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Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

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Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#221

Post by molmalo »

mistermumble wrote: post #198
WildUtah wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Physicians per capita figures are misleading. The US figure reflects very long careers; late retirements; investment in large teams of trauma specialists due to high war, car crash, and gunshot wound rates; a high percentage of women physicians working part time; and a high concentration of expensive specialists with no documentation that they improve outcomes and paid for by large federal government subsidies. The a…

yes, good points. It seems that Cuba has become something of a health resource for other countries in Latin America, where there is much less access to doctors (and NPs) than in Cuba. Middle-class people in those countries travel to Cuba for health care. At least that is picture I get when I've spoken to a bunch of people in the region over the past few years. I hear about a number of people travel to Cuba, others go…

> others got to Chile

At the south of the continent, it is far more common to travel to Argentina, to get free health care. As Argentina has a large public health system, (that has been gradually loosing a lot of quality in the past 20 years) it's common that poor people from Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay travel and get attention for free in Argentina's public hospitals.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#222

Post by adventured »

jpatokal wrote: post #215
sremani wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this move effects Venezuela more than Russia. It is Venezuela that provides cheaper oil cuba in return for many services like healthcare etc. Now that oil is already cheap, Cuba does not need for patronage of Venezuela.

You may have the causality the wrong way around here here: with Venezuela's oil revenues cratering and what remains of their economy after a decade of Chavismo spiraling rapidly downwards, it's unlikely they can afford to be Cuba's sugar daddy for much longer.

This is the correct answer. Venezuela is begging China for loans presently to delay an inevitable default. They were already in disaster mode before oil plunged. It's a smart move on Cuba's part to reconcile with the US.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#223

Post by adventured »

willholloway wrote: post #91
glup wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the lasting myths emerging from American rhetoric is that Cuba is starting from a low base. In fact the per capita GDP (as well as quality of life) is approximately on par with Panama and far exceeds the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Nicaragua. Tourism will remain the major source of foreign currency, but I think this change will lead to further development in pharmaceuticals and telecom.

Cubans enjoy greater economic and medical security under socialism than their counterparts in capitalist neighboring countries, even without subsidies from Russia and even with a strict embargo with the US. The country is surprisingly politically free for a tiny nation facing an existential threat from a hostile super power that has invaded, attempted to assassinate it's leader, and funded militants dead set on viole…

This has to be a troll post. Cuba has operated under a violent, murderous, strict dictatorship for five decades. The exact opposite of politically free. Fidel was never afraid to murder his competition, or anyone that dared to oppose him in fact. If your country hasn't seen a leadership change since the 1950s, and you have zero freedom of speech or press, what you have is not freedom.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#224

Post by jpatokal »

jmr0 wrote: post #115

My parents and I left Cuba when I was a child and proceeded to live in various parts of the world before eventually settling in the US. I would like to go back and visit some relatives there at some point, and as a Cuban-born naturalized American citizen I know it is legal for me to do so even currently, but I was informed that I couldn't actually enter Cuba with only an American passport. The Cuban govt requires tha…

The passport you use is irrelevant: if Cuban still considers you a citizen, and decides it wants you to do military service or something, you're screwed even if you entered on a US passport.

I'd recommend formally renouncing your Cuban citizenship (and getting the documentation to certify this) if you want to be 100% sure there are no hassles.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#225

Post by [deleted] »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #144
termain wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unemployment is such a funny thing. In a free market economy, unemployment is a necessity but seems to be treated as a universal evil.

Unemployment is a feature of a regulated capitalist economy. The primary source of unemployment is the minimum wage. There are a nearly unlimited source of jobs available if you would accept $1/hour as payment, and if you have no other employment then at least it gets you experience/recommendations and enough to buy some food. The minimum wage is a trade off. You create e.g. 10% unemployment so that the ~4.3% of peop…

[deleted]

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#226

Post by codezero »

finid wrote: post #207
calbear81 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's because we don't criminalize homelessness as aggressively as other major cities and the homeless population is concentrated near downtown where the SROs and social services are located. Keep in mind that it's generally not simply poverty but mental illness or a history of abuse/violence that separates the homeless here vs. the working poor in the favelas and slums of the third world.

> It's because we don't criminalize homelessness as aggressively as other major cities Yes, let's criminalize homelessness. How dare those homeless people refuse to stay in their mansions and apartments. Do you think we should send the worst of them to Gitmo?

I read this as the commenter implying other places do criminalize the homeless more, not that criminalizing the homeless more is good or ideal. Simply pointing out that the reason you see more homeless around in SF is that it's not aggressively criminalized. Not sure why making that statement carries the implication that they should be criminalized.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#227

Post by adventured »

soperj wrote: post #58
infecto wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I do not think this is the full truth. I believe there should not be an embargo BUT the embargo is not the main cause of poverty in Cuba. Cuba has a huge tourism industry. A lot of the business that serve tourists are state owned. Where does this money go? Everything from hotels to restaurants are state owned. Who is profiting here? I think at this point its less personal and more choice. Cuba chooses t…

Technically wouldn't it be everyone profiting since it's going to government? If it was an foriegn business owner like alot of resorts in the bahamas, who would be profiting there? Certainly not the people living on the island.

Your assumption rests on the notion that the government = everyone, and that the people in power aren't focusing that money toward their own pockets. I'm not aware of a Socialist government that has ever existed that did anything but line their own pockets while the people starved and went without.

Mao's China, Lenin & Stalin's USSR, old Vietnam, Cambodia under Pol Pot, Hugo's Venezuela, Fidel's Cuba, North Korea. It's the same story every time.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#228

Post by discardorama »

scardine wrote: post #152
xyahoo wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand: - average life expectancy in Cuba is almost the same as the USA (and higher than Mexico, Belize, Bahamas, Brazil, etc.). - literacy rate in Cuba is higher than that in the USA - Physicians per 10,000 people: Cuba has 67, USA has 24 In the Ebola crisis, Cuba has been leading from the front.

I highly recommend reading "Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot" which explain how dictatorships can pick a handful of indicators and elevate them to first-world levels while still making everybody's life miserable. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Perfect-Latin-American-Idiot/pro...

You're talking as if the dictators sit around, wondering about some sort of "SEO" to game their ranking on these lists.

The "life expectancy" figure can't be gamed, unless you out and out lie.

Here's a recent article for thought: http://www.wired.com/2010/04/cuban-health-lessons/

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#229

Post by sbov »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #144
termain wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unemployment is such a funny thing. In a free market economy, unemployment is a necessity but seems to be treated as a universal evil.

Unemployment is a feature of a regulated capitalist economy. The primary source of unemployment is the minimum wage. There are a nearly unlimited source of jobs available if you would accept $1/hour as payment, and if you have no other employment then at least it gets you experience/recommendations and enough to buy some food. The minimum wage is a trade off. You create e.g. 10% unemployment so that the ~4.3% of peop…

Unemployment wasn't that low before the minimum wage was established. What was the primary source of unemployment then?

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#230

Post by baddox »

WildUtah wrote: post #181
xyahoo wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand: - average life expectancy in Cuba is almost the same as the USA (and higher than Mexico, Belize, Bahamas, Brazil, etc.). - literacy rate in Cuba is higher than that in the USA - Physicians per 10,000 people: Cuba has 67, USA has 24 In the Ebola crisis, Cuba has been leading from the front.

Physicians per capita figures are misleading. The US figure reflects very long careers; late retirements; investment in large teams of trauma specialists due to high war, car crash, and gunshot wound rates; a high percentage of women physicians working part time; and a high concentration of expensive specialists with no documentation that they improve outcomes and paid for by large federal government subsidies. The a…

Not only that, but more physicians per capita isn't inherently a good thing.
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