this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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TankieJerk

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[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

"Describing the persecution of queers in yemen as a 'religious nightmare' is western imperialism" was a personal favorite interaction I was reminded of last night. I get along fine with most marxist socialists but goddamn some of the most prominent leftist voices on here are just true lunatics.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 2 points 1 day ago

Those aren't leftists, they're radical centrists. If you're conservative they look like leftists, but if you're a communist they look like MAGA

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 10 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Mandatory Note: Castro is certainly an interesting figure, and certainly not devoid of praiseworthy qualities.

[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yep, plenty of flaws. But then so does any human. But you're not wrong. I think the necessity of focusing at home and isolation are the two things that saved him from doing/being worse. It's still sad to see in many ways. Despite the blockades and barriers that the west put up around the Cuban people, that he was only second to them.

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I mean, considering how international the Cold War was, and how active Cuba was in foreign affairs, I think it's fair to say focus at home and isolation were not major factors in Castro's policies. I think he was legitimately an idealist, just one who went down a dark path.

But an idealist going down a dark path is still preferable to a shithead going down the same. At a time in the Cold War when people starved while their dictators - Soviet or Western aligned - celebrated in style, Cuba maintained a reasonable standard of living instead of wasting its immense aid on rampant corruption.

On the downside, he made Cuba reliant on that aid, and when it dried up with the fall of the Soviet Union, so did Cuba's fortunes.

[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 4 points 2 days ago

So we are largely agreed. I have a bad habit of favoring entandre to the point that I become cryptic.

[–] mat@jlai.lu 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

About the last paragraph, being under american sanction makes it hard to trade with neighbours or occidental nations so quite a hard situation.

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

About the last paragraph, being under american sanction makes it hard to trade with neighbours or occidental nations so quite a hard situation.

That's a common misconception. During the Cold War, Cuba could trade with the entirety of the Eastern Bloc and nonaligned countries; after the Cold War, nearly everyone, including the very valuable markets in Europe, repudiated America's ongoing embargo. The EU even has laws forbidding companies in the EU from cooperating with US sanctions. Even allies as close as Canada trade massive amounts with Cuba.

The ongoing sanctions primarily affect Cuban access to American markets - which are legitimately important, but should not be the difference between economic ruin and prosperity in a functioning economy.

[–] mat@jlai.lu 1 points 1 day ago

TIL Thank you

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 2 points 2 days ago

Castro had enough sense to fire Che for wildly incompetent leadership.

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Spoke in full sentences too.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 4 points 2 days ago

Where is the special military operation to remove Zelenskyy is great but the special military operation to remove Maduro is bad?

You skipped the first slide. Brain death.

[–] FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Even further down: Tetris belongs to the USSR

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 7 points 2 days ago

I'll allow that one, tbqh. The PEOPLE'S Video Game 🙏

[–] PixelatedSaturn@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I heard this on my favorite radio station. I couldn't believe it. I can't even imagine how such thoughts could be put together. I went to complain on their website and found a thread of such complaints already there. But also a few posts defending that opinion piece that were even more bizarre.