tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post1785370815014945019..comments2024-02-21T05:16:22.788-05:00Comments on Two Weeks Notice: A Latin American Politics Blog: Dunning-Kruger Effect in U.S. policyGreg Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15765114859595124082noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-32908033135838664312010-06-24T01:23:04.821-04:002010-06-24T01:23:04.821-04:00Cuba is a miserable failure.
A "miserable fa...<i>Cuba is a miserable failure.</i><br /><br />A "miserable failure" relative to what? Perhaps if you would explain yourself, we could have an intelligible discussion.<br /><br />To simply say Cuba is a "miserable failure" because that's what has been beaten into our heads for time immemorial does not suffice.Justin Delacourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01343303383195336825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-23629703343057277852010-06-21T22:11:22.611-04:002010-06-21T22:11:22.611-04:00Are you joking? There are people who want Stalin b...Are you joking? There are people who want Stalin back. Being a miserable failure can easily coexist with others seeing you as a model.<br /><br />As for Cuba as a model, you live in the US right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-20803214112803263762010-06-21T20:33:17.876-04:002010-06-21T20:33:17.876-04:00Anon, that doesn't make sense. If Cuba is trul...Anon, that doesn't make sense. If Cuba is truly a miserable falure, why would anyone dare emulate it? The only reason is because capitalism has failed such large segments of Latin American society. <br /><br />I don't think the people without access to water in Bolivia, or those in Brazil living with murders in their neighborhood every day, or those in Peru who have no chance to go to a University, or those street kids in El Salvador without jobs, etc. etc. would necessarily view Cuba as a miserable failure. Cuba is certainly no utopipa but it has managed to solve most of the dehumanizing problems Latin America still struggles with to this day.... all in the face of an unprecedented economic blockade and campaign of subversion.leftsidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00676827005815770066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-73051721768825570802010-06-21T18:47:46.144-04:002010-06-21T18:47:46.144-04:00Cuba is a miserable failure. That doesn't mean...Cuba is a miserable failure. That doesn't mean it couldn't become a model for others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-64284662213490227672010-06-21T14:04:05.604-04:002010-06-21T14:04:05.604-04:00Why would you think that the policy towards Cuba w...<i>Why would you think that the policy towards Cuba was a failure?</i><br /><br />The way to measure a 50 year old policy is whether it has had the intended effect. Clearly it has not if you take the stated rationale at face value - to bring "democracy" and free markets to Cuba. But if you believe, like I do, that the unstated rationale is to ensure no country dares follow the Cuban model - or they will be attacked and economically strangled - then perhaps you are right - the policy has worked. But then we should acknowledge that the policy was never about the Cuba being a miserable failure for its people - and is instead about fear that Cuba could become a model.leftsidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00676827005815770066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-44347227181813700092010-06-21T13:57:58.694-04:002010-06-21T13:57:58.694-04:00Fair enough, but I'd argue the vast majority o...Fair enough, but I'd argue the vast majority of people (competent or not) are too invested in their logic to ever see the error of their ways. When you add the fact that most real "policy makers" and "policy experts" earn their living by towing a certain ideological line (namely the overarching belief in free markets and US hegemony), it gets even more difficult to rebel against those ideas.leftsidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00676827005815770066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-54363908925004977212010-06-21T13:38:03.354-04:002010-06-21T13:38:03.354-04:00Hmm... Do you see the irony in this post?
Why wou...Hmm... Do you see the irony in this post?<br /><br />Why would you think that the policy towards Cuba was a failure? Just because you disagree with it? <br /><br />Clearly the policy had many objectives, including keeping happy an important domestic constituency and sending signals to other countries about what could happen to them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com