> Are you really not aware that Cuba is a dictatorship?

I am, but I live in the US: we have illegal drone strikes against US citizens, NSA wiretapping against US citizens, and so on (the glasses are rose colored for some). Every country has its human rights issues.

Cuba may not move towards democracy as much as we'd like, but quality of life can still be improved for its citizens in parallel with political reform.

> I am, but I live in the US: we have illegal drone strikes against US citizens, NSA wiretapping against US citizens, and so on (the glasses are rose colored for some me thinks)

Are you seriously claiming that a government which has been ruled by a strongman for decade and which regularly throws people in jail for criticizing the regime is morally equivalent to the US government in its treatment of its own citizens?

No. I'm saying every country has its problems, and that to say one specific problem must be focused on before any of the problems can be solved is disingenuous. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

> No. I'm saying every country has its problems, and that to say one specific problem must be focused on before any of the problems can be solved is disingenuous. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

So why is it that we must focus on the problem of NSA wiretapping before we are even allowed to talk about the problem of millions of people being oppressed by a Communist dictatorship?

I'm not saying what you focus on. I'm looking for solutions I can contribute to on the ground. Political revolution is not one of them. I don't have that sort of capital to expend.

The best thing you could do is not go to Cuba. Every dollar you spend there is just more money for the Castro's repressive apparatus to be used against the people.

This is a classic misdirection tactic used by the far left against the West for decades.

To compare drone strikes on jihadist camps in foreign countries, and wiretapping of calls entering and leaving the country, with the total suppression of the human spirit by the Castro regime, is ridiculous and irrelevant.

Unfortunately, people are increasingly buying into this narrative. Moral relativism, moral nihilism I call it, is an unfitting ideology for a nation built on a strong belief in human dignity and freedom.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes

> Unfortunately, people are increasingly buying into this narrative. Moral relativism, moral nihilism I call it, is an unfitting ideology for a nation built on a strong belief in human dignity and freedom.

As a US citizen, I'm looking forward to the day the US government as a healthy respect for the dignity, privacy, and freedom of its citizens. That day is not today.

Yeah well, on 2016, the ability a Cuban citizen has to change it's surroundings on certain aspects is probably higher than that of an US citizen with the same aspects/surroundings, so, if proven, is US a dictatorship in a mask?

Your statement is at the very least, buggy.

Political dissent is allowed, not encouraged. Another thing is the US gov investing gazillion dollars on busting the career of a dissident blogger and hence everybody (lazy) reading shitty news... Why not invest it on the very successful Cuban research on Cancer? A mistery?

And if you go to Cuba and talk with Cubans you will see most of us want more BUT love what we have. And in general, we are happy people, look at statistics, look at health charts, education, poverty, suicide charts if that's your thing... so, yes, dictatorship.

Also, things have been and are changing... Raul Castro said he would be stepping out after 5 years and I believe he will, and then all the "representative" democracy elections that won't solve anything.

Democracy per se is not a good thing, but it is the perfect instrument for those able to influence masses.

erratum: "dollars on busting" should be "dollars on boosting"