Fidel Castro is one of the best politicians the world has ever had the chance to witness throughout its history. He is a revolutionary man, that has defended the Cuban nation against all its intern or outtern opponents, and has succeded in becoming a respected leader, that leads his country with dignity.

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Originally posted by brashy Fidel Castro is one of the best politicians the world has ever had the chance to witness throughout its history. He is a revolutionary man, that has defended the Cuban nation against all its intern or outtern opponents, and has succeded in becoming a respected leader, that leads his country with dignity.

Er...think you might just be pushing it a little bit too far there...

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Originally posted by George Smiley Er...think you might just be pushing it a little bit too far there...

Agreed. I've heard some pretty harsh critism of Fidel and his regime from some cubans.

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Originally posted by shaolin_Z Agreed. I've heard some pretty harsh critism of Fidel and his regime from some cubans.

There is nothing like a perfect politician. But if you put in balance the pluses and the minuses, Cubans are better off with him

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Originally posted by brashy There is nothing like a perfect politician. But if you put in balance the pluses and the minuses, Cubans are better off with him

There's a huge gap between "perfect" and "dictatorship"!!

So, as for the "pluses and minuses"...

Can you share the pluses with us?

And are you also arguing that Cubans are better off under this system than they would be under liberal or social democracy?

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Originally posted by George Smiley And are you also arguing that Cubans are better off under this system than they would be under liberal or social democracy?

Yea, it really is quiet amazing that someone can argue that people are better off in a "fear society" than a "free society".

All dictatorships, no matter how benevolent are worse off for the people than free societies. Unless they are a transitional government into democracy or an accountable government, dicators must use fear to control their populace and stay in place of power.

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Originally posted by Yoepus All dictatorships, no matter how benevolent are worse off for the people than free societies. Unless they are a transitional government into democracy or an accountable government, dicators must use fear to control their populace and stay in place of power.

That is not necisarily true tho, first of all, at least in theory a dictatorship can be much better than democracy for many reasons, and second of all, there are many instances where a democracy have used fear in order to stay in power to (read George W Bush ).

All that said, democracy is a lot better than dictatorships in general, but i wouldnt go so far as to say that "All dictatorships, no matter how benevolent" are worse than a democracy.

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Originally posted by St_Andrew All that said, democracy is a lot better than dictatorships in general, but i wouldnt go so far as to say that "All dictatorships, no matter how benevolent" are worse than a democracy.

Its all a perspective of time. If you look at it in a span of decades then liberal democracy always trumps dictatorships.

Given your G W Bush example, assuming he's the worst guy, uses fear, etc, he's out and replaced in 8 years. Theres a houst, a senate, a judicary all to counter-balance his powers. There is a free and open press (who critizes him non-stop) and people don't get shot, killed, or arrested for expressing their opinions.

Now in a dictatorship if it to exist more than a number of years it must oppress its own citizens by curtailing the freedom of speech and press. If it does not do this, the tide will simply turn against the dictator and it will eventually evolve into a democracy.


Under George Bush's democracy I can say "fuck George Bush, go to hell you fucking sleaze bag" and I will get applause. In Cuba if I say "fuck Fidel Castro, he's a fucking sleeze bag who should go to hell", I get a bullet in the head.

I don't care how good the quality of life is, without that fundamental ability to express your own opinion, you are simply not a free man. We take this freedom for granted because we have always known it, we have grown up with it, and know no different. It is incomprehensible to us to realize a world where what you say can kill you.

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quote:

Originally posted by Yoepus Its all a perspective of time. If you look at it in a span of decades then liberal democracy always trumps dictatorships. Given your G W Bush example, assuming he's the worst guy, uses fear, etc, he's out and replaced in 8 years. Theres a houst, a senate, a judicary all to counter-balance his powers. There is a free and open press (who critizes him non-stop) and people don't get shot, killed, or arrested for expressing their opinions. Now in a dictatorship if it to exist more than a number of years it must oppress its own citizens by curtailing the freedom of speech and press. If it does not do this, the tide will simply turn against the dictator and it will eventually evolve into a democracy. Under George Bush's democracy I can say "fuck George Bush, go to hell you fucking sleaze bag" and I will get applause. In Cuba if I say "fuck Fidel Castro, he's a fucking sleeze bag who should go to hell", I get a bullet in the head. I don't care how good the quality of life is, without that fundamental ability to express your own opinion, you are simply not a free man. We take this freedom for granted because we have always known it, we have grown up with it, and know no different. It is incomprehensible to us to realize a world where what you say can kill you.

I did never say that Cuba is a better country than the US to live in (that would be an insane thing to say, for the obvious reasons you stated), however I stated that a democracy doesnt have to be better than a dictatorship.

Imagine two Countries, country A where a dictator rules, and Country B where Democracy rules.

In country A, El Presidento have been ruling for several years, he is a very good man, although he has never been voted there he is still always working for the good of the country. He takes care of corruption, he dares to take the decions that the people might not like, but is best for the country in the long run etc. El Presidento also makes sure that everyone can have their opinion, and no one can get shot for saying the wrong thing, and they can try to affect El Presidento, and he does change if you have good arguments, but you simply cant vote him out.

Meanwhile in country B, Mr Democrato is ruling, he has just been elected for a 4 year term, and he must do everything to make sure he stays in power. To do this he is always making sure the people are happy, in the short run, but since he know that the ppl of country b is a pretty stupid ppl, he cant take the vital long term decions that would be bad in the short term, cause then he wouldnt get reelected. He also starts a lot of wars with other countries since Mr Democrato knows that this is a way of keeping the country together, and securing his second term in office.

Which is the best country to live in? Country A i would say, cause it is the country that is going to be better of in the long run, and you wont have to be affraid of everything.

Its kinda theoretical, but get my point?

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Originally posted by brashy Fidel Castro is one of the best politicians the world has ever had the chance to witness throughout its history. He is a revolutionary man, that has defended the Cuban nation against all its intern or outtern opponents, and has succeded in becoming a respected leader, that leads his country with dignity.

What about the fact that he's stolen millions from the Cuban people?

Or that he conspired to kill millions of Americans with nuclear weapons?

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Originally posted by Yoepus ..is a crazy lunatic, and your point is?

We can't all be paragons of sanity and altruism like the benevolent Hussein, Osama, Sharon, et al