CyberSocialist @CyberSocialist@social.privacytools.io

@mathew genius!

@kravietz marketing morons at best, disingenuous charlatans more likely. If only NextCloud had functioning client-side e2e....

@kravietz you’ve declared Cuba a ‘failure’. That’s a lofty declaration. One that defines no notion of success and uses examples of those wishing to leave (and being unable to) as the only criteria for failure. You also appear unwilling to recognise or criticise the crippling effect of the 60 year blockade against the Cuban people. That’s concerning

@kravietz says scholars on the subject? Or just you?;)

@kravietz societal reform doesn’t occur overnight without consequences. Try advocating for the removal of illegal and immoral sanctions and see what happens. What Cuba has achieved with them in place is remarkable. What they’d achieve without them is mind blowing. And even then ‘some’ would want to leave. And that wouldn’t make it a failure either

@kravietz are you conflating communism with socialism??? Really?

@kravietz 2016
Was not the removal of sanctions. Not was it in place sufficiently long to notice this overnight reform you think exists (nowhere) in the world.

@kravietz again, the US blockade on Cuba is unparalleled. Yet you find equivalence where there is none. You need to address this as it’s colouring your understanding of the Cuban nation and the politics that is made possible (or not) by it being in place for 60 years + . You ignore structural issues that limit your Overton Window considerably

@kravietz actually many of the Cubans I know - having danced Cuban salsa since 1998 - and having visited the entire length and breadth of the country of Cuba are extremely proud of their country but lament the restrictions imposed on them by their government DUE TO the US embargo. Are they wrong?

@kravietz again, you’ve refused to focus on the impact of the US blockade. We’re 12 tweets deep and you’ve still not acknowledged the part it plays and the moral, legal and ethical implications of this. Why??

@kravietz really? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/cuba-food-production-us-oil-sanctions you’re really denying the reality of this for ideological reasons? Because your childhood was impacted you’re denying the material reality of the US in Cuba and blaming socialism?

@kravietz This isn’t simply ‘not trading with Cuba’ but stopping ALL trade with any nation - a form of collective punishment hitherto unseen, except perhaps with the likes of Zionist apartheid Israel and its illegal blockade of Gaza.

@kravietz what a deeply flawed understanding of ‘the blockade’ you have! The US is unique in having a governing seat on all the world financial institutions and an overriding veto on supranational trade organisations that even China can hardly compete in a trade war: what chance Cuba? The US seeks to punish every other nation that trades with Cuba.

@kravietz Devoid of context the question has no meaningful answer. If 1 person wants to leave it’s a failure? If 10? 1000? And what if their material needs are being denied due to the blockade? I don’t blame them for trying to leave, but I don’t naively conclude that this means ‘country x is a “failure” ‘ as this ignores the historical contingencies that exist and how these impediments could be removed.

@kravietz Cuba would be 100x richer without the US blockade. Why not argue for the lifting of that?

@kravietz no, in the USA they die where they live due to zero healthcare and no employment. Is this your model of success?

@kravietz that’s not a real argument for the success, in the context of a US blockade, of socialism in Cuba: people emigrate from many places for many reasons, even the USA! What are your criteria for ‘success’ then? And do some people wanting to leave mean it’s ‘failed’?

@kravietz again, your ahistorical analysis pits US-Western neoliberalism as normative and neutral , devoid of deleterious effects. To argue the merits of socialism you need to do it within the context of the places it’s taken root. International loans are a tool of neoliberal empire.