JUDITH: Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have a computer, not having money, which is nobody's fault, not even the Yankees', but that he can have the right to have a computer.

FULGENCIO: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have a computer, brother. Sister. Sorry.

RICARDO: What's the point?

FULGENCIO: What?

RICARDO: What's the point of fighting for his right to have a computer when he can't have a computer?!

FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.

RICARDO: [Muttering] Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

I see what you did there, Brother Loretta. ;)

It's a start

It's not a start. It's the makings of a high-tech raft.

Gotta start somewhere. I wouldn't be in a rush to have the american mob running things either.

Yeah, that communism just looks better every day, don't it?

Wouldn't it be cool to see a 1950's Crown Victoria with a back-of-headrest DVD player for the kids to watch?

That would totally rock.

Your 87 cents a week is making a huge difference in my life. I now have a shoe.

For the record, Cuba was poor a long, long time before it became communist.

But Michael Moore told me Cuba's streets flowed with chocolate and all of it's citizens have evolved to the next level of human existance thank's to the wonders of communism!

Of course Cuba's poverty has nothing whatsoever to do with trade sanctions.

For the record, Cubans don't have a poverty problem like most of central america and the carribean does. In fact, DVD players and larger TVs are probably in the price range of many families.

For the record, Cuba was poor a long, long time before it became communist.

Europe and the rest of Western society was deathly poor before they became free market oriented.

Now we're more apt to die from over consumption than from starvation.

See how that works?

They don't need Google Maps to find Miami, they've been doing it for years.

Where are all the Fidel defending hipsters? I mean, they were verboten from having DVD players or computers in Cuba, but the literacy rate under Fidel was so high! So it's OK!

For the other part of the record, Cuba barely has enough available energy to power what little equipment it DOES own...

"Overconsumption" isn't a human right. At least, not outside the US...

LowPlainsDrifter: Wouldn't it be cool to see a 1950's Crown Victoria with a back-of-headrest DVD player for the kids to watch?

That would totally rock.

Never thought of that. I fully agree and want one.

Yay Communism?

But they've got socialized health care!

Siamese Bream: Of course Cuba's poverty has nothing whatsoever to do with trade sanctions.

Of course Cuba hasn't been allowed to trade with the rest of the world this whole time.

latrans lycaon
For the record, Cuba was poor a long, long time before it became communist.

True, except for the sugar, tobacco, tourism, and casinos. Other than that, it was really bad (though the people got to actually keep the money they made before the great Savior Castro showed them the light). Other than those issues, and all the human rights violations, Cuba was awful before the revolution.

mrsirjojo: Where are all the Fidel defending hipsters? I mean, they were verboten from having DVD players or computers in Cuba, but the literacy rate under Fidel was so high! So it's OK!

communists tend to think that communism is great - until they have to actually live under a communist government. then they're the first over the wall.

mrsirjojo: ...they were verboten from having DVD players or computers in Cuba, but the literacy rate under Fidel was so high!

As a long-time user of Fark, I do wonder if there's a correlation there.

asmith993:

But Michael Moore told me Cuba's streets flowed with chocolate and all of it's citizens have evolved to the next level of human existance thank's to the wonders of communism!

it should just be a few more minutes before we hear from the farkers that believe that all ills of the world are the fault of the great satan united states, that fidel castro and hugo chavez are great men of vision and integrity and that michael moore accurately depicted what a utopia cuba is when compared to the disgust that is the united states because of what george bush has done to oppress us.

Siamese Bream: Of course Cuba's poverty has nothing whatsoever to do with trade sanctions.

They trade with everyone else, so is your argument that they must have trade with the U.S. to be prosperous?

Nemo's Brother: Siamese Bream: Of course Cuba's poverty has nothing whatsoever to do with trade sanctions.

Of course Cuba hasn't been allowed to trade with the rest of the world this whole time.

Don't you know? the US is the uber trade partner of the universe! we're all knowing, all powerful and just by talking to us, you become super rich and all knowing....

Weaver, I'm just trying to find a clever way to blame Bush for Cuba's economic state.

But will they allow them to own copies of Red Dawn?

Cue the Communist apoligists

Now those thrifty cubans can awash in a mass orgy of consumerism like the rest of us.

Think they were poor before? When your neighbor has a head-rest dvd player, you have to have one too.

check out Miami some time.

Cuba has poor people.

Cuba is a communist country.

Therefore, communism makes people poor.

Thank god we've got to the bottom of that one! Africa will be delighted with the good news, I'm sure. The free market economy makes everyone rich!

Poor people in Cuba can't afford luxuries! Read all about it!

Extra! Extra! Poor people in US also can't afford luxuries! Read all about it! Subby equally shocked by news that world is round! Extra, extra!

SamTana: Extra! Extra! Poor people in US also can't afford luxuries! Read all about it! Subby equally shocked by news that world is round! Extra, extra!

I know 'poor people' here in the US that have better home electronics systems than I do....'poor' here is different than 'poor' elsewhere in the world.

Our "poor" people are morbidly obese. Their's are eating tree bark.

Weaver95: I know 'poor people' here in the US that have better home electronics systems than I do....'poor' here is different than 'poor' elsewhere in the world.

Just because they have them doesn't mean they can afford them. Why do you think the US economy's in the crapper?

Weaver95: Yeah, that communism just looks better every day, don't it?

epoc_tnac: Cuba has poor people.

Cuba is a communist country.

Therefore, communism makes people poor.

Thank god we've got to the bottom of that one! Africa will be delighted with the good news, I'm sure. The free market economy makes everyone rich!

socialism, people, socialism.

btfoom

Yes, it sure was wonderful when all of the gangsters and monopolists got to keep all of the money they made. Things were great for the Cubans then.

That

Considering the U.S. is one of the top trading partners for pretty much every other country in the world, it's probably a factor in their poverty. (Which really isn't as bad as in many capitalist countries in the world.)

The Castros' human rights records are pretty bad, but I dunno if they're any worse than Batista's, and we supported him. They certainly do more to help the average Cuban than Batista, though.

Castro lifts Cuba's appliance ban, Cubans to own DVD players & computers. Except poor people who live in hovels and single rooms & can't afford them. Which is most of the country. So in essence nothing's changed.

What's this: Luxuries are only available to those who can afford them? That's absurd!

I'm glad that's not the case in this country. In the U.S., everybody can own a Ferrari, a private plane, a yacht, polo ponies, a 10,000-bottle wine cellar, a staff of servants, and a suite at the Super Bowl. These things are not limited to the top 1% of the population.

Who says that DVD players & computers are "necessities" or "reasonable expectations"? The American middle class, that's who! WE set the standards of materialism for the rest of the world -- and SCREW everyone who thinks otherwise!

YOO-ESS-AYY!

/Oh, and BTW, poor people in the US have "no ambition". Poor Cubans are "victims". We set the standards; we don't have to be consistent about them.

You guys need to read some non-American news about Cuba someday. And just because the US won't trade with them doesn't mean everyone else won't (new window)

Siamese Bream: Of course Cuba's poverty has nothing whatsoever to do with trade sanctions.

Correct. Cuba is free to trade with the rest of the world and does. The big, bad Yanqui is in no way responsible for Cuba's poverty.

Nemo's Brother: Our "poor" people are morbidly obese. Their's are eating tree bark.

Which group has more will to live?

KNW: You guys need to read some non-American news about Cuba someday.

The linked article is to non-American news about Cuba...

epoc_tnac: Thank god we've got to the bottom of that one! Africa will be delighted with the good news, I'm sure. The free market economy makes everyone rich!

Most places in Africa do not have free markets. Thanks for playing. Market economy =/= no rule of law.

latrans lycaon: For the record, Cuba was poor a long, long time before it became communist.

For the record, you are an idiot. Pre-Castro, Cuba had the highest standard of living in Latin America. Industrial wages were 9th highest in the world, higher than France and Japan. They had the lowest infant mortality rate and highest number of doctors per capita in Latin America. They had the highest literacy rate and ratio of college graduates, and a large economic middle class. And also for the record, there were a grand total of 3 casinos in Cuba. Biloxi, Mississippi has more. Even a cursory search would reveal the objective facts, if you would stop fellating Fidel.

epoc_tnac: Nemo's Brother: Our "poor" people are morbidly obese. Their's are eating tree bark.

Which group has more will to live?

Maybe ours are so hungry for life that they overeat?

/Not sure how that question pertained to Communism v. Capitalism.

Cue the Communist apoligists

Ah, Americans and their ignorance of their own history and of the world at large.

Xenomech: Ah, Americans and their ignorance of their own history and of the world at large.

Your ad hominem does nothing to support the abortion of a point you tried to make.

rocknrollpetrol
mrsirjojo: ...they were verboten from having DVD players or computers in Cuba, but the literacy rate under Fidel was so high!

As a long-time user of Fark, I do wonder if there's a correlation there.

Nice observation.

Incidentally, I always thought it was funny that the only show I ever saw about people watching TV was Beavis & Butthead. Not exactly portraying the pastime in a favorable light.

40oz_A_Knight: epoc_tnac: Thank god we've got to the bottom of that one! Africa will be delighted with the good news, I'm sure. The free market economy makes everyone rich!

Most places in Africa do not have free markets. Thanks for playing. Market economy =/= no rule of law.

Maybe they don't have free markets, but we certainly reap the benefits with OUR free markets.

I guess I could cut to the chase and just point out that a lot of our wealth comes from basically stealing resources from other countries. And how free is that? Cuba doesn't do that, so they're poor.

Maybe Cuba just needs to invade the US?