tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post4729685870617297135..comments2024-03-27T09:14:27.496+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: 32nd Carnival of SocialismPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-19082687227381731602009-04-01T15:01:00.000+01:002009-04-01T15:01:00.000+01:00ops forgot the link:REWRITING HISTORYhttp://www.so...ops forgot the link:<BR/><BR/>REWRITING HISTORY<BR/><BR/>http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=3834ModernityBloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354254639321208955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-70629243908819801992009-04-01T15:00:00.000+01:002009-04-01T15:00:00.000+01:00Phil,talking of socialism or the lack of it, will ...Phil,<BR/><BR/>talking of socialism or the lack of it, will that nauseating article praising the GDR on SU blog be included in the next Carnival, just to show people what to avoid?ModernityBloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354254639321208955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-14937656281570141632009-03-30T08:00:00.000+01:002009-03-30T08:00:00.000+01:00Oh yeah Sentinel, and which "leading UK nationalis...Oh yeah Sentinel, and which "leading UK nationalist party" would that be, pray tell? Not a BNP'er by any chance, are you?Voltaire's Priesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09696198341458705695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-78874621336715770122009-03-30T06:54:00.000+01:002009-03-30T06:54:00.000+01:00Just as a quick comment, the article I reposted on...Just as a quick comment, the article I reposted on By Any Means Necessary about the El Salvadorian election was from the left refoundationist Freedom Road Socialist Organization/El Camino (www.freedomroad.org), not the smaller, splinter Marxist-Leninist faction from www.frso.org.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, good post, just thought I would point that outAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-83834275464143495092009-03-29T17:21:00.000+01:002009-03-29T17:21:00.000+01:00"Meanwhile Yoani reminds us that life in Cuba is n..."Meanwhile Yoani reminds us that life in Cuba is no bed of roses."<BR/><BR/><BR/>What a crock!<BR/><BR/>I've just come back from a business trip to Havana (and spent several days in the west and south of the Island) and I can tell you that whilst it is certainly not an image of the much vaunted socialist 'workers paradise' it is not doing too bad either.<BR/><BR/>I saw no real poverty at all during my stay and I travelled around a fair amount (though I was constantly being told that the average Cuban was very poor and of the need to donate - so I had taken some toys with me but beyond the orphanages I now doubt that they were really needed at all.)<BR/><BR/>The prices in CUC (favoured everywhere) were comparable to UK prices and managed to exceed them in some case, and even at the best restaurants and bars 'ordinary' Cubans were aplenty. Health care is free, so is university (with post-national service obligatory) and housing was provided at reasonable rates and although the Cubans complained of a shortage of housing I saw no one homeless. Crime is relatively low due to tough sentencing and visible policing, as is the terroist threat. The exclusion of US persons and US banking houses has largely insulated them against the recession, as has the selective protectionist polices.<BR/><BR/>How have they managed all this? <BR/><BR/>Well, just like that other red experiment China, largely through controlled capitalist ventures. Most notably from the many, many holiday resorts siphoning off hard currency form the visitors into an artificially high CUC. Indeed, without the hard currency from tourism Cuba would be in dire straits.<BR/><BR/>Sure there are some restrictive policies on travel (mainly aimed at the US) and also at what the administration deems as political dissidents but that is a natural by-product of all imposed governments.<BR/><BR/>Cuba was doing quite well from what I saw and heard and was doing it from such policies as selective protectionism, staunch international independence, national service (civil and military), isolationism from foreign conflicts that do not concern Cuba, robust policing, tough sentencing, community financed health care and education, the tight control of foreign influence in banking and the economy as a whole and the encouragement of national pride.<BR/><BR/>Sounds very much like the makings of modern nationalism to me, and a lot of the polices could have come straight form the leading UK nationalist party...The Sentinelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18407669804421969164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-81820197162743440562009-03-29T15:30:00.000+01:002009-03-29T15:30:00.000+01:00As I was writing it I thought about renaming it th...As I was writing it I thought about renaming it the first carnival of Louise seeing as you kept cropping up!Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-89644390400263355712009-03-29T14:39:00.000+01:002009-03-29T14:39:00.000+01:00"the unwelcome persistence of some dinosaur argume..."the unwelcome persistence of some dinosaur arguments on the left"<BR/><BR/>Very True! That made me laugh for some reason :)<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the plugs, much appreciated.<BR/><BR/>Oh lumme....me is next...!! Time flies....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com