Fidels 88th Birthday .......

[PigFish]

There are some on this forum that will bring their "red" loving and US hating views into any conversation of Cuba.

Cuba is a communist country. That 88 year old communist pig owns it, he broke it and he (and your kind) are the reasons it does not work. You and your political relativism; dude, you are clueless!!! Your armchair quarterbacking, communist loving attitude can be proven by one simple action. EXCHANGE YOUR HOME AND LIFE WITH A CUBAN!

Armchair communists, you effin' elitest cowards!

Communism is a hard religion. You pinks would not make the cut, even in the beloved lands of your egalitarian delusions. You stand tall behind the glass wall of freedom in your country and use your half baked, non-truths to rationalize the murder, brutality and slavery that is communism. Today's tool, political relativism. I'll bet you don't know who is responsible for killing most of the worlds communists. Yeah, other communists!

A free society offers only an opportunity and no guarantee. Many benefit and some don't. Communism, on the other hand offers a guarantee, you give up your freedom (by force mostly) and in the end everyone is equal. Yeah right. So exactly which communist country has ever seen that elusive end? You get equality all right. The majority suffer the same disastrous fate with no way out, while the very few get rich. Oh, did I mention? Thousands, millions, tens of millions must be purged along the lovely path to egalitarianism.

Iron curtains are not built to keep invaders out. They are built to keep the slaves in!

Yeah, the kid in the school uniform is cute… Like an owned butler or scullery maid in a uniform! Those kids in the Hitler youth, more socialists, kindred spirits, they were cute too!

While you whiz down the freeway to play golf tomorrow, that poor SOB that is rolling your cigars in your beloved Cuba, is still a slave at 20 pesos a month…! But that's right, Batista was a pig, and that makes it all okay… Batista was a pig, and that makes communist slavery okay… Jesus! What a mindset!!

I am really glad that you feel better that he (the cigar roller) is a communist slave, and you feel better about it because the US lost an allied state, and Batista was a pig!

Man, you gotta' hate the US pretty bad to want to enslave a whole nation of people to make you feel better, to feed your hatred, to feed your idealism.

I pity you mate…! Only a self loathing coward would defend a slave state to make himself feel better about his positions. I truly pity you!

-Ray

[MontrealRon]

c

There are some on this forum that will bring their "red" loving and US hating views into any conversation of Cuba.

Cuba is a communist country. That 88 year old communist pig owns it, he broke it and he (and your kind) are the reasons it does not work. You and your political relativism; dude, you are clueless!!! Your armchair quarterbacking, communist loving attitude can be proven by one simple action. EXCHANGE YOUR HOME AND LIFE WITH A CUBAN!

Armchair communists, you effin' elitest cowards!

Communism is a hard religion. You pinks would not make the cut, even in the beloved lands of your egalitarian delusions. You stand tall behind the glass wall of freedom in your country and use your half baked, non-truths to rationalize the murder, brutality and slavery that is communism. Today's tool, political relativism. I'll bet you don't know who is responsible for killing most of the worlds communists. Yeah, other communists!

A free society offers only an opportunity and no guarantee. Many benefit and some don't. Communism, on the other hand offers a guarantee, you give up your freedom (by force mostly) and in the end everyone is equal. Yeah right. So exactly which communist country has ever seen that elusive end? You get equality all right. The majority suffer the same disastrous fate with no way out, while the very few get rich. Oh, did I mention? Thousands, millions, tens of millions must be purged along the lovely path to egalitarianism.

Iron curtains are not built to keep invaders out. They are built to keep the slaves in!

Yeah, the kid in the school uniform is cute… Like an owned butler or scullery maid in a uniform! Those kids in the Hitler youth, more socialists, kindred spirits, they were cute too!

While you whiz down the freeway to play golf tomorrow, that poor SOB that is rolling your cigars in your beloved Cuba, is still a slave at 20 pesos a month…! But that's right, Batista was a pig, and that makes it all okay… Batista was a pig, and that makes communist slavery okay… Jesus! What a mindset!!

I am really glad that you feel better that he (the cigar roller) is a communist slave, and you feel better about it because the US lost an allied state, and Batista was a pig!

Man, you gotta' hate the US pretty bad to want to enslave a whole nation of people to make you feel better, to feed your hatred, to feed your idealism.

I pity you mate…! Only a self loathing coward would defend a slave state to make himself feel better about his positions. I truly pity you!

-Ray

Hi, Ray !

Usually, you and I are on the same page, but today it seems that you fell off the right side of the map.

I do not hate the US.

In fact, I love the place, visit much more often then Cuba, and have many good friends there.

I wish the country and its people only well, most especially in these difficult times.

Nor am I a lover of Communism, either as an economic or as a political system.

And yes, I agree that probably more people were killed in its name than by all other religions and ideologies combined.

Still, as to Cuba...

The Cubans never have known a free or a democratic society.

They went from a colony of Spain to a colony of the US.

They revolted against their colonial status, and struck out on their own, for good or for bad.

They turned to the US for support, and were rebuffed.

In desperation, they then turned to the USSR - a nearly fatal error.

I wish them only the best as well.

BTW, that was the nastiest, most vicious ad hominem attack I have ever encountered on FOH.

Dismissing someone`s arguements by branding him a Commie is no substitute for intellectual rigor.

Had it come from anyone else, I`d have surely taken offence.

Cheers!

-Ron.

[PigFish]

Mate, I am willing admit I am wrong… Am I wrong?

If so, then sorry. I am willing to take a man’s word that what I read is not what he wrote. It is clear that I don’t understand your message but I am willing to say that I misunderstood…

The reason that my country must enter into so many of these conversations about Cuba, when the whole world can support that country and they clearly don’t need us, is beyond me. It does appear to me that this moral corollary and comparison specifically between my government and that of world tyrants comes up too often to be a coincidence. It also appears to me that it comes from those who have an axe to grind with my country.

Such comparisons are highly offensive to me!

I did not write this to last word you, but like you to be understood. I mean you no ill will and do apologize for my behavior. I will be happy to apologize to the membership as a whole, and do so now.

My feelings and anger about how often my country is derided in these threads has not subsided. I am willing to take responsibility for my writing and prefer my feelings, based on my interpretation of posts here, be left up. If the mods choose to take it down, so be it. If you prefer to have me remove it myself, just say so. What I have to say is not more important than your feelings on the matter.

My email is in my profile.

-Ray

[MontrealRon]

Mate, I am willing admit I am wrong… Am I wrong?

If so, then sorry. I am willing to take a man’s word that what I read is not what he wrote. It is clear that I don’t understand your message but I am willing to say that I misunderstood…

The reason that my country must enter into so many of these conversations about Cuba, when the whole world can support that country and they clearly don’t need us, is beyond me. It does appear to me that this moral corollary and comparison specifically between my government and that of world tyrants comes up too often to be a coincidence. It also appears to me that it comes from those who have an axe to grind with my country.

Such comparisons are highly offensive to me!

I did not write this to last word you, but like you to be understood. I mean you no ill will and do apologize for my behavior. I will be happy to apologize to the membership as a whole, and do so now.

My feelings and anger about how often my country is derided in these threads has not subsided. I am willing to take responsibility for my writing and prefer my feelings, based on my interpretation of posts here, be left up. If the mods choose to take it down, so be it. If you prefer to have me remove it myself, just say so. What I have to say is not more important than your feelings on the matter.

My email is in my profile.

-Ray

Hi again, Ray -

First of all, your apology is accepted, without reservation.

No need to delete your post.

We all, at times, allow our emotions to get the better of us;

none of us are from the planet Vulcan...

Human beings are exceedingly complex, even contradictory creatures,

and so with human societies.

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and very little is all black or all white.

I have been a serious student of history all my life,

and I have learned that there are at least two sides to every story,

and that no one has a monopoly on the truth.

History is usually written by the victors, but the loser`s narrative also has something to teach us.

I admit that I can confuse those who do not really know me (and even those that do!),

as I often sort of take the role of devil`s advocate,

trying to show the elements of validity in the other side of any issue.

To the religious, I may seem to be an athiest;

to the athiest, an apologist for the importance of spirituality.

To those on the left, I will speak of the supremacy of the individual conscience;

to those on the right, of the supremacy of the human need for community.

For myself, I see no contradiction.

My wife is originally from England.

Visiting her home town and region, I loved the history, culture and the people I met.

None of that changes my critique, good and bad, of the British Empire.

America, to me, represents the apex of modern civilization,

yet it also has its dark side, as did the Roman Empire in its day.

We must not be ignorant that its prosperity was built on the genocide of its aboriginal inhabitants,

African slavery, and the exploitation of third world societies, as well as its own working class.

Still, it can rise to levels of nobility never before seen.

When you truly love someone, you do not love them as an idealized fantasy,

you love them for who they really are, with all their human weaknesses, imperfections and foibles.

So do I love America, and Cuba as well.

As we say in Quebec, on parting, ``A la prochaine chicane``

(until the next friendly argument)

-Ron.

[PigFish]

Nicely written Ron. I am glad you accepted my apology.

Parallels and name calling are sometimes the same to me. I admit to being overly sensitive about some subjects and tried like hell to stay away from this one. I have no excuses, I do have sensitivities.

I am a jokester and a prankster, a bit of an antagonist and certainly a curmudgeon but being sensitive to topics, I try to be sensitive to others. I often fail. I have a temper… Did I mention that I often fail??? -LOL

I don't really fair well in the world of relativism. I understand it, I understand the imperfection of man but I fair better in the world of black and white, right and wrong.

I cannot advocate for the devil! Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that you have done this, I am done arguing from above and simply speaking friend to friend. Some people on this planet (IMHO) are simply evil. There are certain conflicts whereas I a have no clue as to who represents good or bad… Others, I can see plain as day. It does not make me right, it does make me certain…

I post a lot of detailed opinions so people probably know me better than some others. I am an odd bird, that is for sure. I am easy to categorize on one day, and off the rails another. It is all perfectly orderly to me, but I confuse the hell out of many! On that note, I understand you better now!

Time for an anecdote.

Yesterday I entertained some Latter-day Saints in my front yard. My wife, she said, "Oh no, hide the Mormons are coming to the door." I greeted them warmly and we had a very rewarding discussion about God. When they asked me if I believe in God I said no! They were quite shocked and readied themselves to give me the grand pitch, the full on assault. I halted one of them and said instead, "I know that God exists, I therefore don't believe in him." "God's existence is empirical." This too was a shocker and I proceeded to teach them some about the certainty of my position and a bit about their own!

My wife wondered why I let them take some much of my day. I said that they took nothing from me but gave me a great gift. That is who and what I am.

She said, "Go start the grill…"

Cheers, Ray

[Morientes50]

The "genocide of Aboriginal inhabitants" was mostly the work of disease. When the Spanish arrived in the new world, they brought diseases that the natives never encountered. this resulted in roughly 70% of the natives dying in the 50 years after Columbus. This happened in Cuba as well. I love studying the Taino and Ciboney etc., always hoping to establish a link to myself. Alas, they were completely wiped out to disease and over work (their small bodies were not able to withstand the strain of slavery). The only remnants of their existence survive in the DNA of Cubans.

But to call what happened in the US "Genocide" is to distort the fact that the vast majority died by something other than intentional murder. Again, you are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts. So we can praise the native Cubans for our cigar habits. And for the words they left in our language: Barbecue, Hurricane, Tobacco, Cuba, Hammock, Papaya, Yucca, iguana and others...

[MontrealRon]

Nicely written Ron. I am glad you accepted my apology.

Parallels and name calling are sometimes the same to me. I admit to being overly sensitive about some subjects and tried like hell to stay away from this one. I have no excuses, I do have sensitivities.

I am a jokester and a prankster, a bit of an antagonist and certainly a curmudgeon but being sensitive to topics, I try to be sensitive to others. I often fail. I have a temper… Did I mention that I often fail??? -LOL

I don't really fair well in the world of relativism. I understand it, I understand the imperfection of man but I fair better in the world of black and white, right and wrong.

I cannot advocate for the devil! Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that you have done this, I am done arguing from above and simply speaking friend to friend. Some people on this planet (IMHO) are simply evil. There are certain conflicts whereas I a have no clue as to who represents good or bad… Others, I can see plain as day. It does not make me right, it does make me certain…

I post a lot of detailed opinions so people probably know me better than some others. I am an odd bird, that is for sure. I am easy to categorize on one day, and off the rails another. It is all perfectly orderly to me, but I confuse the hell out of many! On that note, I understand you better now!

Time for an anecdote.

Yesterday I entertained some Latter-day Saints in my front yard. My wife, she said, "Oh no, hide the Mormons are coming to the door." I greeted them warmly and we had a very rewarding discussion about God. When they asked me if I believe in God I said no! They were quite shocked and readied themselves to give me the grand pitch, the full on assault. I halted one of them and said instead, "I know that God exists, I therefore don't believe in him." "God's existence is empirical." This too was a shocker and I proceeded to teach them some about the certainty of my position and a bit about their own!

My wife wondered why I let them take some much of my day. I said that they took nothing from me but gave me a great gift. That is who and what I am.

She said, "Go start the grill…"

Cheers, Ray

I`ll let you in on a secret, brother.

Please don`t tell anyone!

It seems you and I have a lot more in common than either of us imagined.

I too believe deeply in right and wrong, good and evil.

It is just that in so many things in life, there are elements of both.

As to which may predominate in any particular situation, it is usually a judgement call.

We all try our best to not screw up that call too often.

And then, as you said, there is good and evi in their pure form.

As far as i know, I have only encountered pure good in the presence

(in spite of a huge crowd) of the Dalai Lama.

Pure evil, though, is all too common.

It has been estimated in several unrelated studies that around 7% of the human race are true psychopaths.

They are distinguished by their total lack of empathy.

These creatures are usually very successful in life, as they have no moral restraints.

They also tend to gravitate to positions where they can exercise (and abuse) power over others,

so are represented in high concentrations among police and military,

politicians, upper management and corporate leadership,

and, for a particularly vile sub-set, child care.

The Hitlers, Stalins, Maos, Kissingers, Saddams, etc. are only the most obvious examples;

there would be many many more, but for lack of opportunity.

To my mind, the greatest challenge to humanity is to be able to identify,

isolate and disempower the psycopaths among us.

It will not be easy, as they are experts in covering their tracks and faking normal behavior.

Not long ago in Canada, the commanding officer of our largest air force base,

so trusted that he was the Queen`s personal pilot, turned out to be a serial rapist and murderer.

This is the common enemy that we all face.

We must put aside our petty differences, and deal with this fundamential issue.

Only then will the vast majority, men and women of good will,

be able to constructively tackle and overcome

the many problems on this small planet that we share.

That`s it for my rant-of-the-day.

Over and out.

-Ron.

[MontrealRon]

The "genocide of Aboriginal inhabitants" was mostly the work of disease. When the Spanish arrived in the new world, they brought diseases that the natives never encountered. this resulted in roughly 70% of the natives dying in the 50 years after Columbus. This happened in Cuba as well. I love studying the Taino and Ciboney etc., always hoping to establish a link to myself. Alas, they were completely wiped out to disease and over work (their small bodies were not able to withstand the strain of slavery). The only remnants of their existence survive in the DNA of Cubans.

But to call what happened in the US "Genocide" is to distort the fact that the vast majority died by something other than intentional murder. Again, you are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts. So we can praise the native Cubans for our cigar habits. And for the words they left in our language: Barbecue, Hurricane, Tobacco, Cuba, Hammock, Papaya, Yucca, iguana and others..

Yeah, I guess that working your slaves to death does not count as first degree murder, but rather manslaugter...

But then, how about the intentional distribution of smallpox infected blankets,

or the wholesale destruction of food supplies, leading to widespread starvation,

followed by the corralling of the survivors onto barren lands...

Let`s not call it genocide... we can call it ``ethnic cleansing``...

[stigmata]

Funny, just down the road we have Haiti.. another broken country.. except more so.

Wasnt broken by Castro mind you.. but continual meddling by the USA and other Western nations..

Delve into it abit more.

Or go to the Philippines.. no Castro there but a suckling on mother Americas breast.. unemploment /crime/ prostitution and manipulation etc is extreme there...

As far as im concerned Castro should live to one hundred. Economically Cuba isnt a powerhouse ... but it has soul.. which is more than a hell of alot of other nations that sit inside our sphere of influence can claim.

I dunno whats up with the all the Castro bashing....

theyre just different.. and the countrys circumstances is different... doesnt mean we need to try wars on them.. or starve them ..to submission does it?

I dont think its Cuba and Castro who are the evil ones in this instant...

Cuba might not be an Oasis but its their country.. they re claimed it. and thats that...

[CUBANO]

There are some on this forum that will bring their "red" loving and US hating views into any conversation of Cuba.

Cuba is a communist country. That 88 year old communist pig owns it, he broke it and he (and your kind) are the reasons it does not work. You and your political relativism; dude, you are clueless!!! Your armchair quarterbacking, communist loving attitude can be proven by one simple action. EXCHANGE YOUR HOME AND LIFE WITH A CUBAN!

Armchair communists, you effin' elitest cowards!

Communism is a hard religion. You pinks would not make the cut, even in the beloved lands of your egalitarian delusions. You stand tall behind the glass wall of freedom in your country and use your half baked, non-truths to rationalize the murder, brutality and slavery that is communism. Today's tool, political relativism. I'll bet you don't know who is responsible for killing most of the worlds communists. Yeah, other communists!

A free society offers only an opportunity and no guarantee. Many benefit and some don't. Communism, on the other hand offers a guarantee, you give up your freedom (by force mostly) and in the end everyone is equal. Yeah right. So exactly which communist country has ever seen that elusive end? You get equality all right. The majority suffer the same disastrous fate with no way out, while the very few get rich. Oh, did I mention? Thousands, millions, tens of millions must be purged along the lovely path to egalitarianism.

Iron curtains are not built to keep invaders out. They are built to keep the slaves in!

Yeah, the kid in the school uniform is cute… Like an owned butler or scullery maid in a uniform! Those kids in the Hitler youth, more socialists, kindred spirits, they were cute too!

While you whiz down the freeway to play golf tomorrow, that poor SOB that is rolling your cigars in your beloved Cuba, is still a slave at 20 pesos a month…! But that's right, Batista was a pig, and that makes it all okay… Batista was a pig, and that makes communist slavery okay… Jesus! What a mindset!!

I am really glad that you feel better that he (the cigar roller) is a communist slave, and you feel better about it because the US lost an allied state, and Batista was a pig!

Man, you gotta' hate the US pretty bad to want to enslave a whole nation of people to make you feel better, to feed your hatred, to feed your idealism.

I pity you mate…! Only a self loathing coward would defend a slave state to make himself feel better about his positions. I truly pity you!

-Ray

Very well said Ray. He should go and live in Cuba like the average Cuban on $20 dollars a month, and slavery, and then will see how long he is going to be saying "long live Fidel"

[...]

Very well said Ray. He should go and live in Cuba like the average Cuban on $20 dollars a month, and slavery, and then will see how long he is going to be saying "long live Fidel"

I feel like you might have missed the point.

[CUBANO]

I feel like you might have missed the point.

No! I got it.

[PigFish]

I told myself I was going to check out of the loony bin (thread).

Ron made mention that my post was pretty vile… He is right, it is! Ron, if you are reading, I am not talking about you here mate! -LOL

I wrote it generally for a few reasons. This is an international site and not everyone sees things as I do. I understand that.

Communism to me, my grandparents fled central Europe, is one of the most vile, despicable religions on the planet. It is a creation of Lucifer himself (MHO). If I look back at dark age churches, pre-reformation religious institutions that were all powerful, anti-righteous, run by evil men that would discriminately kill in the name of God, that is what I think of communism!

So you understand, evil is not confined to communism. It is just a facet of it… I am certain that there are many acts of my government and my people that can be considered acts of evil as well…

However! Any comparison to me and my countrymen, to that disgusting state of human suffering known as communism, is likely the very worst insult that can cast upon me. It is my Achilles heel, that is for certain.

Anyone that wants to wish old Fidel happy birthday is okay with me. The thread is about his birthday. Your high spirits about Fidel are none of my business. I won't get in your way and these days I try to stay out of the way by spoiling the thread by running him and his 'state of death government,' down. There are plenty of spots on the site for that!!!

For some reason, for whatever the reason, when someone does not like Fidel or communism, my country gets dragged into it and run down the toilet! I read that "I" am just as bad!

This act of bringing my country into this, as a moral comparative, is what I wrote that post about. Yes, the vile post!

Like it or not, while it may be a surprise to some, FoH has a reputation as a group of anti-America types…

Look, I am not a believer in this. If it were true, I would bail from here. But several times, I have been approached by some previously solid contributing members who have said they just can't take the anti-American sentiment here anymore, and have split! That is awful. Awful for the people that believe it and awful for the site as a whole. (MHO)

Again, this is not my view of the site. But that analysis has been accurate at times depending on the ebb and flow of the active members. I used to leave the site for periods (these anti-American ebbs) rather than speak up about it. Now, I say something instead! Trash my country now and you will get a response!

So for those of you who love communism and Fidel, God bless you! You want to sing his praises, I will snicker (to myself) and move on. But If you are going to drop the bomb and tell me that my country is no better or even worse, then I am going to add your name to that vile post. I would like to be clear, that is what I think of you!

We all have to be responsible for what we post. I try my best not to run down my worldly neighbors but this site is about Cuba and Cuban cigars. If Rob tells me that the Cuban government is off the table here then so be it. If you want to praise Cuba and her government please do! But if you wish to express your hatred for America by dragging her into these conversation about Cuba as a means to deride my country and me, you will get an earful back!

This is not about ours verses yours, me verses you! It is about some simple courtesy to your American neighbors and friends. I don't speak for all of us certainly, but some of us are as annoyed as you are when our country gets run down. Please know, that comparing us to a tyrannical fear state, is one way to piss us off (some of us anyway)! I am asking you all nicely. Please consider our feelings as well when you want to make your points.

Cheers mates!

(sorry Rob!)

[CaptainQuintero]

Wait, so God is also a ghost and his own Son all at the same time?

I kid! I kid!

[PigFish]

Wait, so God is also a ghost and his own Son all at the same time?

I kid! I kid!

… don't joke about my God mate… I just can't take it…. -LOL

Cheers!

[cigcars]

Quite a few of us here in Kentucky don't have ill feelings about Fidel at all. The guy he replaced who was nick-named, "Batista The Butcher" is somebody about who we observe was indeed an American puppet who wouldn't have dreamed of going to the bathroom with out Uncle Sam's permission. I think to put it in perspective, any amount of "anti-American" sentiment that seems to appear here is actually NOT directed at the American people. The American people have always come through again and again to my humble observation as folks who truly care about other suffering people in the world, and donate time AND money to helping them when we can. The folks who are running the show here in the States are the ones who inspire such distaste and criticism. It is not our President who is truly in charge here; neither is it Congress or the Senate - it's the big business structure that's really in charge and running the show here. And THEY are the ones most of the rest of the world has, with great justification, condemned for the actions they've been behind. This will always be the case with folks in charge whose god is Money. Batista left his Cuban country open for the sugar industry to utilize at will, not leaving much left for food crops for the Cuban people, let alone what was there for the tobacco industry. And when Fidel took over he nationalized the country, kicked the big nationals out, used the country as he chose for the growing of food and so on - and it was the big business structure here that kept attempting to get him dead...so they could go back and do what they'd done before. If you want the truth, Ray, Cubano, and others I really don't think Fidel is a "Commie" so much as making the best POLITICAL move he could at the time, and enlist the aide of a "Feared Big Brother" in allying himself and his country with Russia. So from then on if the U.S. interests kept trying to kill him, "I'll get my big brother on you!" And it did create an umbrella shield somewhat in protecting him from more assassination foolishness, and more invasion attempts from our own "sainted leaders". My 2 cents.

[stigmata]

communism isnt the only form of exploitism.

Plenty of underdeveloped exploited countries around the world that arent communist

have a think about what exploits them.....

I think people are brainwashed on both sides

Maybe go read Platos cave and youll get a sense of reality..... and whats happened to people

Wasnt too long ago the West was supporting ISIS or the ISlamic State as Freedom fighters in Syria...

Like i said Cuba for the Cubans...

But you have to admit the blockade says it all......!!!...

Not good for the cubans but i suppose good for Cuban Habanos smokers.

[PigFish]

Quite a few of us here in Kentucky don't have ill feelings about Fidel at all. The guy he replaced who was nick-named, "Batista The Butcher" is somebody about who we observe was indeed an American puppet who wouldn't have dreamed of going to the bathroom with out Uncle Sam's permission. I think to put it in perspective, any amount of "anti-American" sentiment that seems to appear here is actually NOT directed at the American people. The American people have always come through again and again to my humble observation as folks who truly care about other suffering people in the world, and donate time AND money to helping them when we can. The folks who are running the show here in the States are the ones who inspire such distaste and criticism. It is not our President who is truly in charge here; neither is it Congress or the Senate - it's the big business structure that's really in charge and running the show here. And THEY are the ones most of the rest of the world has, with great justification, condemned for the actions they've been behind. This will always be the case with folks in charge whose god is Money. Batista left his Cuban country open for the sugar industry to utilize at will, not leaving much left for food crops for the Cuban people, let alone what was there for the tobacco industry. And when Fidel took over he nationalized the country, kicked the big nationals out, used the country as he chose for the growing of food and so on - and it was the big business structure here that kept attempting to get him dead...so they could go back and do what they'd done before. If you want the truth, Ray, Cubano, and others I really don't think Fidel is a "Commie" so much as making the best POLITICAL move he could at the time, and enlist the aide of a "Feared Big Brother" in allying himself and his country with Russia. So from then on if the U.S. interests kept trying to kill him, "I'll get my big brother on you!" And it did create an umbrella shield somewhat in protecting him from more assassination foolishness, and more invasion attempts from our own "sainted leaders". My 2 cents.

Hi Janet,

Ivan Philipovich Ivanov, staff propagandist of the Manturovsk District of the Young Communist League in the Kursk Region of the U.S.S.R., addressed a letter to Comrade Stalin requesting his opinion on the question of the final victory of Socialism in the Soviet Union.

These are passages from the exchange:

Please, Comrade Stalin, will you explain whether we have the final victory of Socialism yet or not, Perhaps there is additional contemporary material on this question connected with recent changes that I have not come across yet. Also I think that Urozhenko's statement that Comrade Stalin's works on this question are somewhat out of date is an anti-Bolshevik one.

Are the leading workers of the Regional Committee right in counting me as a Trotskyist? I feel very much hurt and offended over this.

I hope, Comrade Stalin, that you will grant my request and reply to the Manturovsk District, Kursk Region, First Zasemsky Village Soviet, Ivan Philipovich Ivanov.

Stalin to Ivanov (abridged)

The first side of the question of the victory of Socialism in our country embraces the problem of the mutual relations between classes in our country. This concerns the sphere of internal relations.

Can the working class of our country overcome the contradictions with our peasantry and establish an alliance, collaboration with them?

Can the victorious Socialism of one country, which is encircled by many strong capitalist countries, regard itself as being fully guaranteed against the danger of military invasion, and hence, against attempts to restore capitalism in our country?

Can our working class and our peasantry, by their own efforts, without the serious assistance of the working class in capitalist countries, overcome the bourgeoisie of other countries in the same way as we overcame our own bourgeoisie?

In other words:

Can we regard the victory of Socialism in our country as final, i.e., as being free from the dangers of military attack and of attempts to restore capitalism, assuming that Socialism is victorious only in one country and that the capitalist encirclement continues to exist?

Such are the problems that are connected with the second side of the question of the victory of Socialism in our country.

Leninism answers these problems in the negative.

Leninism teaches that "the final victory of Socialism, in the sense of full guarantee against the restoration of bourgeois relations, is possible only on an international scale" (c.f. resolution of the Fourteenth Conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union).

This is what Lenin says on this score :

"We are living not merely in a State but in a system of States, and it is inconceivable that the Soviet Republic should continue to coexist for a long period side by side with imperialist States. Ultimately one or other must conquer. Meanwhile, a number of terrible clashes between the Soviet Republic and the bourgeois States is inevitable. This means that if the proletariat, as the ruling class, wants to and will rule, it must prove this also by military organization." (Collected Works, Vol. 24. P. 122.)

(My words)

It has been proven empirically by history at the end of WWII that the US, in victory over the Axis powers (with her allies), at her prime advantage if world domination was her goal, the single country able to harness the power of the atom bomb, that we were in fact, not a threat to the Soviet Union.

How then do you combat such delusional beliefs such as those held by Marxist-Leninists? The answer; with the massive expansive military readiness and defenses based on beliefs initiated by that very realm. Unfortunately…

So my question to you Janet is this. Do you understand what communism is? Perhaps you don’t care! I can understand that fully!

I don’t buy into your opinion that Castro was an accidental communist, linked to the Soviets by happenstance! There are those, accidental communist, for certain. There are those, the likes of factory workers with little hope for the future, the poor, the ignorant, the college students eager to find a means to create an egalitarian society, they may be accidental communists. There are academic communists, the dialectic interpreters, wishful thinkers, the Utopians, the armchair communists, the ones that won’t pick up a rifle and kill you over your differing beliefs… yes, they exist. Those are some of the first that are arrested and mass murdered by radical communists (the non-accidental variety) in a communist revolution. Some of the more passive, mainstream players, the peaceful ones, are the very first to be called traitors and shot in the head! That is communism!

So to answer just one of your points, Castro, a radical revolutionary, a Marxist-Leninist, through and through… is no accidental communist!

It is the stated position as such (Marxist-Leninists) to engage in any and all means to overthrow capitalist regimes. Castro proved this by (from Wiki) support(ing) foreign revolutionary groups in the hope of toppling world capitalism, also sending Cuban troops to aid leftist allies in the Yom Kippur War, Ogaden War, and Angolan Civil War.

The accidental communist is generally a victim. Those that believe(d) in the cause on Isla Cuba for example; the pawns, the regular people, the ones that still live in a state of inequality, they may very well be accidental communists!

Castro has had 50 years to return the land, the wealth, the entirety of Cuba to her people. Why has he not given the country back? He never will, it never was part of the plan! The radicals are in it for all they can get. Most can't make it in the free world, so they kill and steal it! And frankly, the free world as a whole will never be enough for them! (MHO)

You see as long as a capitalist state exists, a communist state is not complete! The truth of the matter can be found by reading their own writing… in their own words so to speak! They are the biggest, worst, "corporations" in the world. They don't sue you, sell you crappy products that break, influence elections, they are the elections! You do what you are told to do at the point of a gun. You live in fear, they bug your home, and influence your children to report you! You break the line, at best you go to prison, or they just shoot you!

​If any of the aforementioned appeared to be condescending, it was not intentional…

Cheers! -Ray

[Piligrim]

It's not always a fear. When I was a kid I lived in Soviet Union and there was only one thing most of people scared of. It was next world war, because of propaganda. Yeah, we were poor, it was difficult to buy something, but we were happy enough. As for me, Communism is not good: you can't trip abroad, you can't be a rich, but there are plenty of people who want Soviet Union is back

[laficion]

Ray, from what I saw and heard In Cuba In the 4 times over there was,they DON'T hate Americans,they LOVE them, what

they don't like Is the goverment .

Guy !!!!

[stigmata]

Problem with saying Castro had 50 years to return Cuba to the Cubans.. is he may have created a haiti...

the USA has declared 'war' on Cuba and put it on the defensive not allowing it to catch a breath since that revolution.

Bay of Pigs

The sanctions

Numerous attempts on Castros life

[stigmata]

Oh the other thing is living in the USA or the west is not an Utopian Oasis for many people.That number and percentage of people is growing by the day.

There is no right or wrong

And there is no Evil or Good.

Things are what they are.... because we allow them

To believe these things is merely how much you have bought in to how much effort has been placed into brainwashing....

Clearly its done an excellent job on alot of people.

I think the West is much more sophisticated in how it brainwashes than say Castro is

[CUBANO]

Quite a few of us here in Kentucky don't have ill feelings about Fidel at all. The guy he replaced who was nick-named, "Batista The Butcher" is somebody about who we observe was indeed an American puppet who wouldn't have dreamed of going to the bathroom with out Uncle Sam's permission. I think to put it in perspective, any amount of "anti-American" sentiment that seems to appear here is actually NOT directed at the American people. The American people have always come through again and again to my humble observation as folks who truly care about other suffering people in the world, and donate time AND money to helping them when we can. The folks who are running the show here in the States are the ones who inspire such distaste and criticism. It is not our President who is truly in charge here; neither is it Congress or the Senate - it's the big business structure that's really in charge and running the show here. And THEY are the ones most of the rest of the world has, with great justification, condemned for the actions they've been behind. This will always be the case with folks in charge whose god is Money. Batista left his Cuban country open for the sugar industry to utilize at will, not leaving much left for food crops for the Cuban people, let alone what was there for the tobacco industry. And when Fidel took over he nationalized the country, kicked the big nationals out, used the country as he chose for the growing of food and so on - and it was the big business structure here that kept attempting to get him dead...so they could go back and do what they'd done before. If you want the truth, Ray, Cubano, and others I really don't think Fidel is a "Commie" so much as making the best POLITICAL move he could at the time, and enlist the aide of a "Feared Big Brother" in allying himself and his country with Russia. So from then on if the U.S. interests kept trying to kill him, "I'll get my big brother on you!" And it did create an umbrella shield somewhat in protecting him from more assassination foolishness, and more invasion attempts from our own "sainted leaders". My 2 cents.

Young Lady,

Castro aligned himself with Russia because he is a communist and wanted to be in power for life, and he did. Fidel was also a puppet of the Soviet Union just like you say Batista was of the U.S. and he tried to spread his communist beliefs in Ethiopia, Angola were he commited many attrocities that nobody talks about.

He then turned to Latin America, in Nicaragua, helping Ortega get to power, as well Chavez in Venezuela, and to some extent in Ecuador with Corrales, Bolivia with Morales, and tried in Honduras with Zelaya, but was not successful.

He has had 55 yrs of controling the food, and crop industry after nationalization, and Cuba produces less food,and products then before nationalization. Do you know that Cuba has to import sugar, which was the biggest exported product.

Again, when my father and thousands of other Cubans,where forced to hard labor cutting sugar cane, because he wanted to leave the country and have a better future for him and his family, and when you cannot get on a plane when you want to go see the birth of your grandaughter. That is communism

[PigFish]

What is Utopia?

Utopia is misused to lead people to believe it has universal usage. Utopia is a fictional place, a creation of Thomas More, it is what would be considered a completed socialist/communist regime, neglecting all the killing and violence it took to get it there! Please read it… It is not in any way capitalist! There is no capitalist Utopia, it is wholly socialist/communist in nature! Utopia is anti-capitalist.

Frankly I have no time for pro-socialist propaganda… My previous post is history and facts as well as my opinion, I get back parallelism, rationale, and some poorly formed personal opinions, not that you are not entitled to them. I am speaking generally…

One can make a statement that governments are inherently evil and I will agree. Even communists don’t like anarchy! Anarchy is the worst thing for them, unless they ultimately come to power from the chaos that it brings. They will use it as a tool… read Marx… Read, “Rules for Radicals.” Most of all read Lenin. The **** will scare you, or it should!

The communist will promise anything to anyone to come to power. They are the ultimate, modern day ‘colonialist.’ If you enjoy any aspect of freedom, to advocate any form of communism makes you ignorant at best. (MHO)

Academic communist are the best of the lot, you can read my opinion of them in the, “Vile Post.” Academics are typically some of the first to go when the shooting starts by the way!!! You see they don’t like when the schools are locked down, the kids are conscribed and some of their books are burned. Express it openly, your goose is cooked.

I simply won’t bother to argue point for point. I cannot make excuses for mankind’s behavior. If you wish to follow comrade Castro, please, be my guest. But if you come here with your poorly formed opinions and bolster it with ignorance of, or purposeful neglect of history to pitch your propaganda, I will simply pull up more quotes from those lovely fathers of communism for you all to read. That is, if I wish to waste more of my time!

I don’t post here to insult or even convince those with differing opinions! Communism is a war of ideas as well as one of violence… Read about it yourself. I represent an opposing view. Some people out there may want the facts of the matter, so I post them.

Think of 100,000,000 dead Chinese… Starved to death, in a test of collective farming. Besides brushing the issue aside, what does the communist sycophant say to that??? Ooops!

Mr./Ms Stigmata did you read any of the previous post. Castro had the resources to take troops and or aid to fight for communism in other countries. Communists, by charter have declared war on the free world… They are revolutionary colonialists! They wish to colonize, implant and supplant existing, even peaceful prosperous governments with themselves. Please read about who and what they are… You may wish to reassess you advocacy. To put it kindly, you are embarrassing yourself!

I am done with this thread!

Glad to see you are feeling better and posting more Guy!

Happy birthday Comrade Castro!

Cheers! -Piggy

[laficion]

Thank you Ray.

Your friend,

Guy