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smooth · 05-05-2003, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crazboos
Hahahahaha - wasn't shouting, I couldn't figure out how to edit the html so only part of his quote posted. Figured the caps would differentiate my text from his. Last time all this funky stuff showed up on the page. I need to learn html code. Hahahaha that was funny.

Oh yeah, thanks for the book reference.

lol, no problem

. Here's a few articles you can check out online:

Why Conservatives Should Like Cuba

Quote:

<snip>Contrary to what theories of "totalitarian" society would lead us to believe, the strongest institution in Cuba is not the Communist Party, it is the family. Whether a Cuban familyÕs politics are left, right or center, you will find the typical family to be strongly bonded, affectionate and loyal. Children show respect for parents, and parents donÕt drive their children out of the house when a strong disagreement flares up.

Elderly people in Cuba are respected and not tossed on a scrap heap once they are too old to produce at maximum efficiency. It is common when visiting a Cuban "circulo de abuelos" (elder center) to find children from the neighborhood running in and out, mingling with the old folks spontaneously. The old people love it and so do the kids.

School attendance in Cuba is extremely high. Students do not abuse or attack their teachers; they hardly even sass their teachers. Cuban teenagers do not think carrying a knife or gun to school is a cool thing to do.

Drug abuse – at epidemic proportions in our own country – is virtually unknown in Cuba. Other than a minute amount of homegrown marijuana and a few prescription drugs that find their way into the wrong hands, Cubans simply do not use illicit drugs. The Cuban government is extremely tough on drug dealers.

There is very little street crime in Cuba. Even with the current economic crisis and its resulting increase in crime, the overwhelming majority of crimes are property crimes – theft of one sort or another – and do not involve violence against people. You can walk Cuban streets at night in greater safety than you can in any major city in the United States. Like conservative politicians here, Cuban government officials have very low tolerance for street crime.

In the past, conservatives criticized Cuba for restricting free enterprise. But in recent years Cuba has done more to open up its economy than many of the eastern European countries that are recipients of U.S. government aid.

The skeptical may be thinking, "But what about Cuba's human rights abuses?" Let's be frank. The Cuban government does restrict freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, and freedom of the press. Many Cubans would argue that the other half of human rights – the economic rights such as health care, jobs, housing and education – are better provided for in Cuba than in most other countries. But that still leaves the nagging problem of restricted political rights in Cuba. [emphasis added]

Think of the double-standard of U.S. foreign policy. In the case of Mexico and China and every other country with human rights problems where we trade openly, the U.S. government argues that increased contact will liberalize these countries and increase their observation of human rights. But somehow this argument does not apply to Cuba.<snip>

and

Branding Cuba: La Vida Nike

Quote:

<snip>Being shunned by the global capitalist powers for a generation, however, really didn't hurt Cuba. Instead the embargo allowed it to develop into something unique. Without easy access to Western banks and development loans, for example, Cuba evaded the debt crisis that has been crippling the economic development of almost every other Third World country in the hemisphere. Likewise, without the abundance of a consumerist society bestowed upon one small segment of the population, Cuba escaped the criminal culture that follows alongside inequitable distribution of wealth<snip>