Fidel Castro stunned the world this week by admitting socialism had failed in Cuba. The implication of the dictator's statement is unclear, but one thing isn't: Castro's sycophants have some explaining to do.
Castro, now 84 and semi-retired, made a surprisingly lucid admission about how 52 years of communist dictatorship have ruined his country. "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore," he casually told the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, a reporter he summoned to Havana to tell him his thoughts.
Castro made other noteworthy statements to the reporter — that he regretted urging the Soviet Union to rain nuclear war on the U.S. in 1962, and that he wanted Iran's leader to stop slandering the Jews. But nothing was as arresting as the statement that his life work, the communism he forced on Cuba in 1959 was, in truth, a miserable failure.
Castro's motives in stating the obvious are still unclear. He may be desperate for attention. Or, having turned his country into an impoverished hellhole, he may want the U.S. trade embargo to end.
Cuba scholar Humberto Fontova notes that Castro has made similar offhand statements in the past, and none had any consequences.
Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
No wonder Obama wanted to bail out teachers; they're Alinskyites
The National Education Association (NEA), the U.S.'s largest labor union, is promoting communism to the millions of American public school teachers it represents. Teachers who are influenced by their union's efforts are more likely to indoctrinate American children into communism.
For the past several months, the NEA website has recommended that its members read books by communist sympathizer Saul Alinsky. And, for a time, the website listed October 1 as a day for teachers and students to celebrate the anniversary of the Communist takeover of China by Mao Zedong.
Saul Alinsky, who has been described by his biographer Sanford Horwitt as a "Communist fellow-traveler," wanted to transfer power from the so-called Haves to the so-called Have-nots and transform the U.S. into a communist state.
In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky states, "A Marxist begins with his prime truth that all evils are caused by the exploitation of the proletariat by the capitalists. From this he logically proceeds to the revolution to end capitalism, then into the third stage of reorganization into a new social order of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and finally the last stage-the political paradise of communism."
(snip)
From coast to coast, news stories abound about communist indoctrination in U.S. schools. For example, the New York Times recently reported that a teacher working at Beacon High School in New York City had pictures of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro on the walls of his classroom, took students on a field trip to Cuba, and bluntly admitted to the school principal that he's a communist. And Fox News recently reported that students at Black Pine Circle School in Berkeley, California created a mosaic that included symbols of communism and a prediction that "capitalism will fail."
Students in California are sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo while students around the country are allowed to wear T-shirts with images of Che Guevara, the communist revolutionary and mass murderer.
American children are not being taught that Alinsky's "paradise of communism" has never shown up. They are not learning that the world's greatest famines and mass murders have occurred under communist regimes.
And the NEA wants to keep it that way.
For the past several months, the NEA website has recommended that its members read books by communist sympathizer Saul Alinsky. And, for a time, the website listed October 1 as a day for teachers and students to celebrate the anniversary of the Communist takeover of China by Mao Zedong.
Saul Alinsky, who has been described by his biographer Sanford Horwitt as a "Communist fellow-traveler," wanted to transfer power from the so-called Haves to the so-called Have-nots and transform the U.S. into a communist state.
In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky states, "A Marxist begins with his prime truth that all evils are caused by the exploitation of the proletariat by the capitalists. From this he logically proceeds to the revolution to end capitalism, then into the third stage of reorganization into a new social order of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and finally the last stage-the political paradise of communism."
(snip)
From coast to coast, news stories abound about communist indoctrination in U.S. schools. For example, the New York Times recently reported that a teacher working at Beacon High School in New York City had pictures of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro on the walls of his classroom, took students on a field trip to Cuba, and bluntly admitted to the school principal that he's a communist. And Fox News recently reported that students at Black Pine Circle School in Berkeley, California created a mosaic that included symbols of communism and a prediction that "capitalism will fail."
Students in California are sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo while students around the country are allowed to wear T-shirts with images of Che Guevara, the communist revolutionary and mass murderer.
American children are not being taught that Alinsky's "paradise of communism" has never shown up. They are not learning that the world's greatest famines and mass murders have occurred under communist regimes.
And the NEA wants to keep it that way.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Obama pioneers a bold tactic in negotiations: when the adversary's argument blows up, concede
So, on the heels of a dramatic exposure of the scientfic fraud that has fueled the global warming hoax, hoax-master Al Gore salutes President Obama for pioneering a new American stance on the issue.
How did Obama do that? By announcing that he would be in Copenhagen on Dec. 9 to offer U.S. concessions. The U.S. will curb carbon emissions by 17 % from 2006 levels by 2020.
This will be the first time the U.S. has offered such concessions, which would raise the cost of doing business in the U.S., make U.S. manufacturers less competitive in international markets, and blaze a new trail in the annals of negotiation tactics. The new rule will read as follows: "As soon as your opponent's argument has been blown up beyond retrieval, concede to his demands."
Never mind that no other nation will follow the lead of the U.S. We will have won a place in the hearts of our nonfriends and enemies, and that's what counts. After all, the obvious goal of President Obama is to downsize America's role and standing in the world. Hobbling American business and the economy will do that.
This demonstrates, once again, that leftist certitudes never die; they just are reworked to fit altered environments. Even when yes becomes no, leftists seldom lose a step.
How can they pull this off?
Practice. Practice. Practice.
The godfather of modern leftist collectivism, in all its forms, is Karl Marx, a German intellectual who moved to England early in the industrial revolution. In 1848, he authored the Communist Manifesto, which explored in detail the miserable conditions of England's workers and theorized that the abused workers would eventually rise up and take control of the factories.
From this base, they would capture control of the government as well.
Over ths ensuing 161 years, this never happened anywhere in the world.
In semi-feudal Russia, in 1917, anti-czarists murdered Czar Nicholas II and his family, creating a power vacuum that was filled by expatriate intellectual Vladimir Lenin and motley associates who eventually set up a communist regime.
In China, Communists won a civil war.
Eastern Europe fell into the communist sphere through occupation by Russia.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro and his ragtag communist army overthrew the hated Batista regime.
in Korea, the United Nations fenced off the north, a Chinese sphere of influence, to enable journalists to deploy the phrase "lunatic leader" as often as they liked.
Nowhere did the workers rise up and seize control of a country, as Marx had envisaged.
To top it off, British historian Paul Johnson made an amazing discovery. Having carved out a niche through his exposure of the lies, distortions and depravities of famous intellectuals, Johnson searched for evidence that Marx had ever set foot in a factory.
He found none. So, Marx has his chapter in Johnson's book, "Intellectuals," along with Percy Shelley, Henrik Ibsen, Leon Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Bertolt Brecht, Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre and Edmund Wilson.
Although Marxist theory failed utterly in the real world, it captured huge swaths in the worlds of theory and theology.
Few, if any, university departments of economics, political science and history have escaped Marxist inluence. In some English departments, literature now plays second fiddle to leftist politics. Whole new departments, featuring courses like postmodern studies, ethnic studies and women's studies have sprung up since the 1950s. David Horowitz has come up with a useful rule of thumb: any course name with the word "studies" in it should be regarded with suspicion.
Most, if not all, of those courses shared a purpose, which was to train students to think of themselves as victims.
Not surprisingly, university professors have been among the leading table pounders for global warming.
Now, they have a dilemma. Alarmists have claimed for many years that manmade global warming was going on now. It wasn't, and isn't. The hysteria was based on faudulent science. It's time to back down.
In the real world, marxists can keep right on dreaming of the belated revolution of the workers. Marx didn't put a time limit on his theory.
Gore, who won his Nobel in 2007 for his excellent propaganda on climate change, said that Obama "took an important step" by announcing he would attend the Copenhagen talks on a new climate treaty. Why they need a new treaty is puzzling because hardly anyone paid any attention to the old one, which lies there in pristine condition.
Gore's words may signify a downshift in Democrat expectations. It used to be that Democrats celebrated when they passed a bill growing government and spending more money. Now, Gore is declaring victory on grounds Obama is taking another trip.
Bear in mind that Obama's concession, like Marx's prediction, is on the come.
How did Obama do that? By announcing that he would be in Copenhagen on Dec. 9 to offer U.S. concessions. The U.S. will curb carbon emissions by 17 % from 2006 levels by 2020.
This will be the first time the U.S. has offered such concessions, which would raise the cost of doing business in the U.S., make U.S. manufacturers less competitive in international markets, and blaze a new trail in the annals of negotiation tactics. The new rule will read as follows: "As soon as your opponent's argument has been blown up beyond retrieval, concede to his demands."
Never mind that no other nation will follow the lead of the U.S. We will have won a place in the hearts of our nonfriends and enemies, and that's what counts. After all, the obvious goal of President Obama is to downsize America's role and standing in the world. Hobbling American business and the economy will do that.
This demonstrates, once again, that leftist certitudes never die; they just are reworked to fit altered environments. Even when yes becomes no, leftists seldom lose a step.
How can they pull this off?
Practice. Practice. Practice.
The godfather of modern leftist collectivism, in all its forms, is Karl Marx, a German intellectual who moved to England early in the industrial revolution. In 1848, he authored the Communist Manifesto, which explored in detail the miserable conditions of England's workers and theorized that the abused workers would eventually rise up and take control of the factories.
From this base, they would capture control of the government as well.
Over ths ensuing 161 years, this never happened anywhere in the world.
In semi-feudal Russia, in 1917, anti-czarists murdered Czar Nicholas II and his family, creating a power vacuum that was filled by expatriate intellectual Vladimir Lenin and motley associates who eventually set up a communist regime.
In China, Communists won a civil war.
Eastern Europe fell into the communist sphere through occupation by Russia.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro and his ragtag communist army overthrew the hated Batista regime.
in Korea, the United Nations fenced off the north, a Chinese sphere of influence, to enable journalists to deploy the phrase "lunatic leader" as often as they liked.
Nowhere did the workers rise up and seize control of a country, as Marx had envisaged.
To top it off, British historian Paul Johnson made an amazing discovery. Having carved out a niche through his exposure of the lies, distortions and depravities of famous intellectuals, Johnson searched for evidence that Marx had ever set foot in a factory.
He found none. So, Marx has his chapter in Johnson's book, "Intellectuals," along with Percy Shelley, Henrik Ibsen, Leon Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Bertolt Brecht, Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre and Edmund Wilson.
Although Marxist theory failed utterly in the real world, it captured huge swaths in the worlds of theory and theology.
Few, if any, university departments of economics, political science and history have escaped Marxist inluence. In some English departments, literature now plays second fiddle to leftist politics. Whole new departments, featuring courses like postmodern studies, ethnic studies and women's studies have sprung up since the 1950s. David Horowitz has come up with a useful rule of thumb: any course name with the word "studies" in it should be regarded with suspicion.
Most, if not all, of those courses shared a purpose, which was to train students to think of themselves as victims.
Not surprisingly, university professors have been among the leading table pounders for global warming.
Now, they have a dilemma. Alarmists have claimed for many years that manmade global warming was going on now. It wasn't, and isn't. The hysteria was based on faudulent science. It's time to back down.
In the real world, marxists can keep right on dreaming of the belated revolution of the workers. Marx didn't put a time limit on his theory.
Gore, who won his Nobel in 2007 for his excellent propaganda on climate change, said that Obama "took an important step" by announcing he would attend the Copenhagen talks on a new climate treaty. Why they need a new treaty is puzzling because hardly anyone paid any attention to the old one, which lies there in pristine condition.
Gore's words may signify a downshift in Democrat expectations. It used to be that Democrats celebrated when they passed a bill growing government and spending more money. Now, Gore is declaring victory on grounds Obama is taking another trip.
Bear in mind that Obama's concession, like Marx's prediction, is on the come.
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