Cuba

When it just doesn't fit anywhere else.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Cuba

Post by Bootstrap »

Sounds a lot like what we saw in East Germany before the fall of the Wall.
appleman2006 wrote:After all they have free health care (the best in the world some claim) free education including university for those that have high enough marks, totally organic agriculture and the people are so friendly and happy.
Yeah, that's the kind of thing the East German government would claim. Or the Polish government or the Czech government. Those are the countries I had been in before the wall fell, none of them had good health care for most people, but they did have good health care for the apparatchiks.
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MaxPC
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Re: Cuba

Post by MaxPC »

appleman2006 wrote:
MaxPC wrote:I'd be interested in your perspective, A-man. The last time I visited Cuba was in October 1952: before the start of Castro's revolution. I recall a warm place with brightly painted buildings and a tourist atmosphere.
All in all to me it was a sad reflection of what socialism does to a country. I pray that some how things can turn around for them. I saw the large statue of the Cuban Jesus looking out over Havana. I pray that they can come to know the Jesus that walked the shores of Galilee. Me thinks that would go a long way to solving their problems.
Thank you for sharing that, A-man. It's very much in agreement with the perspectives of my friends who escaped Cuba and still have relatives there. Re the free health care: it's difficult to find good health care on the island unless you pay a premium. The healthcare that's free there is dodgy at best according to the accounts of my friends and their relatives. "You get what you pay for."

Sadly the island seems to only seek to be a tourist destination, before the police state or now. Tourism is not a stable source of income and so the population there will be vulnerable to economic depression.
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Max (Plain Catholic)
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Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding but only in revealing his own mind.
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appleman2006
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Re: Cuba

Post by appleman2006 »

The sad thing is that to a large extent the tourism dollar that goes there is basically paid by "el cheapo". It is commonly known as the cheapest place to get a vacation on a resort. Which begs the question as to how generous they then are with tips. I know some are very generous but I wonder how it compares with how people tip in other countries.

I do know that you can pay for a more expensive vacation in Cuba as well if you go the private bed and breakfast route in the city and there are those that do that.
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MaxPC
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Re: Cuba

Post by MaxPC »

Indeed. There's also the problem of how much the general populace has to suffer in order to subsidize the pricing. We know the elites in the system don't do it. They skim the cream. The USSR subsidized Cuba during the Cold War but ever since the Berlin Wall fell and the collapse of the Soviet economy, Cuba has struggled.

If there was a change in regime from communism to capitalism based, I would think that larger companies would consider the viability of setting up an industry in Cuba. No one can say for sure though ever since Venezuela's problems started.
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Max (Plain Catholic)
Mt 24:35
Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding but only in revealing his own mind.
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God
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