PopSyndicate.com

Is communism still a threat in today’s world?  Is it so much a threat that still need to boycott Cuba but welcome China with open arms?  With Castro stepping down from power while he recovers from surgery, the U.S. started salivating with the thought that they could once again ‘nation build’ and we all know how well that works for us. 

I wonder what will happen to Cuba once Castro dies.  I see the nation falling apart as different groups battle for leadership with the U.S. backing what will probably be the most corrupt of the lot.

Communism probably isn’t a major threat to security in America, but it’s an ever present threat to the Cuban quality of life.  Is this the administration to change all that?  Almost certainly not.  But a democratic Cuba, will, in the long run, be better for the Cuban people than a communist dictatorship.  Ultimately, it’s got to be up to them, and not the United States to make that kind of change, though.

I agree but that doesn’t mean the the U.S. won’t back and try to sway the Cuban people to elect a U.S. friendly candidate.

Stefan - 24 August 2006 03:48 PM

I agree but that doesn’t mean the the U.S. won’t back and try to sway the Cuban people to elect a U.S. friendly candidate.

Sure they’ll try that.  It’s in the interest of the United States to do so, and I think that would be true no matter who occupied the White House.  However, I don’t think this administration has enough credibility to sway much based on its own record.  The amount that the United States can sway Cuban sentiment will be based on the “idea of America”, rather than anything this administration can contribute.

Tell that to the Vietnamese, Afganistans, Argentina and everywhere else the U.S. has tried to sell the “idea of America”.

Stefan - 25 August 2006 08:16 AM

Tell that to the Vietnamese, Afganistans, Argentina and everywhere else the U.S. has tried to sell the “idea of America”.

I think that America has inspired, and continues to inspire, more people than any other polity in the history of the world.  That’s not simple American exceptionalism, talking.  The idea of a government founded upon the notion of the value of the individual is extraordinarily compelling.

The lesson in most of those places is a lesson that Americans, rather than foreigners, seem unable to learn:  it’s hard to force democracy down someone’s throat with a bayonet.  Ultimately, democracy has to be self-generated or it simply won’t work.

No one ever seems to discuss this, maybe because it might carry a perceived whiff of elitism, but there may be societies where the groundwork for successful democracy just isn’t really there.  I think Afghanistan might be an example:  low literacy and education levels, higher loyalty to a tribal rather than a national polity, virtually non-existent history of civil administration, high unemployment, etc.

I couldn’t agree more.