Reply #108: I disagree.

[proteus_lives]

You really think any US prison compares to a Soviet gulag?

"Under unregulated capitalism Russia evolved (devolved) into a country in which there is a dual economy, with a small cadre of rich people in their major urban centers and the majority of the population disenfranchised from the "new economy" and struggling to survive."

How is that different then Soviet Russia? Party elite rode in chauffeured cars to their private dachas while the Soviet worker stood in bread lines.

"Cubans may not have much, but everyone has a home, gets a GOOD education and GOOD health care and enough to eat."

And they can't choose their leaders, access the internet or have freedom of speech. What a trade. Why can't Cuba have all those good things AND different political parties? What is the Cuban Communist party so afraid of? Why are all communist states one-party dictatorships?

I believe that the future is a mixture of socialism and capitalism. But marxism and communism? Dead and buried and rightfully so.