froggythefish t1_itymulq wrote on October 27, 2022 at 7:25 AM

Reply to comment by k1lk1 in More Than 104,000 New York City Students Were Homeless Last Year by Lilyo

Look up the homelessness rate in Cuba, buddy (~0%). Then look up any other statistic, including life expectancy. Or home ownership rate, which is 90%. Cuba, statistically, is pretty close to the “leftist utopia”, and they got that far despite being a poor Caribbean country under an embargo. Education, healthcare, Cuba has many rich western nations beat. Imagine what they could do if the embargo was lifted?

Misommar1246 t1_iu1kn2u wrote on October 27, 2022 at 9:34 PM

Cuba? What’s next, NK? I bet they don’t have homelessness either. And yet you don’t see people clamoring to immigrate to either country, how strange.

froggythefish t1_iu20gv8 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 11:33 PM

I can’t find many statistics on NK. I can find plenty of statistics on Cuba. I have no clue how NK is doing. But if you’re curious about NK in general, there is a mini documentary on youtube called “we went to North Korea to get a haircut” which is fairly eye opening.

yetanotherspaceguy t1_ityntsk wrote on October 27, 2022 at 7:39 AM

I can’t tell if this is a joke or not. First try actually going to Cuba, then venture a bit outside whatever city you flew into (e.g. cienfuegos, trinidad). Hilarious to see people on the internet quote statistics like this (that are at best misrepresentative but more likely straight up inaccurate) and who have absolutely no idea what the reality of life is like there. Or maybe try talking to someone who came from there. I would imagine North Korea is comparable on all the measures you listed. I feel sort of bad that you’ve been duped by some propaganda piece that you read online, but unfortunately you won’t be the first or the last.

froggythefish t1_ityo6yf wrote on October 27, 2022 at 7:44 AM

So essentially, you’re just denying statistics. The statistics show people actually living in Cuba, are doing just fine. Especially when compared to the poorer capitalist countries in South America and africa, constantly in civil war and extreme poverty. In most leftist ideologies, most people will live an average life, perhaps without many luxuries. In capitalism, some people will do very well, like in Europe or America, and others will be subject to total misery and suffering.

You seem to be very misguided in general but interested in the topic, so I suggest you read the book “the conquest of bread”. You won’t need to buy it, it’s available for free on the anarchist library. It has nothing to do with this conversation, but you sound like you might like it.

yetanotherspaceguy t1_itzriva wrote on October 27, 2022 at 2:31 PM

Not so much denying statistics as saying that they are extremely misrepresentative of what life is like in Cuba, and it’s clear that anyone who thinks otherwise has never actually been there. It’s not really a competition about who is living a better life in abject poverty, but if it were you certainly would likely prefer to be in any of the poorer capitalist countries you mention. I appreciate any recommendations for reading material though, I’ll check it out. Since you seem to be impressionable, here’s some light reading for you: https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article/33/6/755/5035051

froggythefish t1_iu21y3q wrote on October 27, 2022 at 11:44 PM

This article you sent is hilarious.

Ok so they start off immediately by saying basically that since Cuba is an outlier in infant mortality, and they are doing too well, they must be lying. They also say that it makes little sense Cuba can be so poor yet have such good healthcare, though they correct this statement later on. In another paragraph, they say that Cuba limiting car ownership artificially increases life expectancy by 1: lowering car crashes and 2: forcing people to exercise by biking or walking. how is that a bad thing lmfao. They go on to claim that since Cuba has a very high abortion rate, the infant mortality rate is artificially lowered by aborting even slightly risky births. This is silly. Cuba provided free safe abortions, that is why the abortion rate is so high. This article is just a bunch of strawmans and assumptions, trying to make a point that just isn’t there.

yetanotherspaceguy t1_iu23tkz wrote on October 27, 2022 at 11:59 PM

I don’t think you really understand the meaning of “strawmans” (or basic statistics for that matter), but you have otherwise completely missed the point and it’s not really worth arguing over.