RIP Sir
Fidel Castro has died
391–400 of 842 posts
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#392Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the contrary, it's dangerous not to call out evil for what it is. Of course it might be wise to try to analyze what genetic/family/social/economic/political factors shape people like Castro, Gaddafi, Franco etc. — but if you think you're dealing with people like you and me you fail to grasp the phenomenon. Dictators that prosecute and murder their opponents, like Castro did, share a very predictable set of psychop…
It's important to call out evil acts, but 'evil' is also a label that categorizes people. Labels and categories can be a deterrent to critical thinking. This is dangerous when genuinely evil people apply the label 'evil' to people they wish to persecute.
Ok, ok.
Especially for locking his people in a prison island - an act which can't remotely be defended as 'in the interest of the people or socialism' or any progressive cause ...
Fidel - borderline evil.
Somewhat nuanced.
Definitely bad.
Not as bad a Hitler.
There you go.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#393I would encourage the commenters in this thread who see Fidel's legacy as a black-and-white matter of an "evil dictator who did bad things and was wrong about economics" to step back, bear witness to the objective facts about Fidel Castro's life ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro ), think sincerely about what could lead a highly intelligent and charismatic person to become or follow Fidel Castro (as many ha…
When you write "evil dictator", you mean that a dictator could not be evil. This is hugely wrong. Dictatorship contains evil. I appreciate your effort to invite people to learn from history instead of just rejecting a portion of it. But this is a black-and-white matter: he chose to be a dictator, and he was wrong. Subsequent crimes and economics theories are less important once you keep people from choosing their fat…
What's your position on Singapore?
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#394Earlier quoted context omitted.
Charismatic? Yes, but so was Hitler and Osama bin Laden. Revolutionary? yes, but so was Hitler. So, let's get it clear that that doesn't make him humane and good for society. >>If you think you're better, then do better. Be better. Don't refuse to acknowledge the humanity of another person because you believe you can totalize their entire life under a cheap tagline. This is a disingenuous advice. Will you not critici…
The majority in the US hold an unfavorable view of Castro, but that's not the case worldwide. Even in Canada for instance, the more people think Castro was good for Cuba than not [1]. Asia generally holds him in high regard, and Europe has mixed feelings. For some objectivity, we could look at some stats. PPP adjusted GDP per capita is much lower than the US, but way better than China. Education is excellent [2] beca…
Why are cubans in miami celebrating his death? Are they misguided minorities that should follow the example of armchair politicians in privledged countries?
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#395Earlier quoted context omitted.
Though socially frowned upon, you could make the same argument substituting Stalin or Hitler, and it'd still make sense. Matter of fact, Germans regularly do. "Never again" requires you to view what happened objectively. If you viewed Hitler as a bogeyman, an anomaly, it becomes easy to argue that it won't happen again, but letting your guard down is precisely what will let it happen again. Because "Class Warfare", "…
This is false, the Germans didn't learn anything at all from WWIII. If they did learn anything, they learned the wrong lessons. Germans learned that one shouldn't wage war, that there is no such thing as 'better' cultures or societies, that one should under no circumstances label any group, that one must be tolerant towards anyone at all cost. What do Germans do then, once we start talking about cultures where infant…
I think they learned to be very, very wary of call to demonize any group. I think that's a reasonable lesson.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#396Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's important to call out evil acts, but 'evil' is also a label that categorizes people. Labels and categories can be a deterrent to critical thinking. This is dangerous when genuinely evil people apply the label 'evil' to people they wish to persecute.
Ok, ok. Especially for locking his people in a prison island - an act which can't remotely be defended as 'in the interest of the people or socialism' or any progressive cause ... Fidel - borderline evil. Somewhat nuanced. Definitely bad. Not as bad a Hitler. There you go.
>Fidel - borderline evil
The point isn't to quibble about the label. It's to refrain from leaping straight to applying labels. The pleas you're seeing for a calmer and broader conversation are not attempts to exculpate Castro.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#397I would encourage the commenters in this thread who see Fidel's legacy as a black-and-white matter of an "evil dictator who did bad things and was wrong about economics" to step back, bear witness to the objective facts about Fidel Castro's life ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro ), think sincerely about what could lead a highly intelligent and charismatic person to become or follow Fidel Castro (as many ha…
On the contrary, it's dangerous not to call out evil for what it is. Of course it might be wise to try to analyze what genetic/family/social/economic/political factors shape people like Castro, Gaddafi, Franco etc. — but if you think you're dealing with people like you and me you fail to grasp the phenomenon. Dictators that prosecute and murder their opponents, like Castro did, share a very predictable set of psychop…
>> "On the contrary, it's dangerous not to call out evil for what it is."
Judging on the comments on this thread most people (I'm not specifically referring to you) are making statements based on what they've heard, not by what they've personally researched, and unfortunately a lot of that information is biased or propaganda.
I'm not coming down one way or the other but something I found very interesting was comparing the comments in this thread to those of world leaders. The vast majority of world leaders, including those in modern, developer, western states, are praising Castro for helping bring down apartheid, providing good health care and education to his citizens etc.
My point really is that on this issue as persons views are clearly shaped by the propaganda they are exposed to and their personal political opinions (e.g. socialism is evil, socialism is fair and good). Like most people Castro did good and bad. Some of the things he did may be construed as evil but he also did quite a lot of good things so brandishing the person as evil rather than considering all of the factors is foolish.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#398Today, most Cuban ex-pats around the world are celebrating his death. Liberal Arts students across the Western World are saddened. To me that's funny.
Some one mentioned on twitter how ironic Fidel castro died on black friday. His death has multiple dimensions of irony!
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#399Earlier quoted context omitted.
The majority in the US hold an unfavorable view of Castro, but that's not the case worldwide. Even in Canada for instance, the more people think Castro was good for Cuba than not [1]. Asia generally holds him in high regard, and Europe has mixed feelings. For some objectivity, we could look at some stats. PPP adjusted GDP per capita is much lower than the US, but way better than China. Education is excellent [2] beca…
Why are cubans in miami celebrating his death? Are they misguided minorities that should follow the example of armchair politicians in privledged countries?
>> "Why are cubans in miami celebrating his death?"
Because they didn't like him and got out. There were people who celebrated Margaret Thatcher's death. There would be people who would celebrate the death of some current world leaders. On the other hand there would be people who would mourn those deaths.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#400Most Cubans do not support the Castro dictators. Only party members do, and they have a lot of privileges compared to the general population. People live in very basic conditions under constant surveillance. Phone lines, Internet connections, etc. are monitored. Most cars and electronics are still from the 50s, from the Batista era, and are repaired with homemade parts. People can study for free, but there are no job…
This was my experience also. Do you think things will change now or stay more or less the same?