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Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

bitcoinmagazine.com

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Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#61

Post by Mengkudulangsat »

enaaem wrote: post #58
Mengkudulangsat wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That embargo is always such a mystery to me. Why on earth is it still in place in 2021? Is it because no US politician want to submit a motion for it to be repealed? Or is there a powerful anti-Cuba lobby keeping it there? So much misery can be lifted with little effort by so few, yet here we are.

Cuba can still trade with the rest of the world like the EU, Russia, China and Canada.

Well of course, but that's not a good reason to prevent them from trading with the US.

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#63

Post by thirdvect0r »

The Maleconazo riots were less than 1000 people. Hardly earth-shattering in a country of 11 million. But unsurprisingly the US touts it as some kind of populist uprising when this sort of thing has been happening in Portland for 18 months.

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#64

Post by jbverschoor »

choeger wrote: post #57
tdeck wrote: post #42

> In tragic irony, unskilled workers were often far better off financially than highly-educated ones, and many of the latter dropped out of their careers to clean tables or pick people up from the airport to get access to the CUC economy. The dual currency system institutionalized inequality, creating clear classes of haves and have nots. For many people like Lucia, this as much as anything else showed that the revol…

It slowly bleeds the countrie's economy dry. I witnessed the problem first hand when visiting Cuba: Rented a car and a driver for a private tour of Havanna and the driver was absolutely fluent in English. Like, better then me, close to native speaker, with only a slight accent. So I was complimenting him and asked, where he learned it. I was expecting something like really good language courses, because the typical C…

What's the difference between that story and the tons of smart people trying to create dark patterns to trick people into clicking ads instead of researching and developing great things?

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#65

Post by tragomaskhalos »

Mengkudulangsat wrote: post #52
lefrenchy wrote: post #2

I think removing embargos would help more than a volatile cryptocurrency.

That embargo is always such a mystery to me. Why on earth is it still in place in 2021? Is it because no US politician want to submit a motion for it to be repealed? Or is there a powerful anti-Cuba lobby keeping it there? So much misery can be lifted with little effort by so few, yet here we are.

Tragically it would likely be political suicide in a country where a significant proportion of the population believe that even something like a free-at-point-of-use healthcare system like Britain's is "dangerously socialist".

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#66

Post by stale2002 »

arcticbull wrote: post #10
dougSF70 wrote: post #9

Bitcoin could be the undoing of the regime. It will allow Cubans to accumulate wealth that the regime cannot seize or convert into another worthless Cuban domestic currency. While I like the idea of free health care and education, the idea that a brain surgeon gets paid same as a street cleaner is absurd. Cuba is a series of failed experiments.

> While I like the idea of free health care and education, the idea that a brain surgeon gets paid same as a street cleaner is absurd. I personally support wealth and income inequality when coupled with social mobility (and a high standard of living at the low end). With that in mind, why do you think it's absurd for both a street cleaner and a brain surgeon to enjoy a middle class lifestyle? I think we both agree ne…

> why do you think it's absurd for both a street cleaner and a brain surgeon

Because a brain surgeon requires a vastly larger amount of money, effort, training, and time to achieve their skill set.

Much less people would spend all of these resources, and time, becoming brain surgeons, if it was as lowly paid as much easier jobs.

> This comes up frequently here when folks balk at Canadian software engineering wages

I mean, ok. But if you don't care about this mismatch, then don't compain when a large amount of engineers in canada flee for better prospects elsewhere. |

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#67

Post by TMWNN »

pineaux wrote: post #55
kortilla wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Canada has much lower wealth and income inequality - and it's because there's a much tighter band of compensation. I can’t fathom pointing to a market that cannot compete globally (Canada’s software engineering job market) and somehow thinking it’s impressive. Knocking everyone down to achieve equality is not desirable. I’m more interested in approaches that provide safety nets and mobility upward. Not ones that el…

Canada's engineering market isn't impressive because it doesn't have the American DOD spending behind it. There are countries that are quite impressive for their software engineering compared to the states and population. Sweden comes to mind and the taxes are a lot more steep there than in Canada.

>Canada's engineering market isn't impressive because it doesn't have the American DOD spending behind it.

DoD spending helped build Silicon Valley when it was all fruit orchards, but other forces surpassed it in importance decades ago.

>There are countries that are quite impressive for their software engineering compared to the states and population. Sweden comes to mind and the taxes are a lot more steep there than in Canada.

If you credit defense spending with Silicon Valley today, you ought to do the same with Sweden. It, after, all, has an unusually large native defense industry. Saab jet fighters would not exist today if Stockholm hadn't decided decades ago that having an indigenous aircraft industry would be of value for geopolitical (as a neutral country) and economic reasons.

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#68

Post by stale2002 »

arcticbull wrote: post #54
renewiltord wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family has medical professionals in Canada. I can assure you your surgeons aren’t being paid anywhere near your rubbish disposal people. If they are, then my family is probably all at the 99th percentile of surgeons and at the 99th percentile of family doctors. So naturally I am unsurprised that Canadian neurosurgeons are good. If they’re anything like other surgical specialties they’re probably also making bank.…

My father is an anesthesiologist in Canada and my mother an audiologist, so my position isn't exactly arms-length [edit] and my father has always been very opinionated about the role of the public service within a civil society - before the Alzheimers anyways. I agree with you that they aren't paid the same, just that the band is tighter than in the US. Canadian doctors get paid a good deal less than American doctors…

> Unless you pay them both an upper middle class wage ;)

Feel free to give an example of an actual major country that does that then.

If you can't think of such a real life example, then maybe that is your answer as for why this does not work.

As someone who lives in America, I am more than supportive of Canada spending all of their money, overpaying their trash collectors.

That way, Canada can get their trash collections, and we in America can get their engineers.

Go ahead, other countries. Overpay everyone. I'd love that. That way we can poach your high value citizens who are overtaxed.

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#69

Post by pjc50 »

Mengkudulangsat wrote: post #52
lefrenchy wrote: post #2

I think removing embargos would help more than a volatile cryptocurrency.

That embargo is always such a mystery to me. Why on earth is it still in place in 2021? Is it because no US politician want to submit a motion for it to be repealed? Or is there a powerful anti-Cuba lobby keeping it there? So much misery can be lifted with little effort by so few, yet here we are.

> is there a powerful anti-Cuba lobby keeping it there?

Yes.

Basically few Americans care either way about Cuba, except for the descendants of those who fled the revolution, who are absolutely furious about it. That has a big effect in Florida.

Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution

#70

Post by anonymousDan »

stale2002 wrote: post #66
arcticbull wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While I like the idea of free health care and education, the idea that a brain surgeon gets paid same as a street cleaner is absurd. I personally support wealth and income inequality when coupled with social mobility (and a high standard of living at the low end). With that in mind, why do you think it's absurd for both a street cleaner and a brain surgeon to enjoy a middle class lifestyle? I think we both agree ne…

> why do you think it's absurd for both a street cleaner and a brain surgeon Because a brain surgeon requires a vastly larger amount of money, effort, training, and time to achieve their skill set. Much less people would spend all of these resources, and time, becoming brain surgeons, if it was as lowly paid as much easier jobs. > This comes up frequently here when folks balk at Canadian software engineering wages I…

Then just make the cost of training free only for those that stay in the country.
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