From 1989-1992, you saw virtually ever state socialist society collapse. From the famous ones like the USSR and East Germany to more obscure ones like Mongolia, Madagascar and Tanzania. I'm curious as to why this global wave that destroy state socialist societies (alongside many other authoritarian governments globally, like South Korea and the Philippines a few years earlier) didn't hit Cuba.
The collapse of the USSR triggered serious economic problems that caused the so-called "Special Period" in Cuba. I often see the withdrawal of Soviet aid and economic support as a major reason given for collapse in the Eastern Bloc but it didn't work for Cuba.
Also fun fact, in 1994 Cuba had its only (to my knowledge) recorded violent riot since 1965 as a response to said economic problems.
So, why didn't Cuba collapse?
CMV = change my view, after the subreddit of the same name.
Note: I'm not arguing whether or not the Cuban government made the right move by becoming a police state. I'm arguing that it is. If you want to try and justify it becoming one, this isn't really the place. I encourage you to start your own thread.
Point of evidence:
- Testimony of Edel GonzΓ‘lez. This man worked as a judge for 15 years and oversaw 65 other judges. He claims that Cuba has the largest rate of incarceration per capita in the world and that police arrest pretty much anyone vocally critical of the government. He also points out those arrested have an extremely high conviction rate and are not subject to a fair trial. His family were also nearly killed by anti-Castro rebels and he's been vocal against potential for foreign intervention in Cuba.
- Cuba's press freedom index score. "The regime maintains an almost total monopoly of news and information and uses every means possible to obstruct independent media. Journalists who donβt toe the official line are subjected to arbitrary arrest, the threat of imprisonment, persecution and harassment, illegal home searches, and confiscation and destruction of journalistic material. Independent bloggers and journalists are watched by state security agents, who try to restrict their freedom of movement, and often take them in for questioning and delete information on their devices. The authorities also control the coverage by foreign reporters by granting accreditation selectively and expelling those regarded as too βnegativeβ about the government." Similar conclusions were reached by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Considering both of these organisations are highly critical of the USA, I can't really see how they are puppets of the USA.
- Fidel and Raul Castro have said the economic model is flawed, and Raul even said not every problem there was the fault of the USA.
If you want to call all of these sources bad because they're from organisations based in the USA. I recommend you read this and then tell me what specific, factual information the article gets wrong.
For those curious
... keep reading on reddit β‘
Box Score updated on 5/14/2021 at 22:34 EDT
Venezuela 5 - 1 Cuba
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VEN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| CU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Scoring Plays
| Inning | Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| VEN | T1 | 1-0 | Jimmy Johns 2B. Billy Dixon scores from third. |
| VEN | T1 | 2-0 | Josef Samuelsson 1B. Shovel Bryant scores from third. |
| VEN | T5 | 5-0 | Base Ventura HR. Shovel Bryant scores from second.Jimmy Johns scores from first. |
| CU | B5 | 5-1 | Al Ternate DP31. Rick OβShea scores from third. |
Box
| # | Venezuela | Pos | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | # | Cuba | Pos | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Dixon | SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 1 | Narancia Ghirga | CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .419 |
| 2 | At Bat: George Ewell | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | E | 2 | LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 | |
| 3 | Shovel Bryant | 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .350 | 2 | Kurt Anger | LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 4 | Jimmy Johns | LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .400 | 3 | Reservoir Butler | SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .406 |
| 5 | Josef Samuelsson | 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .426 | 4 | Ioe Torrent | 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| 6 | Base Ventura | DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | Due Up: Sander Entman | 2B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .438 |
| 7 | Foxx Dashington | RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | E | 6 | Rick OβShea | DH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 8 | Keyo | 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | E | 7 | Jack Alpha | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .258 |
| 9 | Michael Scarn | CF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 8 | Barney Turbo | C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | E |
| 9 | Al Ternate | RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .292 |
Game Notes
2B: Jimmy Johns
HR: Base Ventura
Baserunning
SB: Narancia Ghirga
CS: Sander Entman
Pitchers
| Venezuela | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | R/6 | Cuba | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | R/6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kali McSuntas | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3.97 | 1.0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | E | |
| Ecliptic Astrum | 5.0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | E |
Bench
| Venezuela | POS | HAND | Cuba | POS | HAND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conor Sexton | 1B, UTIL | L | Alternate Site | 1B, C | L |
| Bobbyimir Guerrero Jr. | 3B, UTIL | L | Reese Worthington | LF | L |
| Nicholas Fouss | P | L | Mitch Meanmug | P | R |
| Skillz Simanek | P | L | Yoel Roshi | P | L |
| True Pierce | P | R | |||
| Mason Spurs | SS, UTIL | L |
Inning Summary
|TOP 1        |TOP 2 &am
... keep reading on reddit β‘
...of the proletariat!
My finance teacher used to be a soft right-libertarian. Some things like universal healthcare he always supported but he always saw private ownership and markets as what the economy should be centered around.
He even used to be an investment banker for a large us corporation. He himself profited from capitalist exploitation. He has every reason not to support socialism and socialist movements.
He went to Cuba for three months. Was surprised again and again. He actively looked in places that weren't recommended by travel guides, yet he noticed that for such a heavily embargoed state it was rather thriving. He was also surprised how he was able to recieve uncensored information from public wifi. He watched an anti-cuba Video from American propagandists without vpn on Cuba public wifi just to test whether it was really all uncensored.
After his holidays he also read the cuban constitution and more on their history. He then said confidently that Cuba was "the most impressive economy he had ever seen".
This is a long shot during these crazy times, but I just found a small stack of CUC (Cuban Convertible Pesos) which are being phased out at the end of June. (Cuba is unifying their currency and using CUP only from that point onward.)
If anyone is going to Cuba during this insane time then I'm happy to mail the CUC to you and you can drop them off with a pal in Havana in return for me buying the first 10 rounds in Cuba.
Cheers.
I have heard from many leftists, particularly Marxist-Leninist, that Cuba is a successful example of Socialism and a workers paradise. I've also heard them saying that Cuba's leader is democratically elected. Is that true?
