Fidel Castro

[stray bullet]

Ummm...Cuba is not a communist country. That is an oxymoron! Noone is saying it is a paradise, but to hear people of the US spout propaganda is almost beyond ridiculous!

They have democracy, I posted a link.

Of course the people were banned from using that money. I dont see many people in the US using Canadian currency!

Cuba is controlled by an absolute communist party, which makes them a 'communist country' according to global media. It's rather interesting that when I say something, which totally complies with the facts available from international sources, you simply refer to it as 'US propaganda'. You can call it that all you want, despite the fact that the US, unlike Cuba, has no domestic media.

They do not have democracy, they have pseudo-democracy which consists of voting for people who have no power. Their parliament is only a rubber stamp for Castro and the Communist party, which are the absolute power of Cuba. They can not be removed, contradicted or vetoed by their people. That is a dictatorship.

Finally, Canadian currency is not banned in the US. I'm free to obtain, collect and even trade it for goods and services. Cuba actually banned the ownership of American money. Americans are free to use Canadian money, but they prefer to use a stronger currency, just like the Cubans.

 

[CCGirl]

The US has never been imperialist in the true sense of the word (in the 17th-20th Century). We never went out to other nations and took them over from the natives in order to exploit their labor and resources.

WHat??? That is exactly what the "West" has done!!

 

[Selznak]

How about the Philippines and Panama as well?

 

[stray bullet]

oh really? How about HAwaii?

Hawaii was not a 'us colony' for the purpose of exploiting the people and their labor.

The US was interested in it for military purposes.

 

[Pentecostal Boy]

Phillipines wasn't so bad. But for a while we did unfairly. "help" Panama make decisions.

 

[stray bullet]

WHat??? That is exactly what the "West" has done!!

Of course, that's what the west did, except the US.

 

[Pentecostal Boy]

Hawaii was not a 'us colony' for the purpose of exploiting the people and their labor.

The US was interested in it for military purposes.

but we still took over the nation. Through the Queen out of Power. And forced the people to more or less do our dirty work.

 

[stray bullet]

How about the Philippines and Panama as well?

The Philippines were not taken by the natives, but from a war with Spain. As far as I'm aware, there was no interest in exploiting the natives for labors, such as working in sugarcane fields, etc.

Panama was not taken from the natives, but received independence from Columbia via a threatening stance from the US Navy to intervene during their 'war' for independence. The US loaned the Panama canal from the country, which was probably in exchange for US Naval presence.

 

[stray bullet]

but we still took over the nation. Through the Queen out of Power. And forced the people to more or less do our dirty work.

We took lots of places over, but I was only speaking in the sense of the world during the age of imperialism.

"Imperialism" generally meant to go to a country, use overwhelming force to take it over and then exploit the people and their resources. In some cases, like with the British, it also meant importing slaves.

 

[Pentecostal Boy]

look I am a conservative Republican. But who better to see America's flaws? That's how we made enemies along time ago. We bullied them around to do what we wanted!

 

[stray bullet]

look I am a conservative Republican. But who better to see America's flaws? That's how we made enemies along time ago. We bullied them around to do what we wanted!

No one is arguing the US doesn't have flaws, made enemies or bullied people around. The US stole lots of lands. I'm just pointing out that we weren't really 'imperialist'.. .we had tons of flaws though.

 

[Pentecostal Boy]

what do u mean had? We have em! Like a President who refuses to realize that we have done as much in Iraq as possible other than taking guns and killing every suspicous person in the world!

 

[CCGirl]

No one is arguing the US doesn't have flaws, made enemies or bullied people around. The US stole lots of lands. I'm just pointing out that we weren't really 'imperialist'.. .we had tons of flaws though.

Imperialism has different faces

 

[stray bullet]

what do u mean had? We have em! Like a President who refuses to realize that we have done as much in Iraq as possible other than taking guns and killing every suspicous person in the world!

Ignoring restoring services, freedom, education and democracy, of course

 

[stray bullet]

Imperialism has different faces

Like communism?

 

[CCGirl]

<snip rant>
They do not have democracy, they have pseudo-democracy which consists of voting for people who have no power. Their parliament is only a rubber stamp for Castro and the Communist party, which are the absolute power of Cuba. They can not be removed, contradicted or vetoed by their people. That is a dictatorship.

Facts on Cuban democracy

What International Sources? What about answering the questions?

Finally, Canadian currency is not banned in the US. I'm free to obtain, collect and even trade it for goods and services. Cuba actually banned the ownership of American money. Americans are free to use Canadian money, but they prefer to use a stronger currency, just like the Cubans

Every country is free to do as they wish with their monetary policy! Cubans can own US $, they just can not go down to the local store and buy groceries with it!

 

[CCGirl]

Like communism?

Communism:

Main Entry: com·mu·nism
Pronunciation: 'käm-y&-"ni-z&m
Function: noun
Etymology: French communisme, from commun common
1 a : a theory advocating elimination of private property b : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
2 capitalized a : a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the U.S.S.R. b : a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably d : communist systems collectively

Communism has yet to be realized anywhere yet!

Nowhere has a state "withered away" .

Nowhere does the state (people) own all means of production.

The first stage of communism is Democracy, allowing socialistic principles to succeed, then comes communism!

 

[horuhe00]

We are sorta Imperialistic but our Imperialism hasn't been used in decades.

Hmm let's see...
*Genocide of Native Americans and displacement towards concentration "reserves"(to this day, I might add).

*Invasion of a sovereign country, displacement of it's people, and populating it with Americans so that they could "democratically" be added to the USA. (Hawaii)

* Taking Guantanamo, Puerto Rico, Philipines, etc. after beating Spain. (trying to impose english at least in Puerto Rico)

* Displacing Native Americans in Alaska after buying it from Russia.

* Taking many Pacific islands pre-WWII and post-WWII

* Installing Pro-USA Dictators in many Latin American countries (Batista in Cuba, Pinochet in Chile, etc.)

* Attacking an allied country just because its oil supply might change from the status quo. (Iraq)

* Invading a sovereign nation, removing the government, and atempting to remold in its own image. (Iraq)

It's almost midnight so I'll let others fill in the ones I've forgoten about.

 

[horuhe00]

Like communism?

Jesus is communist.

 

[Selznak]

Imperialism has different faces

With no small amount of reluctance, I will have to agree with CCGirl. The US is indeed an imperial power, and has been for the better part of the 20th century on into the 21st. With military personnel present in over 130 different countries around the globe(for whatever reason) how can one possibly deny that the US is not?