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slaveboyforyou -> RE: Communism (6/30/2008 5:21:31 PM)
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Wow, you could have worked for Reagan...
Cuba survived for a long time before and after soviet aid and despite punitive economic action by the U.S. following their rejection of submission of yet more colonialism. That it remains poor to this day only makes its government's accomplishments for its people and its enduring popularity with them more impressive.
I like Reagan, so thank you. Cuba started getting aid from the Soviets almost immediately. Castro came to power in 1959, and the Soviets started sending aid in 1962. The Soviets increased that aid in 1968 when Castro endorsed their invasion of Czechoslavakia. The aid didn't stop until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. I don't call that a "long time." Cuba has endured our embargo because no one else observes it. It barely survives now, and the economy is slowly moving forward toward capitalism. The accomplishments it's made in education and medical care have come at the expense of other things. The loss of freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and free enterprise are pretty tidy sums to give for a free education and free medical care.
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Vietnam had come as close to "wholly implementing" communism as any nation has almost immediately after its people secured their nation through a great deal of sacrafice -- its a very telling detail about your position here, your continued use of ambiguous terminology along the lines of "moving towards capitalism"; every nation strikes a balance of policy, any piece of which might be viewed from the outside as particularly leftists or rightist and communism covers a great breadth of ideas.
Vietnam moved away from that policy rather quickly in the 80's. My position is hardly amibiguous. You are the one that claimed communism works. Either it does work, or it doesn't. Striking a balance is not in the Marxism playbook. If you believe that, you need to read what Marx wrote.
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China may have changed it's tune on foreign markets, Vietnam may have opened its doors to a lucrative tourist industry and Cyprus may be a presidential republic that just happens to have a communist in every major post, but I assure these remain highly socialist nations. You're reliance on catch-phrases such as "China is basically becoming a capitalist nation in communist clothing." will not cover for your lack of any detailed knowledge of the internal mechanics of these nations.
China may have changed it's tune? It has completely reversed policy. It is a wide open economy and free enterprise is flourishing among native Chinese peoples. It's not just the foreigners. Cyprus has never practiced communism, and you know it hasn't. I don't give a damn what party the bureacrats there identify with.
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She also clearly said that France had surrendered, meaning she was likely talking about the latter half of 1940 when the Germans, at the insistence of Hitler himself, turned their war machine on the Soviets, with occupied Poland in-between
Well that's not what I read in her comment. Why are you answering for her anyway?
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She provided plenty of factual information about disparate events. You despise communism, but you have at best a grade-school understanding of it. Nobody claimed you should have to live in a place in order to know you don't want to, but you might consider shutting up and listening to someone who has lived there if you want an accurate impression of it. And finally, I consider your last post a flame because, unlike your previous posts which, despite being formulated more around your attested bias than any detailed treatment of the facts, were direct responses to matters you two were already combative over, that one was just petty and unnecessary. You directly quoted her request not to be flamed and then essentially told her she was contributing nothing to the dialogue.
A grade school understanding of it? I had to study it in college a great deal. Marxist vewpoints were included in almost every social science course I ever took. My bias towards communism comes from a complete, educated understanding of it. I have listened to other people that have lived through it. My Spanish professor in college was a Cuban refugee. He rode on a make shift boat to get here. I used to work with a man that was a Russian immigrant. He defected here in the early 1980's. I assure you that both had no love for communist regimes. My father served three tours of duty in Vietnam and saw what the wonderful communists did to civilians. So maybe you should seek out other opinions before attacking mine. Your Leftist bias is quite obvious, and your belief that communism strikes a balance shows your ignorance of Marxist theory. Marxism isn't a philosophy that allows for compromise.
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