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Title: Cuba Encourages Capitalism While Marking the 58th Anniversary of the Start of Communism
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Published: Aug 1, 2011
Author: Steve Harrigan
Post Date: 2011-08-01 07:27:18 by CZ82
Keywords: None
Views: 14683
Comments: 37
Cuba Encourages Capitalism While Marking the 58th Anniversary of the Start of Communism By Steve Harrigan, July 29, 2011 When Cuba marked its 58th anniversary of the start of the Communist Revolution this week, a key message from Vice President Jose Machado was that Cubans need to work harder. Machado, 81, who spoke for 25 minutes while President Raul Castro who attended the ceremony sat silent, blamed corruption and inertia for Cuba’s economic woes. In past years the holiday was marked by lengthy speeches from Fidel Castro lauding the revolution and attacking the U.S. government. But this year leaders of the island nation of more than 11 million people are trying to encourage different ways of thinking, including allowing limited private enterprise. Three hundred thousand Cubans have entered the private sector in the past year -- small businessmen and women who work out of their homes or yards -- or a 1956 Ford Victoria, like Juan, a Havana taxi driver and new entrepreneur. And people are buying, even if it means spending more money. For example, a government haircut in Cuba costs about eight cents. A private-sector barber costs five times more, but for some, style is worth the extra pesos. “Having a license from the government to do this just makes my life easier,” Juan says. “It means I don’t have to hide from the inspectors anymore.” The piecemeal capitalism is doled out by an increasingly desperate Communist leadership trying to keep the Cuban economy afloat. Eighty percent of Cubans still work for the state, and the country imports 80 percent of its food. There is some skepticism that Castro, who just turned 80, will be able to manage any real transition. “I call it putting a Band-aid on a 12-inch cut, because after 50-plus years with the economy being in terrible shape, now you’re telling the Cubans that have depended on the government a great deal to provide for them, 'We’re cutting you off.' That’s a pretty tough thing to do,” says professor Andy Gomez of the University of Miami. For those who have made the plunge, like sunglasses salesman Noel, who hawks his wares on Havana sidewalks, not even a 35 percent government tax on profits can temper his enthusiasm. “It is amazing,” Noel says. “Before, the police would arrest you for this. I was just making enough to eat, but now for the first time I have a little bit of money in my pocket.” The next stage of reforms in Cuba – which could happen this year – would allow Cubans to buy or sell cars and houses, something currently against the law. But there would still be limits. No one would be allowed to own more than one house, and for average workers, whose salary is currently about $19, even the possibility of owning one house could remain out of reach.
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#1. To: war, godwinson, lucysmom, mininggold (#0)
Your dream model of a state has failed.
Actually it failed almost 100 years ago, some people are just slow learners.....
When asked by a Liberal what I bought my Granddaughter for her 1st birthday I replied, "MORE AMMUNITION"!!!! -----------------------------"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
It's never been tried.
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
Never has a nation survived such overwhelming odds. As USSAEmpire now implodes, the Cuba Model is exported. Looking forward to Cuba style SS/Single Payer VA now....;}
So did capitalism. In fact it is almost funny how close these failures of the past mirror the failures of the modern communist / capitalis system. Communists take over Russia in the 1920s and it fails in 10 years and capitalism fails in the 1930s, 10 years after communism fails. Cut to the modern world and re-booted communism fails again in the 1990s and then re-booted capitalism fails again 10 years later.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Capitalism lasted about 15 years in this country...mercantilism has ruled the roost for almost our entire duration.
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
Like I said the ying / yang of capitalism/communism (both born from the same forces) failed within 10 to 20 years apart first one then the other.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Capitalism died in the 19th century when the government married the railroad industry.
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
Do Cubans long for the return of Batista and the mob? Those who worship the god of the free market would do well to remember why countries fell to communism to begin with.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
"Personally, I do not hold my breath waiting for Kurzweilian "Singularity." We'll be disappointed enough when Walmart fails to run on wind turbines. "So now we enter an economic terra incognita of the real post-industrial economy - not the Cinderella hoo-hah of digi-magic advertised in places like Wired Magazine, but more like a Foxfire world made by hand. We're out of cheap oil, cheap and good ores, ocean fish, good timber, and lots of other things. All the stuff we erected to live our lives in - the stupendous armature of highways, strip malls, suburban houses, skyscraper condos, sewer systems, electric grids - is beyond our power to repair now. We can only patch it, and that can only work for so long before things go dark. (Can you sharpen a saw blade?)" -kunstler
What the hell should you care as long as whatever system we have can put another crack addicted faggot ghetto nigger into the White House.
Obama has played at being a president while enjoying the perks … golf, insanely expensive vacations at tax-payer expense. He has ignored the responsibilities of the job; no plans, no budgets, no alternatives … just finger pointing; making him a complete failure as a president
He looks pretty good for a middle aged crack addict.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
Look, we know you want him. No need to be obvious about it.
Obama has played at being a president while enjoying the perks … golf, insanely expensive vacations at tax-payer expense. He has ignored the responsibilities of the job; no plans, no budgets, no alternatives … just finger pointing; making him a complete failure as a president
Jealousy is so unattractive in a man.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
The only reasons that Cubans weren't starving to death, like the North Koreans were: A.) the black market and B.) large cash infusions from the Soviet Union (which ended a long time ago). Socialism doesn't work. PERIOD.
When source is free and robots do the manual labor what is left to do but adopt a commune lifestyle?
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
If you're trying to reinforce in me the idea that you're an asshole you don't need to.
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
Are Germany and the Scandinavian countries starving? I mean maybe to obscene fat American obese pigs the skinny Europeans look like they are starving but that is just what healthy humans with universal healthcare look like.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
1862 The Pacific Railroad Act. "In 1861 Curtis again introduced a bill to establish the railroad, but it did not pass. After the secession of the southern states, the House of Representatives on May 6, 1862, and the Senate on June 20 finally approved it. Lincoln signed it into law on July 1. The act established the two main lines—the Central Pacific from the west and the Union Pacific from the mid-west. Other rail lines were encouraged to build feeder lines." The Civil War began with the Rock Island Arsenal Bridge. If the Confederates had seized Cairo and that bridge, or burned both, the war would've been over before it began...;}
First: Obesity is starvation. The body is craving proteins/amino acids that are not being provided. Second: We get Single Payer VA by Xmas Eve, or you'll see riots as the Super(6)Congress tries to ram thru SS/Medicare cuts...
Cuba makes a substantial income from its tourist industry and agricultiural exports. Socialism doesn't work. PERIOD. What industries do the people of Cuba own?
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
How do you pay for the robot? And where is the source free.
Cuba survives the boycott of the World's Largest Empire barely 60 miles away. That right there is the beacon to the world. And Venezuela provided fuel making a huge difference, as Cuba now with China drilling off shore. And a first rate agriculture now as well...;} Arkansas would Love to sell Cuba rice.
Robot makes robot. Pretty soon the model where people work to earn money to buy something will be obsolete. Either the majority will be poor and we look like Bangladesh with a handful of people owning resources/wealth or since no one can work because of automation humans are freed from work and poverty. I mean pretty soon human work will not be worth much.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Cuban has never been socialist or even communist, it's been an oligarchical dictatorship with the rich and powerful of a certain party owning and running anything worth owning on an island with a lack of a variety of resources. Much like the model most capitalist would prefer to see happening here. The whole premise of communism in Cuban is propaganda and meant to join them politically to the USSR side during the Cold War.
Actually more communism is practiced in Israel right now than was ever practiced in Cuba.
Cuba resembles 19th century capitalist run compounds where the employees all had to live, attend school and shop at the company owned store with company credits.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
But again, who pays for it? Where does the Energy come from? You mistake Technology for Energy. "Pretty soon the model where people work to earn money to buy something will be obsolete." That got people's attention back in the 70's, like that helocopter in everyone's garage, Jetson's shite. We're somewhere between 1929-1932 heading to USSA Empire collapse. Feudalism. The 10th Annivwersary of 9/11. Euro Bank runs can start at any time.
Future - energy is renewable and free. Think Star Trek. With replicators and unlimited renewable energy (solar, fusion, etc) and robots for manual labor making it all.
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
And thank you. Future. Energy to cook takes hours to find...;} If you have food, clothing, shelter at the end of the day, you're lucky. 800 million living with 70 110 degree days a year the norm...;} By 2100.
It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction. The Only way those two statements go together is that there's a 1% and a Bottom 96%. By 2100.
It's my new tagline.....
With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.
Thank you for leaving a 3% middle class where I can hang out. You 1% elitists are SO cool!
Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
A funny thing happened on the way to the infinite demand/consumption model--or actually, two things: A. People borrowed all they could afford, and then borrowed more. Now they can't borrow any more, even if the interest rate is low. By some estimates, American consumers need to pay down $4 trillion in debt just to restore the income-to-debt ratios of the early 1980s, never mind the early 1960s. B. Infinite demand met marginal return in a dark alley, and infinite demand is in the gutter, whoozy and bleeding profusely. That horrendously costly master's degree has only a marginal return in the real world--or perhaps a negative return. That expensive McMansion provided no better shelter than a much more modest home, and its investment return is atrociously negative. That $120,000 5-day stay in the hospital paid by Medicare didn't fix the health problem; it made it worse, because the patient didn't need hospitalization or the procedure, and the previously moderately-ill patient caught a drug-resistant bug in the hospital and is now very ill--and therefore needs more treatment at $120,000 a week (this was the actual bill for my friend's father's 5-day stay in a hospital, a stay he was forced into accepting lest he be a "bad patient." He could have easily been treated in an out-patient clinic.) Nice return on a $120,000 "investment" to meet the "infinite demand" for sickcare. Charles Hughes Smith
Noting the Semantics: Elitist isn't Elite. But the Top .1% gets the message across clearly...;} And 3% is the Chaos Factor. There's always some loose ends and anarchists that can't be stopped. Like Super Weeds and Round Up...;}
Socialism: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government rather than by private enterprise,
Uh...no...go and ask for a tuition refund...either that or pay better attention... Socialism is all means of production are controlled BY THE WORKERS. You're confusing the "planned economy" aspect of USSR as being a condition of Socialism. It isn't. A true Socialist economy is self-managed. But congratulations on falling for the bastardization of the word...
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
#2. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Your dream model of a state has failed.
#3. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Your dream model of a state has failed.
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
#4. To: CZ82 (#0)
#5. To: CZ82, A K A Stone, war, mcgowanjm (#2)
Actually it failed almost 100 years ago, some people are just slow learners.....
#6. To: Godwinson (#5)
So did capitalism.
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
#7. To: war (#6)
Capitalism lasted about 15 years in this country...mercantilism has ruled the roost for almost our entire duration.
#8. To: Godwinson (#7)
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
#9. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Your dream model of a state has failed.
#10. To: Godwinson (#5)
#11. To: war (#6)
Capitalism lasted about 15 years in this country...mercantilism has ruled the roost for almost our entire duration.
#12. To: no gnu taxes (#11)
What the hell should you care as long as whatever system we have can put another crack addicted faggot ghetto nigger into the White House.
#13. To: lucysmom (#12)
He looks pretty good for a middle aged crack addict.
#14. To: no gnu taxes (#13)
Look, we know you want him. No need to be obvious about it.
#15. To: CZ82 (#0)
I don’t have to hide from the inspectors anymore
An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination. -- Voltaire
#16. To: mcgowanjm (#10)
but more like a Foxfire world made by hand.
#17. To: no gnu taxes (#11)
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
#18. To: jwpegler, CZ82, mcgowanjm (#15)
Socialism doesn't work. PERIOD.
#19. To: war (#8)
#20. To: Godwinson (#18)
#21. To: jwpegler (#15)
The only reasons that Cubans weren't starving to death, like the North Koreans were: A.) the black market and B.) large cash infusions from the Soviet Union (which ended a long time ago).
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
#22. To: Godwinson (#16)
When source is free and robots do the manual labor what is left to do but adopt a commune lifestyle?
#23. To: war (#21)
#24. To: mcgowanjm (#22)
How do you pay for the robot?
#25. To: war (#21)
What industries do the people of Cuba own?
#26. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Your dream model of a state has failed.
#27. To: mininggold, war (#25)
(Edited)
Cuban has never been socialist or even communist, it's been an oligarchical dictatorship with the rich and powerful of a certain party owning and running anything worth owning on an island with a lack of a variety of resources. Much like the model most capitalist would prefer to see happening here.
#28. To: Godwinson (#24)
(Edited)
Robot makes robot.
#29. To: mcgowanjm (#28)
But again, who pays for it? Where does the Energy come from? You mistake Technology for Energy.
#30. To: Godwinson (#29)
Future - energy is renewable and free.
#31. To: Godwinson (#29)
Think Star Trek. With replicators and unlimited renewable energy (solar, fusion, etc) and robots for manual labor making it all.
#32. To: mcgowanjm (#31)
#33. To: mcgowanjm (#31)
there's a 1% and a Bottom 96%
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#34. To: Godwinson (#32)
#35. To: hondo68 (#33)
You 1% elitists are SO cool!
#36. To: war (#21)
(Edited)
What industries do the people of Cuba own?
An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination. -- Voltaire
#37. To: jwpegler (#36)
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
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