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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

#271

Post by drzaiusapelord »

jeffwass wrote: post #245
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry but the embrago doesn't stop them from trading with many of their neighbors. I'm getting sick of the left giving the horrible Castro regime a free pass by hysterically yelling, "embargo" everytime Cuba comes up. Cuba's main problem is its leadership. The US coaxing it to a free market system that respects human rights and property rights is only good for Cuba. The Castros were more than willing to continue to s…

You are mistaken, the US embargo with Cuba does prevent Cuba from trading with other nations, as other nations are restricted in their USA trade if they do trade with Cuba. Iirc, any vessel that trades with Cuba is restricted from trading with the USA within some time window. So clearly most Caribbean nations choose to focus their trades with the big USA partner. Regarding human rights, as others have mentioned, we d…

>Regarding human rights, as others have mentioned, we don't embargo countries that have far worse records.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

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

#272

Post by acchow »

driverdan wrote: post #196
soperj wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I felt the same way visiting San Francisco, the abject poverty of the people downtown outside $400 a night hotels is just incredible.

The city of SF spends about $26,000/yr per homeless person ($167mm / 6,355 people).[1] It is not a money problem. 1: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spendi...

From the article you linked "That's about $34 a day per homeless person"

$34*365 = $12,410.

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

#273

Post by driverdan »

acchow wrote: post #272
driverdan wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The city of SF spends about $26,000/yr per homeless person ($167mm / 6,355 people).[1] It is not a money problem. 1: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spendi...

From the article you linked "That's about $34 a day per homeless person" $34*365 = $12,410.

That's only what they spend on housing, not total expenditures.

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

#274

Post by willholloway »

adventured wrote: post #235
jbooth wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was making an economic argument, not a political rights argument. How come nobody hit the ceiling when we didn't close our embassy with China today?

His economic argument is just as wrong as a political argument would have been: Cuba is a complete failure economically and has been for the last 50 years. Cuba is third world poor. A country where the average person earns $300 to $500 per month, is a slave pen. State sponsored slavery is the only way you can repress people to such an extreme extent as to hold their standard of living that low for 50 years. Given the…

In 2007, the life expectancies at birth were as follows (World Bank data): Cuba, 78.26 years; Latin America and Caribbean, 73.13 years; United States, 77.99 years.[24]

The mortality rates for children under five in 2007 were as follows (World Bank): Cuba, 6.5; Latin America and Caribbean, 26.37; United States, 7.60;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Cuba#Comparison_...

You are right, Cuba is third world poor and they still beat their capitalist neighbors and even the wealthy and powerful US in life expectancy and infant mortality.

Cuba does so much with so little because of the radical idea that we are all in this together. Cuba spends $300 per citizen on health care, the US spends $7000. I spent $5000 personally just this year on health care and I'm young and healthy.

Those in capitalist countries are getting fleeced, and Cuba shows us that. If Cuban socialism didn't exist I couldn't point out these facts, and that is why Cuban socialism was such a threat and why the US has acted so insecure towards the tiny island's revolution.

I don't want the US to adopt the Cuban system, I just believe we had no right to violate their sovereignty, and having different political systems out there lets us have a sort of A/B test for politics. I don't believe a global political and economic monoculture is healthy.

As an American I wouldn't want to trade places at birth with a Cuban, but if I had the choice between being born to asset-less parents in Jamaica or asset-less parents in Cuba, I know I would be healthier, more materially secure and far safer from violent crime in Cuba. I also would have a much greater chance of not dying during my birth.

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

#275

Post by toomuchtodo »

mudil wrote: post #270
toomuchtodo wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why repeat your comment from above word for word, when the facts clearly do not support your conclusion? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8764077

My conclusion is correct. Your conclusion comes from a propaganda perpetuated by dictators and their left-leaning sympathizers. You can't describe Cuba's state of the art modern medicine by repeating a mantra that Cuba has more doctors, or Cuba delivers immunizations, etc etc. When your grandma falls in the West and has a syncopal episode, she will get a full work up in the hospital. That includes a CT or MRI scan, H…

> The evidence is clear: Cuba does not and never had anything resembling a great health care system.

I'm sorry you're unable to digest facts.

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

#276

Post by anthony_barker »

iandanforth wrote: post #7

I've visited Cuba on a Canadian passport. Aside from the beautiful beaches the thing that struck me most was the desperate poverty of people living in shacks outside the 5 star resorts. While I hesitate to predict that this change will be all for the good, I do believe that the poorest in Cuba will benefit significantly from increased trade.

Same thing in any of the big Caribbean islands: Jamaica, DR / Haiti.

Trade with the US for DR has not helped much - US dumps Agro products (Powdered milk, meat) and bans Sugar.

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c2470.html#2014

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