Trump calls Fidel Castro 'Brutal Dictator'

[HeinzG]

And exploited by the Soviet Union. You talk this way because you have the luxury of never having to live in Cuba under Castro.

I also don't believe in a socialist system. But as an outsider I can clearly distinguish the difference of life style between US citizens and Cuban citizens. In which I believe except for the material possessions. Cuba is much better than USA.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

If America open arms welcome Mexicans instead of building wall, half of Mexico will be empty. Does it mean Mexico has a brutal regime?

Hmmm...if people want to come here maybe people are actually attracted to brutal regimes!

But seriously...yes we can't make the assumption that all the people running from Cuba are doing so because they fear being shot or something. Economics obviously plays a far far bigger role. Certainly Castro caused much upheaval by nationalizing private companies (even mom&pop stores). So many people just got up and left.

BTW Fidel's brother in charge right now isn't much of a saint either.

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

Darwinism, as in Eugenics (propagating the more intelligent and productive part of society)? I think that is a dangerous road, unless there are ways to go about it in less forceful and imposing ways involving the consent of the individual to give up their right to reproduce for the "betterment" of society.

Introducing the Hunger Games! But serious, mediocrity is being promoted over knowing how to be a productive member of society.

We got entire cities living off of welfare funds, disability, and social funds because they refuse to get a job or do have a job under the table and not claiming it for the endless money from the funds meant to help those in tough times.

 

[T-72]

https://twitter.com/x/status/802499192237080576

 

[Dungeness]

Hmmm...if people want to come here maybe people are actually attracted to brutal regimes!

But seriously...yes we can't make the assumption that all the people running from Cuba are doing so because they fear being shot or something. Economics obviously plays a far far bigger role. Certainly Castro caused much upheaval by nationalizing private companies (even mom&pop stores). So many people just got up and left.

BTW Fidel's brother in charge right now isn't much of a saint either.

Being a tiny country only 80 miles from US shore and under US embargo for the last 30 years, Cuba hasn't dropped its knees to the ground. Cuba has done a heck of job for its people in terms of universal health care, free education. Their life expectancy is the same or even a little higher than that of US.

As one of US designated "dictators" in the world, Castro survived countless CIA assassinations, and died on his own term, unlike other designated "dictators". If you are just a common folk, you would prefer to live in Democratic Iraq or Autocratic Cuba today?

See, my friend, the same thing can be viewed from different perspective, and arrived to different conclusions.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Being a tiny country only 80 miles from US shore and under US embargo for the last 30 years, Cuba hasn't dropped its knees to the ground. Cuba has done a heck of job for its people in terms of universal health care, free education. Their life expectancy is the same or even a little higher than that of US.

As one of US designated "dictators" in the world, Castro survived countless CIA assassinations, and died on his own term, unlike other designated "dictators".

See, my friend, the same thing can be viewed from different perspective, and arrived to different conclusions.

They are only under a US embargo. The rest of the world can trade with them (and do) so it isn't the end of the world...unless the US truly is that powerful to smite countries by refusing to trade with them.

 

[gambit]

I also don't believe in a socialist system. But as an outsider I can clearly distinguish the difference of life style between US citizens and Cuban citizens. In which I believe except for the material possessions. Cuba is much better than USA.

THAT is where you are wrong.

It is human nature to FIRST improve our physical lot. Whether it is to simply getting warmer with more firewood or having the best flat screen TV on the market. It is always about material possessions.

No, I am not saying that your stuff defines you and what kind of a human being you are. I am NOT advocating that we judge each other base upon observing each other's material possessions. My point is that given the chance, everyone will seek to improve his/her life through material possessions, no matter how incremental that improvement maybe. A political/economic system that allows such improvement will ALWAYS be viewed as more desirable, if not outright superior, than its competitors.

How many Americans rejected the US and chose Cuba because of healthcare vs how many Cubans rejected Cuba and chose the US because of a superior pair of washer-dryer for their clothes, eh ?

If you focus on the washer-dryer, then you have missed the point -- completely.

They are only under a US embargo. The rest of the world can trade with them (and do) so it isn't the end of the world...unless the US truly is that powerful to smite countries by refusing to trade with them.

Funny how he omitted the Cuba-China trade relations throughout the decades.

http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/cub/

The intellectual dishonesty is obvious for all to see.

 

[C130]

Donald Trump calls Fidel Castro 'brutal dictator' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38118739

@gambit is he right or is he trolling?
Was Fidel Castro a great leader or was bad for Cuba?

the only thing pro castro communists can say is healthcare and education, which means squat if you don't have freedom to go with it, and would have happened under a capitalist Cuba as well.

a non-Castro cuba would be many times more prosperous than it is now, and I would even go far to say it would have been the Singapore of the Caribbean.

 

[gambit]

As one of US designated "dictators" in the world, Castro survived countless CIA assassinations, and died on his own term, unlike other designated "dictators".

Actually, the US allowed Fidel Castro to live.

The reality is that the Soviet Union and Cuba underestimated US resolved regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis. Neither country expected Democratic President Kennedy to actually crossed the military line by blockading Cuba. A blockade is an act of war. Once the missiles were withdrawn, it became clear that Cuba could never be a strategic asset the Soviet Union hope the island could. The US-Soviet deal that preserved Cuba as a dictatorship closed the doors on Cuba as a negotiating partner, just in case you did not notice. The exclusion of Cuba was much more than symbolic, it meant what both the US and the Soviet Union knew about Cuba -- an insignificant element in the struggle between the two major powers.

If the US reneged on the deal and invade Cuba to secure Cuba from being a potential future asset for the Soviets, there was nothing the Soviets could have done. The Soviet military simply did not have the capability to transport troops and weaponry to repel the Americans, not even talking about how much time it would require the Soviet military to prepare for the counter-invasion.

So no, Fidel Castro did not died on his own terms. He lived and died at our grace.

the only thing pro castro communists can say is healthcare and education, which means squat if you don't have freedom to go with it, and would have happened under a capitalist Cuba as well.

a non-Castro cuba would be many times more prosperous than it is now, and I would even go far to say it would have been the Singapore of the Caribbean.

And yet...

 

[LA se Karachi]

And yet...

He isn't loved by most of "the left". Just by communists, anti-Americans, and those who are anti-west. The Russians that love him can hardly be described as "leftists"---quite the opposite, actually.

 

[Dungeness]

Actually, the US allowed Fidel Castro to live.

The reality is that the Soviet Union and Cuba underestimated US resolved regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis. Neither country expected Democratic President Kennedy to actually crossed the military line by blockading Cuba. A blockade is an act of war. Once the missiles were withdrawn, it became clear that Cuba could never be a strategic asset the Soviet Union hope the island could. The US-Soviet deal that preserved Cuba as a dictatorship closed the doors on Cuba as a negotiating partner, just in case you did not notice. The exclusion of Cuba was much more than symbolic, it meant what both the US and the Soviet Union knew about Cuba -- an insignificant element in the struggle between the two major powers.

If the US reneged on the deal and invade Cuba to secure Cuba from being a potential future asset for the Soviets, there was nothing the Soviets could have done. The Soviet military simply did not have the capability to transport troops and weaponry to repel the Americans, not even talking about how much time it would require the Soviet military to prepare for the counter-invasion.

So no, Fidel Castro did not died on his own terms. He lived and died at our grace.

Sure you can say that, as powerful as US is, it can take out anybody anywhere any time, let alone a dictator of a tiny island country at the footstep of the mighty US. History has shown us, this has been done many times in the history, and I will not be surprised if Kim Jung Un drop dead tomorrow morning for some unknown cause.

But this was not my point. From different perspective, people can arrive different conclusions on the same issue. Your perspective maybe unique, but it is hardly the ONE and ONLY way. You see, people here have been "conditioned" to look this world through Hollywood's lens, "We are the Good Guys and anyone who are not with us are Bad Guys". It is OK for kids who know nothing more than Disney cartoons, but it is just simply silly for experienced adults to think this world is all about "the Good vs the Evil". Remember critical thinking? Practice what you preach.

 

[gambit]

Sure you can say that, as powerful as US is, it can take out anybody anywhere any time, let alone a dictator of a tiny island country at the footstep of the mighty US. History has shown us, this has been done many times in the history, and I will not be surprised if Kim Jung Un drop dead tomorrow morning for some unknown cause.

But this was not my point. From different perspective, people can arrive different conclusions on the same issue. Your perspective maybe unique, but it is hardly the ONE and ONLY way. You see, people here have been "conditioned" to look this world through Hollywood's lens, "We are the Good Guys and anyone who are not with us are Bad Guys". It is OK for kids who know nothing more than Disney cartoons, but it is just simply silly for experienced adults to think this world is all about "the Good vs the Evil". Remember critical thinking? Practice what you preach.

Do you really think only Americans think in terms of 'Good guys vs Bad guys' ? That was how your China began her conversion to Marxism/communism, pal.

http://chineseposters.net/themes/mao-cult.php

No one convert to mediocrity or the middle of the road. To change minds, you have to present your side as 'good' and the current belief as 'evil'. Yes, you will have to couch or veiled or flavor your arguments with various verbal sugar as not to offend, but the goal is the same -- good v bad.

 

[Dungeness]

Do you really think only Americans think in terms of 'Good guys vs Bad guys' ? That was how your China began her conversion to Marxism/communism, pal.

http://chineseposters.net/themes/mao-cult.php

No one convert to mediocrity or the middle of the road. To change minds, you have to present your side as 'good' and the current belief as 'evil'. Yes, you will have to couch or veiled or flavor your arguments with various verbal sugar as not to offend, but the goal is the same -- good v bad.

Right, except Good and Evil can be interchanged over the time, just like "Freedom Fighters" and "Terrorists".

Chinese have long dumped the cold war ideology, but people here are still using "commie" to describe anything "evil". Talking about the power of brainwashing, Hollywood and MSM surely did a much better job than all "commie" in the world combine, and the beauty is they don't even know they have been brainwashed.

 

[gambit]

Right, except Good and Evil can be interchanged over the time, just like "Freedom Fighters" and "Terrorists".

Chinese have long dumped the cold war ideology, but people here are still using "commie" to describe anything "evil". Talking about the power of brainwashing, Hollywood and MSM surely did a much better job than all "commie" in the world combine, and the beauty is they don't even know they have been brainwashed.

If people here use 'commie' in speaking about China or Russia or Cuba, it is because it is nothing more than a convenient label whose origin came from the Cold War, not because people on this forum, notably the Americans, genuinely believes your China is communist.

You want to see brainwashed ? Go look at your own people in China or look at your own crew here.

 

[mike2000 is back]

The population of Cuba is 11M. The number of people who fled from Cuba is estimated to be 1.5M. That in itself should tell you something about his rule. I think the estimates were 80,000 people sent to the firing squad.

Well, it's true he was a brutal dictator in his own country. Facts speak for themselves . He will kill anyone who dared stand against his regime, and millions of Cubans(just like millions of people in the developing world) fled their country for the safety of the 'evil' U.S .lol Only a fool a will deny this .

However, he wasn't the worse dictator out there, at least he did some good work in his country, with a good healtycare system a d high literacy rate that almost matches ours. So people still could get a basic standard living standard. So he was better than others dictators out there. .
Let him RIP