A Haunting Email About the Promise of Change

I got this in October and it has been on my mind lately. It keeps coming to mind when I see capitalism slipping away more and more each day.

I checked snopes and they verfied that it was indeed published in said paper on July 7, 2008.


AN EDITORIAL TO THE 'RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH' by MANUEL ALVEREZ, JR.

EACH YEAR I GET TO CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY TWICE.

ON JUNE 30TH, I CELEBRATE MY INDEPENDENCE DAY AND ON JULY 4TH, I CELEBRATE AMERICA'S INDEPENDENCE.

THIS YEAR IS VERY SPECIAL TO ME BECAUSE I GET TO CELEBRATE MY 40TH YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE!

ON JUNE 30, 1968, I ESCAPED COMMUNIST CUBA AND A FEW MONTHS LATER, I WAS IN THE UNITED STATES TO STAY! THAT I HAPPENED TO ARRIVE IN RICHMOND ON THANKSGIVING DAY IS JUST PART OF THE STORY,



BUT I DIGRESS.

I'VE THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT THE ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR. THE ELECTION YEAR RHETORIC HAS MADE ME THINK A LOT ABOUT CUBA AND WHAT TRANSPIRED THERE.

IN THE LATE 1950'S, MOST CUBANS THOUGHT THAT CUBA NEEDED A CHANGE, AND THEY WERE RIGHT.

SO WHEN A YOUNG LEADER CAME ALONG, EVERY CUBAN WAS AT LEAST RECEPTIVE.

WHEN THE YOUNG LEADER SPOKE ELOQUENTLY AND PASSIONATELY AND DENOUNCED THE OLD SYSTEM, THE PRESS FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM.

THEY NEVER QUESTIONED WHO HIS FRIENDS WERE OR WHAT HE REALLY BELIEVED IN.

WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD HELP THE FARMERS AND THE POOR AND BRING FREE MEDICAL CARE AND EDUCATION TO ALL, EVERYONE FOLLOWED.

WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD BRING JUSTICE AND EQUALITY TO ALL, EVERYONE SAID, 'PRAISE THE LORD.' AND WHEN THE YOUNG LEADER SAID,'I WILL BE FOR CHANGE AND I'LL BRING YOU CHANGE,'

EVERYONE YELLED, 'VIVA FIDEL!'

BUT NOBODY ASKED ABOUT THE CHANGE.

SO:



*BY THE TIME THE EXECUTIONER'S GUNS WENT SILENT, THE PEOPLE'S GUNS HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY.

*BY THE TIME EVERYONE WAS EQUAL, THEY WERE EQUALLY POOR, HUNGRY, AND OPPRESSED.

*BY THE TIME EVERYONE RECEIVED THEIR FREE EDUCATION, IT WAS WORTH NOTHING.

*BY THE TIME THE PRESS NOTICED, IT WAS TOO LATE, BECAUSE THEY WERE NOW WORKING FOR HIM.

*BY THE TIME THE CHANGE WAS FINALLY IMPLEMENTED, CUBA HAD BEEN KNOCKED DOWN A COUPLE OF NOTCHES TO A THIRD-WORLD STATUS.

*BY THE TIME THE CHANGE WAS OVER, MORE THAN A MILLION PEOPLE HAD TAKEN TO BOATS, RAFTS, AND INNER TUBES. YOU CAN CALL THOSE WHO MADE IT ASHORE TO ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD, THE MOST FORTUNATE CUBANS.

AND NOW I'M BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF MY STORY. I HOPE THAT YOU WILL PAY ATTENTION.

LUCKILY, WE WOULD NEVER IN AMERICA, FALL FOR A YOUNG LEADER WHO PROMISED CHANGE WITHOUT ASKING:

'WHAT CHANGE?

HOW WILL YOU CARRY IT OUT?



WHAT WILL IT COST AMERICA?'

WOULD WE?"


(Note: the email was printed in caps.)

[edit on 3/4/2009 by sad_eyed_lady]

Starred.
Flagged.
Read it again.

This sounds so familiar. How does it keep happening? How can people fall into the same trap over and over? Hope is seductive. Everybody wants hope and the change it promises. We always thought we had freedom here in the US. We are educated and have a "free press". Surprise! I don't know if our press is free but it certainly isn't balanced or even truthful. And our elected officials aren't much interested in our desperate letters, emails and phone calls. One of the things i heard most about the candidate obama was how intelligent he is, how smart, and since he was elected: how nice it is to have an articulate president instead of an idiot. Makes me think all our education has allowed us to be confused about what's important.

We're in big trouble. I don't know how we're going to get out of it.

Mmmkay...

But isn't that the lead phrase of more or less all presidents and presidential candidates?

I feel like I'm reading "change that", "change this", "preparing USA for the future", "leading into a new age" everytime elections are in the air... No matter if they are democrats or republicans, conservatives or liberals.

That word "change" gives hope for some kind of "golden future" to come, so it is used until it makes an inprint on our ear drums.

Examples:
1976 Jimmy Carter: "A Leader, For a Change"
1984 Walter Mondale: "America Needs a Change"

Most of us know that the Obama campain was paid for by more or less the same lobbyists as the McCain party.
Nothing new under the sun.
We all know that the "president" is just a facade.

[edit on 4-3-2009 by Raud]

Originally posted by Raud
Most of us know that the Obama campain was paid for by more or less the same lobbyists as the McCain party.
Nothing new under the sun.
We all know that the "president" is just a facade.

agreed. not only was it paid for by the same lobbyists and industries but my friends from both parties agree that republican as well as democrat parties decided on obama. all respect to mccain, but the party did not put up a serious fight. for whatever reason, obama with his secretive past and golden oratory was selected to be the one riding our charging congress with the bit in its teeth.

reply to post by Raud



I think we should have been a little more diligent about understanding exactly what Obama meant by "change". MSM gave us a glimpse of how he intended to change things when Joe the plumber got a "we're going redistribute the wealth" comment out of him. I guess some people wanted change so bad they ignored the evidence that this implied some form of socialistic society. Now I feel like I live in Obama's country and it's not the country I wished or hoped it would be It looks like the change he promised will be a lasting one and that we won't be able to go back to where we were when he's gone.

A collapsing economy with an expanding government is not a good recipe for living in the land of the free.

Lord have mercy on us all.

Cuba is much smaller than the US. There are many more "minds" to keep watch on our leaders. Now days they are getting caught in all their lies. Give our new president the benefit of doubt. I would hate to have his job!

reply to post by sad_eyed_lady


that joe the plumber incident was scary but there were a lot of people who hated bush so much that they literally could not see anything about the dem candidate other than his party. i have many liberal friends and even my kids who see some degree of socialism as the best way to take care of needy people. they take for granted that capitalism will always co-exist to pay for it. these people truly believe they looked closely at obama and heard his message and it matched their hopes for the future. They didn't want any more detail. they wanted hope.

some people are feeling deceived now. not enough yet have noticed that the promises don't match what's happening. not sure how long it will take.

Originally posted by PammyK
Now days they are getting caught in all their lies.

The tragedy of it is that whether they are caught or not really doesn't make a whole lot of difference. It's business as usual. For example: Geitner claims to have made a "mistake" on his taxes. Turbo Tax - give me a break - how do you screw that up? Nobody bought that, and yet it ran off the the legislators back like water off a duck's back because Obama still wanted him.The only difference is that with a added awareness of the lies the electorate gets more and more frustrated with the shaft they are getting and feel helpless to change it.

The way things are going now, we will all be hoping for some "change" to be dropped into our cup come the next election.

Wow - S&F

I have heard similar stories from people who got out of the former Soviet Union and half jokingly have said that they now need to "escape" back to Russia.

Originally posted by sad_eyed_lady

Originally posted by PammyK
Now days they are getting caught in all their lies.

The tragedy of it is that whether they are caught or not really doesn't make a whole lot of difference. It's business as usual. For example: Geitner claims to have made a "mistake" on his taxes. Turbo Tax - give me a break - how do you screw that up? Nobody bought that, and yet it ran off the the legislators back like water off a duck's back because Obama still wanted him.The only difference is that with a added awareness of the lies the electorate gets more and more frustrated with the shaft they are getting and feel helpless to change it.

This is so frustrating! The new "transparency" is to admit there is a problem, declare it minor, and say we must move on and let them do their job. Obama even said he "screwed up" by trying to appoint tax cheat/undeclared lobbyist Daschle, but Daschel was the one who withdrew. O kept on supporting him until the end. And he continues to appoint seriously compromised cabinet officials. He considers these issues to be irrelevant. All that matters is that they support him. I can't figure out why people are okay with this approach. I can kind of see it with congress because they are probably all compromised and don't want the light to shine too brightly on them but what about everybody else? Lots of jokes about geithner but not enough outrage to cause trouble for the administration.

You have to ask: why is this president still so popular?

[edit on 4-3-2009 by earlywatcher]

reply to post by sad_eyed_lady


It all comes down to the people who get so desperate that they will believe whatever they hear as long as it is what they want to hear.

8 years under the madness of Bush/Cheney people decided that was it and we needed a new direction.

Ron Paul was the only candidate offering that direction, but they fell for the Media propaganda and went for the young well spoken lies they put under the spotlight.

"Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it"

Originally posted by Raud
Mmmkay...



Most of us know that the Obama campain was paid for by more or less the same lobbyists as the McCain party.


[edit on 4-3-2009 by Raud]

Last time I checked McCain had a public financed campaign, and Obama, who at first stated he would also use public financing, LIED and went with private financing raising record breaking sums from God knows where and who... Get your facts straight please.

-E-

[edit on 4-3-2009 by MysterE]

I agree with the point that arizonascott makes... after 8 years of Cheny/Bush, people were so desperate for change that they honestly believed that Obama would be the right person for the job. It was the perfect good cop / bad cop routine. Works every time!

The Castro parallel is weak though. How poor would Cuba be if they were not under the oppressive US trade embargo? Why do we still have this embargo in the first place? Oh, that is right, our stubborn ideology war with Russia.

Same game, different playas.

"Hope is a longing for a future condition over which you have no agency"
-derrick jensen

So, by HOPING for something, you are effectively saying that you are POWERLESS to change it.

This is the Fallacy of hope.

I'm not going to HOPE that this country changes, I will do everything in my power to SEE that it does.

-Edrick

Originally posted by Edrick
"Hope is a longing for a future condition over which you have no agency"
-derrick jensen

So, by HOPING for something, you are effectively saying that you are POWERLESS to change it.

This is the Fallacy of hope.

I'm not going to HOPE that this country changes, I will do everything in my power to SEE that it does.

-Edrick

For the good or for the bad though?
Politicians are master manipulators, you might not even realize you are doing the bad.

Precisely my point... Precisely.

Are you going to work for what YOU see as GOOD change?

Or are you going to let others make that decision for you?

-Edrick

I subscribe to a Veterans newsletter that goes out to active and former Military. A few weeks ago, they ran a special article about where the "good" jobs would be for those leaving the military: Border Patrol, U S Marshalls, FBI support services, Federal Prison officers and FEMA transportation & detainment officers.

Notice anything in common in the above list? All are either uniformed services or law enforcement. The largest number of positions were in the FEMA Trans & detain category but the job description was not defined. The openings were in many states in every part of the country.

So YES, the new administration is already opening up job opportunities for former military personnel. See - the changes are already happening. What are you complaining about? Perhaps you can get a job in a FEMA camp or working on the railroad, transporting people to those camps.

Cuba was a capitalistic franchise of the very same people who have run the USA and World to ruin this time again, until the revolution.

Whilst Cuba had the best health care system as in Nurses and Doctors per patients, with the highest funding per capita/per head as a mean % of the GNP people have died there including thousands and thousands of terminally ill children as the USA since that time banned any company that sold to them or provided for them any type of connection from any ties with the USA and forced them out of other countries too.

Whilst ever Cuban was given at least an Acre of their land each so they could grow their own food, Holmlesness was eradicated, whilst EVERY member of the Cuban Government and Civil Service did community work each work, The USA last president was taking certain Illicit substances, not doing his national guard service, bankrupting a company funded by the Bin Laden's and drinking every night.

Whilst Cuba was sending more aid per head of population (per capita) than the USA it received hardly any help itself except from the USSR.

If the USA would not have blocked all the companies, and countries in the world from having any ties with Cuba, as Castro and Che kicked out the then Bankers and Rapists Cuba would have been the most successful country in the world in health care, Happiness, Production, Community and Environment and distribution of wealth.

Cuba never worked because the Hill(aka Bankers friends) did not want it to, as Castro did what should have been done on Wall Street 10 yrs ago, or 60 odd yrs ago with bush's Grandfather and Hitler. I bet Every American now wishes homelessness was impossible, and each would be garunteed his own land to work to ensure he could never starve and wouldnt have to beg.

Saying Cuba was wrong is like saying kids who are bullied and abused shouldn't have issues when older. The USA crushed every single country that even tried to work with it.

If you believe anything about the education you receive on Cuba in the USA I know a Banker who runs the fed and is one of the worlds most prominent experts as accepted, on the last depression, now isnt that strange?

Wake Up please do read about this issue first in depth because it is a huge and massive subject and is nothing to do really with the USSR and Missile crisis or the Bay of Pigs or Hollywood spin, they are just fragments of a Huge and relentless ongoing continual plot to constantly undermine every single facet of any chance of any success for the Cubans and Cuba itself.

It truly would of outshone the world, hopefully some will look into this now that what is happening is happening.

And no I don't support communism per se, or totalitarianism, but if the people are forced to watch Barbie or Fox, or Castro whats the difference same thing, at least if Castro had his way everyone would have been fully fed, educated free to degree level, total best and free health service, all part of a community, all in accomadation of good standard of their own.

Hanbro, bernanke, and hollywood dont give a flying +++++ how healthy you are educated, where you watch or buy their things from, its just one way. Castro at least gave back, yep people were shot sick I don't like it, but I just saw on you tube a coloured guy being shot in the subway for no reason at all. Free society, lol a joke yep the people have become free from the basic human rights that should be part of all our lives.

Elf.