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Comment by slazaro | Hacker News Reader

> The kids in these countries are already suffering under oppression/war/famine/ you name it..

Just a nitpick. Maybe in the other three countries this is true, but Cuba is pretty well off in those respects. Especially education wise.

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You're clueless about what goes on in Cuba. Informers for the secret police are everywhere, nobody dares speak their mind in public. People are limited by a maximum wage. There are regular inspections of people traveling to ensure that they aren't sneaking illegal food, especially meat, around. And so on. It's as oppressive a totalitarian dictatorship as they come.

Unlike in the US, where the government doesn't spy on the citizens, everybody has free access to education, free universal healthcare, guaranteed housing and... oh wait.

If you think the way that Cuba is run is the same as the way that the US is run, there is no evidence that will ever change your mind

I don't think both countries are run in the same way, I know they are not.

What I don't know is how you inferred I did think in that way from my comment.

I don't know, could it be the way you sarcastically drew parallels between the two as if they were the same? If you had just said what you meant, instead of trying to be clever or cute, maybe there wouldn't be such room for misinterpretation.

Could be that, but that would indeed be a misinterpretation. Could also be that people who don't agree with a reasoning tend to try to twist other people's words to make their arguments look wrong.

Anyway, I'll try to be stupid and mean next time so there is no ambiguity.

Sounds fantastic. So how is it living in Cuba? When are you moving there?

Actually, other stuff came up, but after a first trip in 2003 I almost did. Got friends who went there to study and another friend who was exiled there as a political refugee.

Iran is in a good situation also, and I think Syria was ok before the war. The problem was the oppression mostly. I've met several students from upthere. They complained about the lack of freedom but they did not about lack of education, war or famine. They were even pretty well educated.

Cuba is not well off in (lack of) oppression.

Not at war right now, and not suffering famine, but also right now there isn't war or famine in Iran.

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