I grew up during the tail end of the Cold War and, being in a military family, moved around a lot. The escalating tensions between the US and its allies against the Soviet Union and its allies wasn't easy to understand by us kids living on-base, but I could tell something was wrong from the stress in people's faces as they watched the news. This tension only increased when we moved to West Germany -- which shared a border with East Germany, a an ally of the Soviets.
Despite this, I went through a rebellious phase where I identified as Communist, Marxist, etc. After studying history, I eventually realized that those systems would never work in reality because human nature would not allow it. After all, someone had to make sure production went out from each according to their abilities and came back to each according to their needs, and in that accountable person's mind, their need is always going to be greater than that of the people in the bread line.
On a totally unrelated note, Fidel Castro is dead. Many people call him a 'divisive' figure, which I'm choosing to translate as "We're just to the right of Stalin, so we dare not criticize Castro too heavily lest we be cast out." Seeing as how I've cast myself out of progressive circles, I'm not going to worry too much about it and just call it like I see it: Castro was a brutal dictator who overthrew another brutal dictator who overthrew another brutal dictator. I also feel sympathy for people living in Cuba, and totally understand someone wanting to leave. I especially feel for those who were shot at as they fled the country. This entire situation reminds me of a particularly powerful scene that I can't quite put my finger on...
Oh, wait, that's it.
What bothers me here isn't the Ctrl-Left pseudo-marxists who are mourning Castro
s death -- like them, I would have expressed a similar sentiment at a different point in my life. No, I'm bothered by the sitting Prime Minister who referred to Castro as a 'revolutionary and great orator.' That worries me a little. But what worries me more is Dr Jill Stein.
Dr. Jill Stein, who ran on the Green Party platform and has a folk band. Dr. Jill Stein, who is calling for a recount in several states and has a crowd-funding campaign to back it. One that has apparently missed the deadline for Pennsylvania, so there's that gone.
Dr. Jill Stein is demanding recounts in favour of Hillary Clinton while praising someone who was 'President' in one form or another for 47 years. She's demanding Electoral Integrity while praising someone who, as far as I can tell, never had to face re-election because there were no elections for his position. Correct me if I'm wrong on thisFidel Castro was a symbol of the struggle for justice in the shadow of empire. Presente!— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 27, 2016
Jill. what are you doing? Why are you collecting money from people who are tapped out from supporting you and Bernie and Hillary, then missing deadlines for the one state that mattered, and then praising someone with a reputation for firing squads, reducing rations, and cutting electricity to his people for 16 hours a day while having a net worth (estimated by Forbes about 10 years ago) of $900 million? It reeks of a scam to me, and I honestly don't blame the people who are asking you for refunds right now.
Fidel Castro is the exemplar of what I said previously regarding why Communism never works in the real world: Because one person always gets to decide what resources are taken from these people and given to those people based on their need, and that one person's own need is always going to be greater than the people starving in bread lines and using oxen to plow their fields because there's no fuel for the tractor.
I'm frankly sickened by Dr. Jill Stein's sentiment towards Castro. He was just another cruel person who overthrew another cruel person, so he could be cruel to more people. The only good revolutionary is one that steps aside when the job is done, and Castro did not step aside when that job was done. Instead, he planted himself firmly in a position of power and soaked it up.
Green Party, is this who you want representing you? If so, then I'm glad she's yet another candidate I didn't vote for.
Because when it comes to Dr. Jill Stein, I guess it's actually about ethics in electoral integrity.
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