Rand Paul TIME op-ed: Cuba Isolationists Just Don’t Get It

[jct74]

Rand Paul: Cuba Isolationists Just Don’t Get It

by Sen. Rand Paul
December 19, 2014

Paul is the junior U.S. Senator for Kentucky.

Let's hope cooler heads will ultimately prevail and we unleash a trade tsunami that washes the Castros once and for all into the sea.

I grew up in a family that despised, not only communism, but collectivism, socialism and any “ism” that deprived the individual of his or her natural rights.

As a kid, I listened to the stories of an old Ukrainian fisherman who talked of fighting the Bolsheviks. More times than I can remember, I’ve heard horror stories of those who fled Castro’s Cuba. I ran for office to fight for the individual and against statism of any kind anywhere and yet… I think a policy of isolationism toward Cuba is misplaced and hasn’t worked.

I support engagement, diplomacy, and trade with Cuba, China, Vietnam, and many countries with less than stellar human rights records, because I believe that once enslaved people taste freedom and see the products of capitalism they will become hungry for freedom themselves.

President George W. Bush wrote that “trade creates the habits of freedom,” and trade provides the seeds of freedom that begin “to create the expectations of democracy.” Once trade begins it is hard to hide the amazing products of capitalism. The Soviets used to produce documentaries depicting poverty in America but it backfired when Russian viewers noticed that even in the poorest of circumstances you could still see televisions flickering in the windows. Once trade is enhanced with Cuba, it will be impossible to hide the bounty that freedom provides.

...

read more:
http://time.com/3642353/rand-paul-cu...t-dont-get-it/

[tsai3904]

Here's Ted Cruz's TIME op-ed that starts off with "Congress should reject President Obama’s latest bad deal."

http://time.com/3641375/obama-cuba-deal-ted-cruz/

[randomname]

"Let’s overwhelm the Castro regime with iPhones, iPads, American cars, and American ingenuity."

haha

[nobody's_hero]

Well, I guess we are more capitalist than Cuba. But . . . well. If they were gonna learn capitalism by example . . . perhaps we should change the man we have in the White House first?

[Henry Rogue]

Well, I guess we are more capitalist than Cuba. But . . . well. If they were gonna learn capitalism by example . . . perhaps we should change the man we have in the White House first?

It's not about learning capitalism from anyone. The point of the piece is that Free Trade exposes oppressed people to possibilities of Freedom, much the same way that the TV series Dallas was a Trojan Horse to Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania.
http://www.cracked.com/article_21045...st-regime.html

[idiom]

Could be said for a lot of things....

"Lets overwhelm Texas with American Cars and Ingenuity" would be a nice place to start.

[Matt Collins]

This is worthy of a bump today

[nikcers]

This is worthy of a bump today

TY for a dose of sanity
Cruz, Rubio want Trump to dial back U.S.-Cuba relations

[Tywysog Cymru]

TY for a dose of sanity
Cruz, Rubio want Trump to dial back U.S.-Cuba relations

It's like they don't know how out of touch they are.

[AZJoe]

All that 56 years of isolationist embargo has ever done is rather than weaken Castro's hold on the country, it did the opposite and secured Castro's power and insured he remained dictator.

“Free trade and the open exchange of information are the best tools America has to combat international tyranny. The U.S. should quickly end the Cuban trade embargo. Cuban markets would be a great place for our farmers and businesses to sell their products. And, the power of free markets would quickly push out the remaining totalitarian remnant, finally ending the Communism in the Western Hemisphere.” - Dr. Ron Paul

" if the US truly wants Cuba to become a free and prosperous country: the US government should completely remove all restrictions on US citizens and then step aside. American tourists, businessmen, students, and scholars can do far more to promote real American values than bureaucrats, government-funded NGOs, and US-funded propaganda broadcasts. A better future for the United States and Cuba simply requires our government opening the door and getting the heck out of the way!" - Dr. Ron Paul, http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...ut-of-the-way/

"let’s not forget that the Cuban embargo is a direct attack on the economic liberty of the American people at the hands of their own government. Any American who dares to spend what is supposedly his own money in Cuba is arrested, prosecuted, fined, and jailed, not by Cuban officials but by U.S. officials, " - Jacob G. Hornberger http://www.fff.org/2014/10/20/the-cu...and-americans/

"the embargo was Castro’s best friend, not only because it provided him with something on which to blame Cuba’s economic woes, it also prevented Americans from freely traveling to Cuba and possibly influencing Cubans in a pro-freedom direction." - Jacob G. Hornberger http://www.fff.org/2015/02/10/embarg...-statist-page/

[AZJoe]

Castro was monstrous, and so is Washington's embargo: https://fee.org/articles/castro-was-...s-our-embargo/