Reflections on Political Violence

January 10, 2011

When Mumtaz Qadri shot Pakistani politician Salman Taseer, he didn't even bother to offer an excuse.

By Christopher Hitchens 

"The best political speech I ever heard was delivered by the late Paul Foot, scion of one of England's great radical and socialist families, at the Oxford Union in the late 1960s. The motion before the house was in favor of the African National Congress and its decision to renew "armed struggle" against the white supremacist regime in South Africa." 
Read more (Slate)

37 comments:

FGFM said...

Good thing that that sort of stuff doesn't happen in the US.

Anonymous said...

The resonate statement from this one is:

Those who advocate violence are assuming a great burden of responsibility.

I see it from the Left and the Right, but Palin's PAC target graphic, and Gifford just months earlier addressing this specific (dare I say) "threat" is telling.

Anonymous said...

Palin had not a damn thing to do with Giffords' shooting. Per his friend Tierney in a Mother Jones interview, and the AP, Loughner was a 911 truther who hated Bush, and had been fixated on Giffords since at least 2007. Oh, and not that it matters, but Loughner was also a non-believer.

CBS has also debunked any association with "hate groups."

Seriously, get over blaming Palin and Glen Beck. There is absolutely no evidence to back you up, and you look stupid. He is simply a total nutcase who was allowed to slip through the cracks.

James said...

It is unfortunate that critical analysis of rhetoric from the likes of Palin and Beck seems to begin and end with whether they bear any responsibility for the tragedy in Arizona. It would be a major step forward in political discourse if everything they said was fact checked with equal vigor.

I think there's plenty of blame to spread around for society's problems, from exploitative media to do-nothing politicians and the apathetic electorate that put them in office again and again.

Being able to point a finger elsewhere doesn't absolve one of his or her own role in the world's ills, or the responsibility for putting it right. On that count, the diarrheal rhetoric of Beck and Palin should be reconsidered, by them and by the people that listen to them.

FGFM said...

"Seriously, get over blaming Palin and Glen [sic] Beck."

After all, Beck hates Michael Moore just like Hitchens does!

---

Would you kill someone for that?...I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore...I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it,...No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out. Is this wrong? I stopped wearing my What Would Jesus — band — Do, and I've lost all sense of right and wrong now. I used to be able to say, "Yeah, I'd kill Michael Moore," and then I'd see the little band: What Would Jesus Do? And then I'd realize, "Oh, you wouldn't kill Michael Moore. Or at least you wouldn't choke him to death." And you know, well, I'm not sure.

1st Lt L Diablo said...

I think Hitchens' reference to LA Historia... is a little stupid, mainly because he tries to minimize it and relegate it to some corner of the room wherein 'real' revolutionaries like Paine and Jefferson have their missives shelved.

History Will Absolve Me is erudite, ethical, and inspiring not only in retrospect, but was so in real time for the bourgeoning/wounded M-26-7. It's as good a piece of writing as anything Paine and Jefferson wrote and all the more so as it was from prison. Castro had all the landed gentry privileges that the Founders had, giving his willingness to give them up for a social revolution the same moral weight (although merely returning to the democratic and pluralistic society Cuba had before the 'Sergeants Rebellion' of Batista was arguably in his mind in 1953/4). That is to say, his willingness to actually fight in the Moncada attacks, later take responsibility for its failure, and lampoon the dictatorship of Batista in the (kangaroo) courtroom when torture and murder was a likely result puts him on a moral footing even (or slightly higher) than Hitchens' (and my) heros in Paine and Jefferson.

Frankly, Castro had more to lose, put more on the line, actually fought in battles (including Playa Giron) and had the balls to not be obsequious in Batista's courtroom and prison (which is where/when La Historia was actually first heard-- only later was it put in book form for us to read)-- making History Will Absolve Me a much more magnificent bit of revolutionary literature than for which he is given credit.

Lastly, the revolution itself has created a much larger tableau of social justice than the American Revolution is the following is considered:

1. Slavery existed after and was inscribed in the Revolutionary Constitution; along with barring women's suffrage

2. The native population was systematically exterminated by Jefferson (and others before and since)

3. The mere forms of democracy are clearly bought and paid for by the Capitalist class, and some of the founders knew this would happen and let it with the liberalization/plasticity of the document itself. We live in an oligarchy know and this is not the accident of democracy but its natural result.

4. Cuba never engaged in genocide, never allowed slavery, incorporated women into the political class from day one, eliminated the ability for the monied class to buy the judiciary, legislative and executive branches (which they are bought and paid for here in the US), and subsequently eliminated illiteracy, abject poverty (by regional standards), and have a better human rights record than (Texas) so-called democracies in the region (e.g., Columbia). Further, Cuba helped fight Apartheid not buttress it like the US did.

Hitchens is correct on many many things-- but being a millionaire has skewed his ideas of what constitutes real democracy and the mere illusion of it.

1st Lt L Diablo said...

cont...

1. Slavery existed after and was inscribed in the Revolutionary US Constitution; along with barring women's suffrage (Has it ever been moral to own people; or deny women basic rights? How can a human being not know this is wrong-- no matter the milieu? It is innate to us IMHO).

2. The native population was systematically exterminated by Jefferson (and others before and since). Again, this is the sine qua non of a universal and categorical evil regardless of age and custom.

3. The mere forms of democracy are clearly bought and paid for by the Capitalist class, and some of the founders knew this would happen and let it happen with the liberalization/plasticity of the document itself. We live in an oligarchy now and this is not the 'accident' or 'messiness' of democracy but its natural result (a result palatable to the monied class to be sure-- but not to Castro, or many of us who don't have a million dollars).

4. Cuba never engaged in genocide, never allowed slavery, incorporated blacks and women into the political class from day one in direct contrast to pre revolutionary Cuba, and eliminated the legal ability for the monied class to buy the judiciary, legislative and executive branches (unlike here in the US), and subsequently eliminated illiteracy, abject poverty (by regional standards), and have a better human rights record than (Texas) so-called democracies in the region (e.g., Columbia).

At home Cuba provides free university education, free health care, and a standard of living higher for more of the population than pre 1959. The US still lets 40k+ people die every year due to lack of socialized health-care and our educational levels are sinister for two reasons: college costs a shit-load, and Americans are getting dumber every year by every standard employed to measure these things.

Further, Cuba helped fight Apartheid (militarily) not buttress it like the US did; and sends thousands of doctors around the world to help the poor with no strings attached (unlike the IMF, and World Bank who extort 'austerity' programs from the 3rd world in exchange for funds-- and then fleece the 'beneficiary' of those funds through 'free trade' etc [see: Jonathan Perkins]).

Hitchens is correct on many many things-- but being a millionaire has skewed his ideas of what constitutes real democracy and the mere illusion of it; sweeping justice and justice for the favored class...

Anonymous said...

Cuba is a pile of shit thanks to Castro. They've just cut the ration for soap for goodness sake. And if I hear one more time how great their health care system is I'm going to puke.

Anonymous said...

Someone got spoofed, what a fine listed crock of shit ye have there ... /\-/\

1st Lt L Diablo said...

Well, poor is one thing, and evil is another-- but rich people usually don't see the distinction.

Cuba is poor, but they fought AGAINST apartheid, and the US supported it. That is a fact. The do have universal healthcare and while poor and not up to first world standards everyone can access it; unlike the US which rations healthcare based upon ability to pay; so around 50,000 of us die every year due to lack of care. This is a fact.

And our revolution was great and noble and I love Paine and Jefferson too, but that revolution enshrined slavery and white/male suffrage exclusively so that is hardly morally superior to Cuban communism and Castro's vision regardless of what you think of communism writ large. Cuba is a lot of (bad) things-- but it is no slave sate that only lets white guys vote (and yes they have elections so stop right there you right-wing idiots). And human rights reports place Cuba as better than many US client states (e.g., Columbia) and they don't execute children like Texas, so again I have facts and you (anonymous) jingoists have mere rhetoric. I like my epistemology better... maybe because I am better. lol.

Plus, La Historia, is a really great speech/book for all the reasons I outlined; and Hitchens is wrong (morally and in a literary manner) on the book.

But feel free to just hate Cuba and Castro all you like (you have 2 MINUTES).

1st Lt L Diablo said...

And you assume pre-revolutionary Cuba was better under Batista-- well, you must have been a sailor their on leave getting sex-slaves to give it a yank... or maybe you were a mob boss escaping racketeering laws... or maybe an asshole of no special designation that likes to party in a 3rd world dictatorship while the local population starves, lives in shanty towns, and is illiterate, diseased and treated like garbage (or murdered by the police for daring to challenge this state off affairs). Hey at least they had killer Mojitos!

I wonder why people think it is ethical to prefer that kind of nightmare of nihilistic-capitalism, racism, abject poverty (the kind of poverty unknown to you effete wankers I can assure you- and "soap" isn't the half of it you bourgeois little worms) , and proxy-state criminality...

I have no patience for faggy little white-boys [Hitchens included here I'm afraid] who think Cuba is "ruined" by Castro and the revolution-- as if one could ruin a country as evil and subjected as pre- 1959 Cuba. Only a rich little turd and insular, moronic American could even suggest such a thing when the life expectancy of the average Cuba was 59 in 1958 and is 73+ now. I have facts-- you have squat. SQUAT!

Lock & load...

Anonymous said...

Here's Che's grandkid, courtesy of the Miami Herald in 2008...

I remember an interview I did in Havana with Che Guevara's grandson, Canek Sánchez Guevara, in 1991, when the latter was a heavy metal rock musician in his late teens. Canek, who later emigrated to Mexico, was -- like many Cubans of his age -- very critical of the Cuban revolution.

''This revolution is in ruins,'' he told me. ``There is no food, there's no freedom. People say it's all because of the Yanqui aggression, but that's a myth, as real as dragons and witches, a children's tale.''

There was nothing for young people to do in Cuba, Canek told me. He was studying graphic design at an arts high school but considered it a waste of time.

''There's no paper, no pens and no interest on the part of the teachers to do anything,'' he said. ``And if you graduate, there is no work in your field. They'll ask you to go to the countryside and work in agriculture. This place is hopeless.''

When I asked him what Che Guevara would think of him if he were alive, the Cuban hero's grandson said that ``he would be proud of me. Che Guevara was a rebel. He never would have approved of what has become of this revolution.''

And things haven't changed much in recent years. Not surprisingly, every reporter who travels to Cuba comes back with the same impression: It's a country suspended in time, waiting -- so far in vain -- for something to change.

The part of Che Guevara's family that I met in Cuba is typical of today's generational divide on the island. Older Cubans tend to support the revolution -- they have invested their lives in it -- while middle-aged Cubans tend to be moderately critical of it, and most of the younger ones are against it. As one youngster told me in Havana, ``this revolution has become an institution.''

Cuba's state of hopelessness may be one of the factors leading to the island's high suicide rate of 24.8 per 100,000 people. Cuba had Latin America's highest suicide rate earlier this decade, and this year ranked fourth in the region, behind Guyana, Uruguay and Trinidad and Tobago, according to World Health Organization figures.

Anonymous said...

Many Castro apologists try to justify the poverty in Cuba saying that you can find the same poverty in many other countries. But what these people do not say is that those other countries didn't have to suffer a revolution that caused tens of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, the loss of all liberties, and that supposedly was needed in order to improve the life of ALL citizens. After more than 47 years, there is much more poverty in Cuba than ever before. Except for Castro and his gang who are the new millionaires, the 11 million Cubans have to suffer the exploitation of the omnipotent state, rationed food, lack of housing and the indignity of being second class citizens in their own country.

Laker said...

Glenn Beck is a fear-mongering, delusional person whose hope-filled rants about the collapse of civilization and the imminent return of the Mormon God to planet earth pollute the feeble-minds of his faithful audience. Sarah Palin has used Beck to promote her political career and now it has backfired on her. She deserves all the blame she gets.

1st Lt L Diablo said...

anecdotal evidence from the cheap seats.... why am I not surprised. i adore you right-wingers and your total lack of scientific epistemology. it is refreshing to see how you avoid all my points...

1. Who helped fight against apartheid and colonialism in Africa/Latin America (Hint : Cuba)- and who supported those racist, colonial regimes? (Hint: US)

2. Who has universal healthcare (Hint: Cuba) and who still has for-profit healthcare that kills 40,ooo+ people every year? (Hint: US)

3. Who had their life expectancy jump from 59 to 73+ in 50 years? (Hint: Cuba)

4. Which country tortures? (Hint: Bush admitted to waterboarding-- a war crime; and he is not prosecuted which is another war crime committed by Obama)

5. Which country has the higher gross and relative population of its citizens in prison? (Hint: the US).

These are FACTS. Do facts matter to the Right? No, they never have... it's all emotion and feelings with you right-wing dorks... cowboy up boys; your feelings are irrelevant.

Anonymous said...

Cuba had one of the highest literacy rates and standards of living in Latin America BEFORE the revolution. Besides, who gives a crap about literacy when you're dealing with a society that imprisons people for thought crime and speech.

When the Soviet Union fell in 1989, the food ration fell to such a low point that the average Cuban lost 10 lbs. Castro had to implement a program simular to Lenin's NEP in order to feed the population with timy vegetable plots. Cuba is nothing but a Potempkin economy ruled over by a bloodthirsty totalitarian pig. The average Cuban makes about $20 a month, so it hardly makes any difference that the population has just recently joined the 21st century with cell phones and pcs--no one can afford them.

I can only imagine what a great country Cuba would now be if Castro never happened.

Anonymous said...

Cuba is littered with gold!

1st Lt L Diablo said...

I love how when I talk about justice, solidarity with other colonial nations, elimination of illiteracy, etc.. you twits speak of gold.

I know this is difficult for you bourgeois slaves to get-- but poverty is not tantamount to some moral failing.

Cuba is poor; but look at what they do with their resources: the send more doctors to the 3rd world than any other country in the world; they make sure each citizen can go to university and the hospital/doctor for free; they send 500,000 troops to Angola to fight the racist apartheid regime while the US propped that neo-Nazi group up. While the US lets 40,000 of its people die from lack of healthcare just cuz they are poor; while the US imprisons more people per capita than any country in the world! We have more people in jail in the land of the free than anyone you tool... more than Cuba so now please talk to me about money some more you shallow little men.

Lastly, I love how on a Hitchens thread someone actually said that literacy was unimportant! HA! What a bunch of stockbrokers! Literacy is the most important thing for it allows us to be human-- without literacy we are mere beasts, and to pretend it is unimportant that pre-revolutionary Cuba had 30-40% illiteracy and now has eliminated it is outrageous. Maybe because America is becoming more and more illiterate there is a bit of sour grapes going on here... lol.

Rich & Bourgeois said...

Diablo, I'm not sure you actually know what epistemology means. And Lord knows what you mean by "scientific epistemology". And that's the least of your problems. I salute your vulgar passion, but, frankly, you're in a complete muddle,

FGFM said...

The average Cuban makes about $20 a month, so it hardly makes any difference that the population has just recently joined the 21st century with cell phones and pcs--no one can afford them.

That's not true, I see plenty of Cuban hookers online.

1st Lt L Diablo said...

how we know what we know. that is all i mean and there is the scientific method and there is irrational nonsense (e.g., religion, pseudo-science, et.al.)-- i choose the scientific method... so that is what i mean-- savvy?

i'm sure i make all manner of mistakes in my little rants-- but your insistence that I don't know what epistemology is is kinda weird. i hope my first paragraph settles it...

but i am more and more convinced that most people (maybe all of us) are almost incapable of assimilating any info that contradicts our already established beliefs. maybe this is why i confuse you so.... and you baffle me... lol.

Anonymous said...

What's so confusing about the fact that Cubans are not allowed to leave without permission?

Says it all to me.

We certainly don't have poor people from south Florida trying to boat themselves into Cuba, now do we?

1st Lt L Diablo said...

That is a good point-- but it begs the question: Why can't US citizens travel to Cuba?

Oh, snap!

I got you there smart guy. So, it seems as though both countries have travel restrictions. I guess we may have to ask some more questions.

First, is any country really a reflection of their revolutionary ideals? Do they (we) all fall short of our promises? But my point last week was this:

History Will Absolve Me is a grand piece of political writing, crafted by a sincere and righteous revolutionary in my opinion. Castro was no less sincere than Jefferson or Paine in my opinion, by Hitchens lauds them and condemns Castro-- and I think it is a mistake.

I think that all people are a mixed bag, and all countries. But facts are facts: and the US officially tortures people, lets 40,000 people die a year just to make a buck off of the health care industry, has the most people in prison-- more than any country in the world (per capita and total number), and has been on the unethical side of conflicts from Vietnam, Indonesia/East Timor, all of Central America, and vis-a-vis Apartheid-- and it has sponsored terror attacks against Cuba (killing around 3,000 people).

What has Cuba done to match this level of evil? Has Cuba dropped a nuclear bomb on a civilian population like the US has? Has post revolutionary Cuba had slavery or jim Crow, or executed children; has it invaded the US (like the US did at Playa Giron)? Has it tortured suspects and bragged about it with impunity like Bush/Cheney?

Sure, it has policies that are anti-democratic and even totalitarian-- but so does the US (we live in a police state if you are poor or brown-- look at our prisons white boy) and yet, we seem able to make allowances for our country but not theirs. Why is that? Especially since US crimes are 100 times worse than Cuba's. They at least care enough about their citizens to educate them for free and provide free healthcare. At least they care enough about the 3rd world to send doctors for free instead of Special Forces detachments to hit 'soft-targets' and clear the way for US corporate hegemony.

Try to be objective if you even know what that shit means...

Anonymous said...

You're just mouthing the same bizarre Cuba talking points that I hear from every creepy little neo- marxist college student that sets up a table at the student union.

You deplore Gitmo, but don't
t say a word about Fidel's horrid prisons for political prisoners just across the fense.

And to say that both countries have travel restrictions is a complete joke. The Castro brothers have to keep those 11 million Cubans penned in like lab rats, because if the people ever knew what life was really like outside their island prison, you'd have a mass exodus towards the beach.

Just compare the lifestyle of those one million Cuban exiles in the States to that of their fellow countrymen at home.

Yeah, they had a revolution in 1959, and it was betrayed by Castro. He had the support of thousands of educated, progressive thinking individuals who were assured that he was not a communist. Lots of those folks ended up in front of a firing squad on national TV--without a trial.

If Cuba had instead had an American style revolution, the country would now be the most prosperous in Latin America, considering its close ties and proximity to the US.

Instead, it is the Marxist hell hole it is today.

Thank You Fidel! You ex-cigar chomping murderous bastard.

1st Lt L Diablo said...

I guess expecting you to address any of my actual points (e.g., the US prison population; torture; et.al.) would be too much for your unethical little brain...

Fine.

For the record, I am no Marxist. I am nothing politically-- although I do lean far left on many issues, I am not with any Leftist group as I think they are all proto-fascists. And yes, I think doctrinaire Communists are evil fucks. But FACTS ARE FACTS and Cuba has done some very moral things since the revolution including all the shit I listed ad nauseum (e.g., send 500k troops to Angola to help end Apartheid; provide free health care for all; free university for all; free doctors around the world, et.al.) so its hard to credibly continue to say Cuba is evil and Castro is scum blah blah if these facts are true. Especially juxtaposed with the incessant criminal activity of the US (e.g., supporting Apartheid, torturing people with blase aplomb, refusing health care to the poor [killing 40k+ annually]; locking up more people than any country in the world [mostly non-whites], having a infant mortality rate higher than Cuba's BTW, et.al.).

Either facts matter or they don't. I submit they do. And thus Cuba can be very moral in many ways AND be very poor and have some Draconian/Totalitarian policies [which could be understood from the vantage point that they have lost 3,000 people due to US terror attacks-- which would be equal to us losing 300,000 people to similar campaigns; imagine our response if you can muster the brain power). So, it's a mixed bag. But you twits ignore all the good they have done because you are insane and tendentious little worms with the morals of a stockborker.

Conversely, the US can be very free (if you're rich and white) in may way and very wealthy for many people (see: rich, white) AND be a murderous and evil fucker abroad while creating zones of fascism internally to control the poor and non-white populations (see: prison population demographics). Savvy? I bet your head is about to explode from all this huh? Just go watch some more FOX News.... never-you-mind.

HJ said...

Oh Jeez, LT Diablo! Do you write for Hitchens Watch? You seem to be using similar logic to them. It is, when all else fails claim that two completely different things are exactly the same.]

Cuba imprisons its people on their island and the US has travel restrictions on its own citizens going to Cuba. This means the two situations are exactly the same. And, according to leftist logic given the fact that the two situations are exactly the same the US is actually worse than Cuba. Doesn't make sense! I hear you cry. Well, in Lefty-Ville it all makes perfect sense. Just read Noam Chomsky, he spent a whole lifetime making these kinds of illogical equations.

Anonymous said...

Diablo: you are misusing "to beg the question".

1st Lt L Diablo said...

First of all I was literally saying that the point vis-a-vis travel restrictions in Cuba demand we ask about US travel restrictions. It was not a reference to the logical fallacy you fatuously think I was misusing. SO, try to use your anonymous brain and re-read the paragraph.

Next HJ-- I never equated US travel restrictions and Cuban prison populations. I juxtaposed Cuban travel restrictions and US travel restrictions. Then I juxtaposed US prison populations and the prison populations of every other country on earth. Duh.

Lastly, I am eager to admit the failings of Cuba-- they are easy to find-- but I am not willing to overlook the moral policies they have effected. This is the sine qua non of objective and honest intellectual inquiry. I think that the US does many many moral and democratic things at home and abroad and I actually agree with Hitchens vis-a-vis Iraq (except the ethics of the actual people involved-- I think they are evil fux, but Saddam did need taken out so...I'm on the side of invasion); we have a great deal of internal freedom that I personally benefit from. OK?

However, we also treat poor brown people like shit in this country (and abroad) and this is empirical HJ. So let's do a little experiment to see if you are honest and sane. Why are there 2.3 million people in prison in the US and why are the demographics skewed so heavily toward the non-white and poor population? Second, why could Cuba send troops to fight African colonialism and South African Apartheid and the US could not?

1st Lt L Diablo said...

cont...

Why can poor Cuba educate and medically treat its citizens for free and the wealthy US cannot (thus letting so many of us die as a result)?

Why is it that the US can sell arms to Saudi Arabia which won't even let women drive or vote-- but blockades Cuba for daring to show some independence?

Why does the US torture people? Has Cuba been accused or bragged of torturing?

And Frankly, throwing me in with Chomsky is no insult; I just happen to have the intellectual independence to see when Chomsky is correct and when Hitchens is (when they disagree). You show no such facility. Hitchens is right onmaythings that Chomsky is wrong on-- but his attack on La Historia is stupid and wrong and based upon his faggy little umbrage of having his passport confiscated in '68. Cuba was and is at war-- the US still sponsors terror against the island (Cuba has lost 3,000 people due to terrorism-- equal to 300,000 Americans; again I ask: what would our response be-- marital fucking law and you know it). So, I'm sorry if Hitchens doesn't like his little rights trampled but when a nation is under attack some liberties get suspended (see: Habeas Corpus in the US lately dimwit?). Grow the fuck up. Lock and Load ...

Unknown said...

What does "faggy" mean?

HJ said...

LT Diablo you seem to be a member of the illiterati if these statements are anything to go by:

I never equated US travel restrictions and Cuban prison populations. I juxtaposed Cuban travel restrictions and US travel restrictions. Then I juxtaposed US prison populations and the prison populations of every other country on earth. Duh.



I was pointing out that EVERYONE on Cuba is a prisoner of Castro because they can't legally leave. Yet many of them that do are off in a flash over to the USA. The US has some travel restrictions (going to some Communist countires for example) but that is nothing like Cuba's and even when Americans do travel abroad they most often go back again. Cubans don't. Wonder why?

You're also mighty tin-eared to so unfortunately...er...juxtapose these statements.

Grow the fuck up. Lock and Load ...



Nobody with an ounce of maturity who wanted to be taken seriously would sign off with "Lock and Load" in an Internet discussion after telling their interlocuter to "Grow the fuck up." But then you do call yourself LT El Diablo, so not much in the way of maturity was expected to be forthcoming. Somehow even after telegraphing that we shouldn't expect anything bright from you you have outdone yourself by appearing fully fit to perform in the Dim Chorus.

Who uses the term "juxtapose" anyway?

Anonymous said...

You have a problem with freedom, not the US.

The poorest of the poor in the US are much wealthier than most Cubans. They are given healthcare--the country has spent billions if not trillions on medicaid, social security disability, public health etc. And we have universal, free public education until the age of 18. After that, there are Pell grants, financial aid and student loans.

The difference between the US and Cuba is that we don't force people to take advantage of it. And poor people in the US are not forced to work cutting sugar cane...

FGFM said...

"The poorest of the poor in the US are much wealthier than most Cubans."

Five'll get you ten.

Study finds median wealth for single black women at $5

"And we have universal, free public education until the age of 18."

And it's worth every penny!

Detroit students notch lowest math scores in history of standardized test

Anonymous said...

Ya know, you have a point. Maybe if we went into Detroit public schools, and told the children that if they didn't study hard, they'd be sent to "re-education" camp, then have to spend the rest of their lives living in a shack without electricity, with nothing to eat but beans and rice, and cut sugar cane for $1 a day they might be more motivated. We've tried everything else, why not the Castro method.

As for that article about "wealth"--there are plenty of people driving BMWs and living in McMansions who have a net worth of $5--means nothing.

FGFM said...

We've tried everything else, why not the Castro method. [sic]

Well, life expectancy is somewhat higher in Cuba than the US. You can look it up!

As for that article about "wealth"--there are plenty of people driving BMWs and living in McMansions who have a net worth of $5--means nothing.

Yes, I think all those Negro women are not underpaid, underemployed, or undereducated, but blowing their money on McDoubles and bus fare.

Anonymous said...

"Yes, I think all those Negro women are not underpaid, underemployed, or undereducated, but blowing their money on McDoubles and bus fare."

What a racist remark.

FGFM said...

What a racist remark.

Are you autistic or something?

 
 
 

Christopher reads from Hitch-22: A Memoir