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It's Time for a Transition - in Cuban-Amer Priorities

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8/17/2006 9:47:00 PM

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It's Time for a Transition - in Cuban-Amer Priorities

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

Progreso Weekly - Aug 17, 2006
http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=Max_Castro_ant&otherweek=...


>From hating Castro to loving the Cuban people:

It's time for a transition in Cuban-American priorities

By Max J. Castro

As of this writing, there were many questions about the fate of Fidel
Castro and the future of Cuba. What is wrong with his health? What is the
prognosis? Will the Cuban president return to power? What consequences will
the outcome of Castro's illness have for Cuba and its people?

The absence of complete and reliable information fosters a climate of wild
speculation and wishful thinking, especially in Miami, where small but
raucous crowds of revelers have vented their hatred in premature
celebrations.

For me, this unseemly spectacle, which will do nothing to improve the image
of Miami Cubans already tarnished by the Elian affair and myriad
expressions of intolerance over decades, raised this question: What will
those who have made of hating Fidel not only their career and their
livelihood but also their vocation, their obsession, even the main thing
that gives meaning to their lives, do when the man finally dies?

For nearly half a century, Fidel Castro has played a role on the world's
stage wildly out of proportion with Cuba's size and power. He has had an
even larger impact on Cubans. Those on the island -- whether detractors or
supporters -- have been most directly affected; arguably, Fidel looms even
larger in the psyche of his fiercest opponents outside Cuba. This reality
is reflected in an anecdote I heard several years ago. An elderly Cuban
woman visiting relatives in Miami remarked that she couldn't wait to return
to the island because she was tired of hearing such incessant talk about
Fidel.

The festive reaction in Miami contrasts with the attitude of Jaime Cardinal
Ortega, who in his Sunday sermon asked for prayers for the ailing Fidel
Castro. There is, as well, an irony involved in the Miami response. If
Fidel were to die of natural causes after more than forty-seven years in
power -- and having first handed off power to Raul -- this can hardly be
seen as a victory by those who have spent a lifetime trying to kill or
overthrow him. It is one thing to celebrate besting an opponent in the
arena of politics or war. But there is no nobility in rejoicing at the
adversary's possible demise from an intestinal illness. If the nemesis dies
under these circumstances, he is likely to be considered to have retired
from the battle undefeated. Nature spares nobody, but its processes carry
no political or ideological message.

Whatever the course of the Cuban president's illness, this episode should
mark the beginning of the end of an unhealthy obsession. For too many
years, those who have led the Cuban community in the United States -- and a
disturbingly large number of their followers as well -- have made hating
Fidel a more important priority than loving the Cuban people. This sad
reality has become embodied in policies aimed at punishing and isolating
Cuba. Working to change this priority in order to begin in earnest the long
transition from a psychology and a policy framework grounded in hatred and
revenge to one based on communication and solidarity is the single most
important thing we can do for Cuba in this moment of high drama.

*
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1 Answer

6127 Dead, 1270 since 1/20/09

5/27/2012 5:51:00 PM

0

On Sun, 27 May 2012 12:13:18 -0500, Gary DW wrote:

> In article <slrnjs0131.5uq.badass.superman@badass.edu>, Rockinghorse
> Winner says...
>
>
>
>> * It may have been the liquor talking, but Gary DW
>> <Dw2spike3NOT@sio.midco.net> wrote:
>>
>> >> > Austerity has driven Spain, Italy, and Greece into recession.
>> >> > The Republican congress plan here, if enacted, will drive America
>> >> > into recession.
>> >> >
>> >> > Here's today's column by Professor Krugman on the subject:
>> >> >
>> >> > Egos and Immorality By PAUL KRUGMAN In the wake of a devastating
>> >> > financial crisis, President Obama has enacted some modest and
>> >> > obviously needed regulation; he has proposed closing a few
>> >> > outrageous tax loopholes; and he has suggested that Mitt Romney?s
>> >> > history of buying and selling companies, often firing workers and
>> >> > gutting their pensions along the way, doesn?t make him the right
>> >> > man to run America?s economy.
>> >>
>> >> [snip]
>> >>
>> >> Socialism is self-perpetuating. Once you convert to it, it makes it
>> >> very, very difficult to extract yourself. That is why austerity is
>> >> so painful for the socialist countries. However, our experiment with
>> >> socialism has only really been going full bore for a few years. It
>> >> is much easier for our country to reverse course than those in
>> >> Europe.
>> >
>> >
>> > I bet Rush or someone on Faux News taught you that.
>> >
>> > But lets pretend you came up with this on your own! Name ONE time in
>> > world history that austerity measures brought any coutry out of a
>> > recession.
>> >
>> > Just one.... we will be waiting.
>>
>> When Reagan took office, his administration kept a tight leash on the
>> money supply. Many of his critics screamed that it would cause a
>> deepening of the Carter recession. Interst rates rose to unheard of
>> levels. Mortgage rates were double digit. Once inflation started coming
>> down, the money supply was gradually loosened. However, it was that
>> first year of tight control of the money supply that led into the
>> greatest expansion of the economy since WWII.
>
>
>
> Reagan never used any austerity measures. Spending went up
> substantially.
>
>
> Its why his unemployment rate went down faster than Obama's. Reagan
> spent his way out of the recession (mostly on the military) you bumbling
> moron.
>
> Faux News or Rush never tells you this.
>
> Its why you are blissfully ignorant.

In fact, on an annualized basis, Obama's spending increases are the
LOWEST since Eisenhower. His first three years show 1.8% increase per
year; Reagan's was around 8%.

In fact, in seven of the eight budgets that Reagan submitted, Congress
actually CUT SPENDING. The right wing fantasy that Reagan was "small
government" but thwarted by an eeeevil Congress is just that--a fantasy.

As for the money supply, Reagan, like all presidents since 1934 had no
(none, zero, naught, zilch) say over money supply. That's entirely the
province of the Fed. That would have been Paul Volcker.
>
>
>
>> >> In addition, history has shown that in order for socialism to be
>> >> implemented on a large scale, concomitant intrusions on personal and
>> >> economic liberty are required. Our constitution is a bulwark against
>> >> such intrusions. Which means we have a firewall against socialism
>> >> that the other countries do not.
>> >>
>> >> Terry
>> >
>> >
>> > What does socialism have to do with austerity measures that are
>> > failing (and have ALWAYS failed) worldwide?
>>
>> Socialism makes austerity especially painful, because the economy
>> depends on the central government. When the government role in the
>> economy is lessened,
>> you have more tools which you can use without causing so much distress.
>> That is why socialism is so pernicious - it requires ever increasing
>> govt outlays to correct the imbalances caused by the previous spending.
>> It's a vicious circle.
>>
>>
And yet oddly, the better the social safety net a country has (what you
ignorati call "socialism") the better it has weathered the Great
Recession. Places like Greece and Spain are basket cases; Germany,
Sweden and Canada are all virtually untouched.
>>
>> >
>> > Cutting jobs helps end unemployment.
>> >
>> >
>> > Just ask a rightie!!
>>
>> Terry