 10/10

Relevance: Of all smaller countries during the cold war, Cuba was probably the most important. In fact, it had a higher military presence that the USSR and send more international aid than any other country or organisation.

Today Cuba does not enjoy that kind of spotlight anymore. But, it still plays an important role especially in South America's evolution towards more progressive politics. Also, Cuba still has retained some of its mythical aura that keeps inspiring leftists throughout the world. I give them 8/10

So with an average of 8/10 I consider them a highly successful nation.

>>4279136
I'm Cuban and have been multiple times + have family. You guys are batshit crazy or ignorant if you think it's a successful state, at least economically.

>marxist/socialist nation
>successful

those terms are mutually exclusive silly

>>4279373
its just marxists looking for any real world empirical evidence, no matter how small or far fetched, to support their ridiculous theories. So they look at Cuba and are like, "hey, that country isn't so bad, right guys?" and they're all like Hell yeah bro marxism obviously works.

>>4279373

How is your opinion better than HDI measurements?

No, without a big daddy to sustain them like the Soviet Union in the Cold War or Venezuela since 1999 the country falls apart.

while where on Cuba, what does /lit/ think of Jose Marti?

>>4279392
Well my opinion is obviously anecdotal, I can't say for any statistical averages.

>>4279136
lol no

>>4279402
Like every other country?

>>4279136
I just want to point out:

Cuba has a higher literacy rate than the U.S.

Cuban citizens do not have free access to the web; however, looking at 4chan this might be a positive thing.

>>4279373
Cuban here, I agree with this poster, though I also accept that there are good things about Cuba's system at the moment - such as its education and universal health care.

The fact remains that it is still a government ruled by an authoritarian administrative elite class, which is mostly white by the way. It is therefore not socialism - control of the means of production by the people. Also the standard of living for many is basically third world level.

>>4279373
Miamian Americanised traitor reactionary sour grapes bourgeois cuntist detected.

>>4279432
What would you consider third world? If you can eat right and have access to decent healthcare and education that's pretty much shit taken care of, the rest is a nice addition at best and horrible decadence at worst.

>>4279432
>standard of living for many is basically third world level
>better health care and education system than even the US

yeah ok

>>4279136
As successful as one can be if one's under complete lock-down by the world's most powerful empire and its cronies.

>>4279455
Where are you getting this shit? The education and health care is good for the upper crust, everyone else eats cake.

>>4279351

>>4279406
So it's not a matter of other people being ignorant or batshit crazy.

>>4279478
How the fuck do you know?

Go drown in the Atlantic Batista scum.

I knew /lit/ was full of insane leftists but that's pushing it. I think some travel to Cuba is in order.

Currently the only "highly successful" country in Latin America is MAYBE Chile.

>>4279405
Haven't read but looking forward to at some point.

>>4279494
nice point dere m8

>>4279494
You must have a highly capitalist and iPhone-qualified sense of success

>>4279494
>has never been to cuba

>>4279455

Cuba has a good second world standard of living. Like Russia or Mexico.

That's pretty enviable in South America.

>>4279478
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba

>The Cuban government operates a national health system and assumes fiscal and administrative responsibility for the health care of all its citizens.[1] There are no private hospitals or clinics as all health services are government-run.
>According to the UN, the life expectancy in Cuba is 78.3 years (76.2 for males and 80.4 for females). This ranks Cuba 37th in the world and 3rd in the Americas, behind only Canada and Chile, and just ahead of the United States. Infant mortality in Cuba declined from 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1957, to 10 in 1990–95.[225] Infant mortality in 2000–2005 was 6.1 per 1,000 live births. Its infant mortality rate is 5.13

Although now it's actually estimated at 4.76, compared to the US' 5.9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Cuba

>Irrespective of income or place of living, education at every level is free.[6]
>Cuba's literacy rate of 99.8 percent[6][210] is the tenth-highest globally, due largely to the provision of free education at every level.[211]

So yeah pls go bourgeois disinfo spreading scum

>>4279453

The numbers are hard to quantify because the Cuban government refuses to use international measures since it fears showing the magnitude of the problem

But read this article
http://www.miamiherald.com/2008/12/12/810847/after-50-years-cuba-has-little.html

>>4279455
as the article above states, Cuba already had excellent infant mortality rates and education in the region prior to the revolution, so these numbers aren't because of Socialism.


Also lets not forget the political repression and human rights issues in the nation. Cuba had the second-highest number of imprisoned journalists of any nation in 2008, dissidents face arrest and imprisonment and internet use is highly monitored and curtailed by the government. It's an authoritarian state plain and simple.

>>4279494

Did you know Pinochet rolled back the libertarian reforms when he saw it was reducing Chile's economy to shit?

I'm just warning you before you say things that don't glide with your ideology.

>>4279512
>second world standard of living
>better health care and education system than even the US

yeah ok

>>4279517
>miamiherald

(:

>>4279517
>Cuba already had excellent infant mortality rates and education in the region prior to the revolution, so these numbers aren't because of Socialism.

It's not just infant mortality rates, Cuba has some of the best doctors in the world and healthcare is free for every citizen. Their whole health care system is one of the best in the world.

>>4279517
>dissidents face arrest and imprisonment and internet use is highly monitored
This is very different in the US of A, right?

>>4279517
>the miami herald

>>4279526

Sorry, it wasn't me who said the stuff about the better health care and education.

But Cuba's health care really is better though. It's living standards are however lower, hence the lower HDI.

>>4279526
It's true but health care and education are absolute shit in the US tho

>>4279539
Its HDI ranking is actually ridiculously high (59 internationally) when compared to its GDP per capita ranking (84 internationally)

in what way is cuba 'marxist'?

>>4279546
Cuba easily has one of the top ten best health care systems in the world though, and their education is pretty decent too (and free).

>>4279405
Ive only read the Simple Verses in both english and spanish, it was alright.

>>4279517
>http://www.miamiherald.com
>"Hey guys I just heard some things about the jews on this place called stormfront.com seems legit"

>>4279560
They adhere to Marxist-Leninist ideals at least.

>>4279566
lol

>>4279572
nice refutation

>>4279533
Eh, there are many problems with the Cuban healthcare system, it's not such a paradise. Shit read that wiki article posted above.

>>4279535
US isn't necessarily the best example of a successful nation either is it? Shit, almost all countries are shit, except maybe some of the smaller nordics. Of course that just depends on how you view success. I'm Cuban and can tell you that most Cubans would prefer to live in the US, now that may be just anecdotal evidence and there are things Cuba does better than the US, especially healthcare, but then again, almost anyone does healthcare better than the US.

>>4279532
>>4279537
so, do you have an actual criticism of the article?

>>4279572
>if I say "lol" it'll seem like he's wrong! that's teach that fucking leftist!!!!

>>4279579
>>4279569

>>4279537
>>4279532

>Andrés Oppenheimer is an Argentine journalist who resides in the United States. He is the Latin American editor and syndicated foreign affairs columnist with The Miami Herald. His column, "The Oppenheimer Report," appears twice a week in The Miami Herald and more than 60 U.S. and foreign newspapers, including El País, of Spain, La Nación, of Argentina, and Reforma of Mexico.
>He is the co-winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize as a member of The Miami Herald team that uncovered the Iran-Contra scandal. He won the Inter-American Press Association Award twice (1989 and 1994), and the 1997 award of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He is the winner of the 1993 Ortega y Gasset Award of Spain's daily El País, the 1998 Maria Moors Cabot Award of Columbia University, the 2001 King of Spain Award, given out by the Spanish news agency EFE and King Juan Carlos I of Spain, the Overseas Press Club Award in 2002, and the Suncoast Emmy award from the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences in 2006.

author sounds pretty legit and high profile in Latin American politics, so what is the problem exactly?

>>4279579
>Eh, there are many problems with the Cuban healthcare system, it's not such a paradise.

Yeah, mostly caused by being under an embargo with the US and not being able to receive supplies from pharmaceutical companies and the like; in spite of which, I might add, they still managed to completely eradicate 14 infectious diseases, including malaria, from their population.

Plus they have a lower infant mortality rate than the US, a life expectancy on par with the US, and it's free for all citizens.

that's bretty good I'd say

>>4279522
I was aware of that and i don't really have a personal ideology aside from "whatever works".

>>4279560
>>4279571

Its system is also essentially based on the soviet system.

>>4279351
brb moving to cuba

>>4279579
Ye, agree about the Scandinavian countries, but they are a big exception, an ideal scenario in reality.

So as for success, I picked something as in "comparison" to their neighbours and generally most countries, where Cuba looks pretty decent, specially seeing how they got locked down.

>>4279596
agreed, I never said it wasn't a pretty good healthcare system

Though the blaming of many of these problems on the embargo is a common trope, so I'd be wary of accepting that at face value

>>4279206
totally this,

>>4279604
Seriously, gimme some of that Castroism.

>>4279579
>so, do you have an actual criticism of the article?

Probably not. You're of course completely right in asking me a rebuttal instead of shooting the messengers. But I am no historian of Cuba for one thing and even if I was it would take a lot of time doing this.

I would want to contest the point you made based on the article, namely that prior to the revolution, Cuba was already doing well. This was according to a measurement done in 1953. Another country that was very high on that list, if I recall correctly, was Venezuela. This country's living standards however, plummeted under the right wing regime and is only regaining a bit of its former status these recent years.

My point being that yes, starting conditions are very important, but they don't negate the achievements of 50 years keeping this position and improving it significantly.

>>4279609
Well, by comparison to most banana republic unbridled capitalism brought on the barrel of American warships, anything looks pretty good doesn't it?

>>4279621
>Though the blaming of many of these problems on the embargo is a common trope
More like a common fact.

>America's face when Cuba has managed to be as successful as it is with near total self-sufficiency and they have to give up eventually, resulting in yet another humiliating defeat by yet another socialist force

>>4279494

>yfw a leftist goverment is getting back to the office after today's elections

>>4279636
>My point being that yes, starting conditions are very important, but they don't negate the achievements of 50 years keeping this position and improving it significantly.

I agree, its just that I wanted to highlight how that achievement wasn't out of the blue because of the magic of Socialism, but was based on previous structural foundations.

Most Marxists, including the Cuban government, who want to use Cuba as their ideal model point to these two main facts, while general ignoring other issues such as human rights and poverty.

not an U.S bitch, best cigars, rum and music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gOI2eFunNE

hell yeah, they are successful.

>inb4 bu-but they have no ipads.

>>4279661

>that face when not learning salsa from hot Cuban cutie in Havana

>>4279645
More like common Cuban government propaganda
I lived there, the yankee embargo is the ultimate excuse used to cover all corruption and political repression. Cuba trades with many other countries, the US is not the only advanced economy in the world, just the largest one. Did you know for example, that Cuba benefits from the GPS (Generalized Preference System) for its exports with the EU, its largest trading partner? China and Venezuela are also influential trade partners.

Ending the embargo won't create a socialist utopia in Cuba.

>>4279690

>>4279661
>all that sun and happiness and dancing

Not sure if I could even cope with that.

>>4279661
>tfw hipspastic fantastic mulatto qt on your dick while smoking a cohiba

kill me

>>4279709
*no :(

And a dash of news that warmed my red heart

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/16/socialist-kshama-sawant-seattle_n_4287516.html

>>4279717
Fuck yes, it's happening

>>4279717
She's a Trot, though.

>>4279725
Have solidarity, anon. We can bitch about details later- the point is a socialist platform is making way in Amurican politics again.

>>4279690
>>4279699
>>4279709
>fucking gringo pigs

>>4279692

I agree, though an embargo of the world leader certainly is not without a considerable impact either.

Imo, Cuba certainly made mistakes in the past, regarding homosexuals for instance. But what I like the most about this country is that people there are thought that a better world is possible, not just a possible increase in personal material wealth. That really touches me. I think teaching your citizens a love for humanity is more important than anything.

Very corny I know.

It's so successful that Cubans keep washing up in Miami just to tell Americans how much they love their country.

>>4279738
nice supposition

>>4279729
no, trots are traitors, to be shot on sight

>>4279743
>stalinists

As a guy who's new with communism, I'm wondering why Cuba is making capitalist consessions like the new car regulations?

>all of these people saying yes
lel

I'm Cuban. There's a reason why we're all flooding to the US. Cuba has very little economic opportunities and is very poor in most areas. It cannot survive alone and is not self sufficient.

>>4279742
>implying

Over 300,000 cubans have fled Cuba over the last ten years. Look it up.

>>4279756
pics

>>4279737
Sadly that 'love for humanity' supposedly being taught doesn't translate to love for political prisoners, dissidents, homosexuals and other undesirables.

I understand the idealism, its natural I guess. But on the ground, most Cubans are pretty jaded about their government.

I went to school in Cuba, I do't remember much love for humanity in school, I do remember a lot of hate for Americans though.

>>4279759
that is not a fact, it is made up by american capitalists.

>>4279762
I live in Miami, I assume you want pics of Cuba?

>>4279717
About time for a city that reps Lenin.

>>4279768
>I live in Miami
Opinion disregarded

>>4279768
>a cuban in miami.
>believing him anything he say about cuba

pick one.

>>4279768
So, wow, another Miami /lit/erati. I feel like I want to reach out to you somehow, but it would be awkward. Sup, Silvio fan by any chance?

>>4279763
> in school, I do remember a lot of hate for Americans though.
Because it's it different in American schools about Cuba, right?

>>4279765
Well all the statistics are pulled from Cuban websites if you want to dredge through those.

>>4279779
>actual Cuban who has lived in Cuba and in the US
>disregard all his opinions he must be a traitorous Capitalist pig

Jesus why are leftists such morons sometimes, I feel like not even identifying with the left at all because of this reason. If only post left anarchy wasn't such a shitstorm of Stirnerites and primitivists...

>>4279783
Depends on the school I guess, but what does tu quoque prove in this case?

>>4279778
I lived in Cuba until I was 19. I still visit my family over there every year. Why would my opinion be of any less value than someone who currently lives in Cuba?

>>4279768
You must be very mad Castro took all your family's bourgeois shit.

>>4279752

http://www.marxist.com/where-is-cuba-going-capitalism-or-socialism.htm

>>4279756
>>4279759

Isn't that comparable with Mexican refugees (a country with one of the highest living standards in South America like Cuba) with the difference that the US accepts them with open arms?

>>4279763

That's a shame though. And you're right it doesn't always translate in policy. My family in the USSR was thought about love for humanity Also hate for America, but always together with solidarity with the common American people.

Even though the USSR kinda sucked on many aspects, I think that's one very important part they did right.

I sometimes read reflections of Fidel, which is pretty much Fidel's blog. You can see that these texts aren't written by some committee. And it makes me happy there exists a leader of a country that still believes in a higher cause.

He also admitted, apologized and took the blame for his treatment of homosexuals. That takes a lot of guts I think.

>>4279794
Because anyone who leaves is a bourgeois oppressor and traitor, duh

Who could want to leave that socialist wonderland?

>>4279795
why wouldn't he be if that were true?

>>4279788
What's wrong with a bit of Stirno-Nietzschean futurist individualist anarchist dandyism?

>>4279791
Just not getting by which standards Cuba is rated, when you can find many of their negative points, in almost every other country.

>>4279799
Because as I've stated, the people are dirt poor and mostly farmers. The only actual educated people become musicians who later move to the states or become engineers.

>>4279801
He could have some sense of morality. But Cubans in Miami are basically all the scum they didn't want in Cuba. Miami is to Cuba what Australia is to Britain.

>>4279737
>Cuba certainly made mistakes in the past, regarding homosexuals for instance

Castro is pretty admirable though for admitting he was wrong about that and that it was a huge injustice and taking all the blame for it.

Fidel's a pretty level-headed guy.

>>4279788
is because I've meet a lot of cubans, since im a big fan of cuban music. But jesus , you miami's cubans are so anoying, the vision you give to the world about cuba is so fake.

>>4279798
>He also admitted, apologized and took the blame for his treatment of homosexuals. That takes a lot of guts I think.
Source? I'm not disbelieving you; I just want to see it with my own two eyes, because this sounds kind of awesome.

>>4279808
>all of the scum they didn't want in Cuba
More like all of the people who were lucky enough to leave the island.

>>4279795
>a little tiny bodega or a small farm to support the family
>oh wow so bourgeois

and this, folks, is leftist logic

>>4279812
yea i'm sure all those persecuted bourgeois homosexuals are so happy he said he was sorry for torturing and oppressing them. what a level headed guy he was.

>>4279816

Here you go: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11147157

>>4279811
I'm actually going to agree with you and say that most Cubans in Miami, including my family, have a pretty twisted and polarized view of Cuban and American politics. Shit, that's why they're all Republicans - though that's changing now with the newer generation.

However, there is a reason for this, the revolution was pretty brutal for many families, my uncle for example, was a political prisoner. So tensions run high.

However, I think a Cuban on /lit/ is NOT your typical Miami Cuban.

>>4279828
When did US of A stopped discriminating against them again? Oh wait.

I don't get why people hold Cuba to higher standards than superpowers our countries in Latin America.

>>4279828
He didn't just say he was sorry, he pretty much completely reversed Cuba's treatment of homosexuals and the like, now Cuba is one of the most pro-LGBT nations and gender reassignment surgery is even free under their national health system.

>>4279798
>I sometimes read reflections of Fidel
Muh comrade. Fidel is definitely bro tier.

>marxism
>successful

>>4279830
>However, I think a Cuban on /lit/ is NOT your typical Miami Cuban.

The Cubans here seem pretty level headed indeed.

It's pretty stupid that someone who grew up in Cuba who has mild criticism is being called bourgeois by some commie over the internet.

>>4279817
>what Miami Cubanos actually think

>>4279802
not enough clan-like behavior

>>4279837
>what leftist gringos actually believe

>>4279802
nothing I guess, it's just that those people usually suck, they're like the Objectivists of anarchism - aka assholes

This was a good thread so far but I'm tired now.

Just going to post a picture of Fidel with his admirers. Must be nice being a succesful internationally known revolutionary leader.

>>4279834
>by some commie
Hm

Anyways, why don't you anons pack your bags and then move to Cuba?

>>4279432
>which is mostly white by the way

What's your point?

>>4279841
You can't out-asshole the straight edge punk rock vegan type of anarchists though.

>>4279842
Unions of Egoists can get pretty clanny. Nothing instils comradery like going on an all out cake or death international police chase and bank robbing streak.

>>4279851
>anyone can just up-and-leave to wherever they want

>>4279833
>Cuba is one of the most pro-LGBT nations
lmao. you're stupid. cuba has plenty of anti-gay and heterosexist legislation.

>>4279866
It's obviously difficult for useless people, but no such people exist on /lit/.

>>4279725
Implying that's a bad thing

>>4279743
Stalinists are the traitors. You gotta be trollin' Just say no to Bolshevism.

>>4279756
I know the damn reasons. I'm not even a Castro supporter.

Thread exploding.

>>4279851
Planning on it.

>>4279865
>Unions of Egoists

Got any links besides the ones on the anarchist library?

>>4279877
>You gotta be trollin' Just say no to Bolshevism.
But I thought you liked Trotsky? I hope you realize that he was a Bolshevik from the October Revolution onwards and frequently liked presenting his ideas as a continuation of Leninism.

>>4279866
fire lo is that u

>>4279877
ahhhh shit

>>4279873
>cuba has plenty of anti-gay and heterosexist legislation.

Such as? The only thing they don't allow is same-sex marriage (although to be fair "marriage" isn't as significant of an institution in Cuba as it is in other countries, which is why homosexuals there don't care) but other than that being gay is a-ok in Cuba.

Hell, Raul Castro's daughter is even the head of a government sponsored pro-LGBT organization.

>>4279889
I'm not completely knowledgable about these things, but what I do know is his own "comrades" hunted him down. Whatever Bolshevism was, might have been or was in fact, it betrayed him.
I wanna get these books someday

>>4279911
Oh boy, it's a long story, but non-Stalinist Leninists will get on your case for saying that Stalinism is Bolshevism.

A quick internet search reveals this little gem (which I hadn't read before) by Trotsky himself:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1937/08/stalinism.htm
>Liberals, including the Webbs, have always maintained that the Bolshevik dictatorship represented only a new edition of Tsarism. they close their eyes to such “details” as the abolition of the monarchy and the nobility, the handing over of the land to the peasants, the expropriation of capital, the introduction of the planned economy, atheist education, and so on. In exactly the same way liberal- anarchist thought closes its eyes to the fact that the Bolshevik revolution, with all its repressions, meant an upheaval of social relations in the interests of the masses, whereas Stalin’s Thermidorian upheaval accompanies the reconstruction of Soviet society in the interest of a privileged minority. It is clear that in the identification of Stalinism with Bolshevism there is not a trace of socialist criteria.

>>4279783
He never even claimed it was you fucking twat jesus christ so eager to get offended

I'm categorically opposed to one-party states that repress dissent. So no.

>>4279899
>why homosexuals there don't care
i'm sure they don't
>gay is a-ok in Cuba
save for the police crackdowns on gay clubs and transvestites that occur every so often.

>>4279855
This dumbass thinks race isn't significant in hierarchical structures

>>4279938
So the only states you accept are the ones that let themselves be destroyed?

>>4279938
what is the United States of america.

>>4279895
Ew, no

>>4279351
Cubans can travel to any country in the world as of 2011 i think. Only Americans are forbidden to travel to Cuba, not otherwise.

>>4279966
b-but there are two parties! we can choose freely!

>>4279966
The differences between Truman and Eisenhower were small. The differences between Reagan and Clinton were small, but there's actually a pretty big difference between these last two guys. And especially their parties.
Not saying I approve of the games of footsie they all play with corporations, but only one side makes any noises against that sort of thing.

>>4279830
sorry for your family. Sorry for the guys that lose their properties. But I think they are few compared to the amount of poor people that before Castro have no education, live in poverty etc.

And is a nice thing to have one country in this world free of coca cola, and macdonalds.

>>4279938
"Parliamentarism, that is to say, public permission to choose between five main political opinions, insinuates itself into the favour of the numerous class who would like to appear independent and individual, and like to fight for their opinions. After all, however, it is a matter of indifference whether one opinion is imposed upon the herd, or five opinions are permitted to it. But he who diverges from the five public opinions and stands apart, has always the whole herd against him." - Brosef Fritzl

>>4279992
>but there's actually a pretty big difference between these last two guys. And especially their parties.
I'd disagree. There's a difference in the parties, perhaps, and in the general sentiments surrounding them, but their actual policies are basically different shades of neoliberalism (the major difference being Bush's religiousness and Obama's push for welfare capitalism). The differences are significant, but not significant enough.

My basic issue is that Obama is still basically working within a Clintonesque framework, which in turn is an attempt at carving out a centrist niche within Reagan's framework.

(I realize I'm making massive overgeneralizations here, and I'm sort of sorry for doing so, but at least I'm not the only one, I guess?)

>Not saying I approve of the games of footsie they all play with corporations, but only one side makes any noises against that sort of thing.
And this is more or less what I'm talking about. I think the biggest difference is in rhetoric rather than actual policy. Now if only America's "left" (scarequoted because the Democratic Party is centrist as fuck for the most part) could actually learn to make their policy better line up with their rhetoric...

>>4279943
>save for the police crackdowns on gay clubs and transvestites that occur every so often.

source

>>4279946
post a pic of yourself

>>4280021
>but not significant enough.
Agreeing. Obama's love for Lincoln shows. If only he'd learned to be more like Roosevelt.

>>4280028
If he did, would you accept it or would you just dismiss it as "hurr durr of course they're making cuba out to sound terrible" like everyone else does about claims from Cubans who've lived in Cuba about impoverishment/etc.?

>>4280028
http://inthesetimes.com/article/5214/inside_cuba_gay_life_in_cuba/
>“I don’t want faggots walking around Havana–sooner or later I’m going to throw you all in jail after I exhaust all the warnings I’m going to give you,” said Police Capt. Ángel of the Reina district, between San Nicolás and Rayo Streets, after he arrested 58 young people for homosexuality, according to José Luis, an HIV+ transvestite who was arrested four blocks from his home for being homosexual.

it's embarrassing that you think Cuba is some gay paradise.

>>4280190
>2009
That looked a bit old, so I just googl'd about what the other guy said.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0430/Castro-daughter-to-US-Raul-s-daughter-to-accept-award-for-gay-rights-advocacy
>Castro, a married mother of three, is the niece of retired Cuban strongman Fidel Castro. She is also the director of Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, part of Cuba's public health ministry, and is the country's most prominent gay rights activist.
>Castro has instituted awareness campaigns, trained police on relations with the LGBT community and lobbied lawmakers to legalize same-sex unions. She was elected as a deputy in Cuba's parliament in February.

>>4280045
what does you picture mean?

>>4281506
There's a wrong way and a right way to hold the bags of leftism. How I see it anyway. Forgot where I found it.

>>4281167
are you serious? you're disregarding the lived experience of gays in Cuba for political rhetoric? gay people don't care about marriage? can straight people be this stupid and naive or am I just getting trolled.

>>4281573
>b-b-but if teh commies aren't allowed to change their ideas on this, how else will I continue my screed against them!

10/10

would blanda with