"I can't just walk into a public library and ask for books on Afro-Cuban religion," said Luis Antonio Bonito Lara, a retired engineer and avid reader. "I can't even ask for copies of Granma from two years ago without special permission. It's enormously frustrating."
(Remember, this is the Another World that the people protesting outside the Nike store will tell you Is Possible.) (via Reenhead)
I'd hesitate to call the Cuban system socialism. The implementations of communism we've seen to date are just mirrors of the capitalist imperialism that makes living on this planet unpleasant to impossible for sooooo many people. (Not me actually - I'm doing ok)
Just wish you would ponder your use of the word socialism a bit here.
- Frequent visitor, Paul
"Remember, this is the Another World that the people protesting outside the Nike store will tell you Is Possible."
Ahhh now. I think that's a little bit unfair. It's entirely possible to be critical of western trade practice, without having to support the opposite view.
For example, it's possible to be critical of trade embargos against Cuba, without having to support the Cuban government. It's possible to be critical of the embargos against Iraq, without supporting Saddam (a fiend if ever there was one).
I meant the Resistance/Socialist Alternative people who make up most of the public face of the "protest movement", who go on about the Cuban model of "workers' democracy" or whatever they call it, as if brutal repression of fundamental human liberties such as freedom of expression was a small price to pay for Utopia.
Incidentally, I think that the US embargo against Cuba is pretty daft. Partly because it gives Castro an excuse for why his economy is so shitty ("it's not our fault, it's the American capitalist imperialists, honest!"), and actually impedes reforms.
I agree with you, ACB. We've been waiting for him to die, and like other people dumb enough to invest in viaticals, we've found our mark to last longer than one would expect a cigar-puffing alpha male in a hot climate to do.
Although, what will America make of Cuba when Castro goes? Horrible Hemingway theme parks? When MTV Spring Break goes to Havana, it's all over.
Use a big 'S' next time. It's funny how much capitalising a word changes the meaning, as in "Liberal".
Oh come on, you miserable capitalist worm. How much did Bush pay you to spread such slander? Or was it the CIA? Before we know, you'll start claiming that the 11-S attacks were done by islamic fanatics or something...