Oh dear, are you saying that X2 might be "willfully dishonest"?? What a terrible thing to say!
The issue of Elian aside, this thread has been a fascinating study in how people's minds work. Some find it absolutely impossible to even consider arguments that might threaten their opinions, and they strike out with insults to protect their apparently vulnerable stance. Nothing must be allowed to crack the shell of their professed beliefs, and since listening and thoughtful consideration and debate would do this, it has to be avoided!
Had the heroes of the Revolution been so intransigent, we would probably still have an unsigned declaration. Jefferson and Adams had to concede several of their own strongly held beliefs to pacify the South, knowing that certain steps had to be taken before the rest could be addressed.
The more I read of the Cuban economy, and I admit quickly that I know very little but what I have absorbed these last few weeks, the more I see indications that they are having to incorporate capitalist ideas in order to progress. Castro is attempting to walk an impossibly fine line, one that will lead eventually to the downfall of communism there. People are beginning to absorb the concepts of competition, of capitalism; they are beginning to understand MONEY and earning it.
It seems to me that to continue to hold the position we have taken for so many years is self-defeating at this point. However, I also think that the Cuban people are the ones who must decide this for themselves, as they begin to learn for themselves.
We have said this before, although always with regards to their position on parental rights, that those so against Juan and so pro the Americanization of Elian (sounds like a good book title) must not have children. Their inability to engage in honest exchange, and their almost hysterical insistence on their own superiority which brooks no deviation or argument is another example of not knowing anything about people and psychology.
Actually, this limitation was one of Rand's, also. I guess they have adopted the bad and the good. |
