3 ms·

> Bear in mind that Jerry Pournelle is a very right wing guy and was right wing at the time of the Vietnam war, so he looks for confirmation of his own pro war

by adekok 11y ago

> Bear in mind that Jerry Pournelle is a very right wing guy and was right wing at the time of the Vietnam war, so he looks for confirmation of his own pro war views. That means you have to read his work with a critical eye. It doesn't mean he's wrong. Communists have done similar things elsewhere. https://books.google.ca/books?id=3y4uAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT130&lpg=PT130&dq=cuban+olive+green+castro&source=bl&ots=71jvd_YYP_&sig=L_E1ypjapB7NdbkX1eIpBOe5oMY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOi9yxlebKAhVJrB4KHYw8BewQ6AEINTAH#v=onepage&q=cuban%20olive%20green%20castro&f=false https://books.google.ca/books?id=3y4uAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT130&lpg=P... "Castro assured the world that his revolution belonged to neither the Communists nor the capitalists, that it was neither red nor black, but Cuban olive-green." We know how that turned out.

pessimizer 11y ago
> We know how that turned out. As a massive improvement in the expected quality of life for 80% of the population, as opposed to when the government was jointly run by Batista and American organized crime?
- tosseraccount 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba "In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards". Compare with Chile which used to be poor.
  - xbmcuser 11y ago
    Cuba was under embargo all this time. Where and how it would be without embargo is the question.
- fennecfoxen 11y ago
  Maybe so, but what of those in the other 20% who found themselves disappeared or shot for political reasons, or those simply held prisoner in their own country?
  - mercurial 11y ago
    I'm not sure the situation wrt human rights changed much one way or another under the communists. It's not like the Batista regime encouraged dissidents and rewarded independent journalism.
mercurial 11y ago
It turned out that they needed a sponsor, and that turned out to be the Soviet Union?

by adekok 11y ago

pessimizer 11y ago

> We know how that turned out. As a massive improvement in the expected quality of life for 80% of the population, as opposed to when the government was jointly run by Batista and American organized crime?

tosseraccount 11y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba "In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards". Compare with Chile which used to be poor.
- xbmcuser 11y ago
  Cuba was under embargo all this time. Where and how it would be without embargo is the question.
fennecfoxen 11y ago
Maybe so, but what of those in the other 20% who found themselves disappeared or shot for political reasons, or those simply held prisoner in their own country?
- mercurial 11y ago
  I'm not sure the situation wrt human rights changed much one way or another under the communists. It's not like the Batista regime encouraged dissidents and rewarded independent journalism.

mercurial 11y ago

It turned out that they needed a sponsor, and that turned out to be the Soviet Union?