Prov 14:23

"A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away."

At first I was not sure what this had to do with anything related to politics until one word came to mind: Cuba. The U.S. embargo with Cuba has always bothered me, especially when you consider our incredible trading policy with China.

Cuba has great natural resources, and could be a great market for all kind of U.S. goods, but there has never been the political will to overcome the embargo. The Cuban people have been in dire straits for some time. But our government continues to hold onto the hard-line anti-Castro rhetoric.

Fidel is no winner by a long shot, his human rights record is nothing to celebrate. But he is at least on an equal footing, maybe even a better footing when compared to China.

One of the arguments for trading with China is that capitalism will gain a foothold through free trade and cause a loosening of hard-line communist ideologies. We have seen some of that come to pass. Little by little, the government of China is embracing a market economy.

But what's good for China is not good for Cuba. Of course, there is only one reason for this hypocrisy; the rich cuban exile community in this country. Their influence in politics is incredible, and many people say these exiles are a huge influence in the politics of the Bush family.

Many of them still cling to the idea that they will go back to Cuba and take back their houses and factories. It's not going to happen.
I don't blame them. It's not wrong, but at this point its not possible. If they actually had the best interests of their country at heart, they would seek to lift the embargo.

America has too long been the interefering imperialist in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its time we pursued pragmatic,peaceful policies of economic justice instead of stubborn, hard-hearted grudges that bring good to no one on either side.

Thanks for reading,

AC

Proverbs 22:16

"He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-both come to the poverty.

There is a lot in this passage. You could write a substantial paper on just this verse and have a great deal to work with.

What jumps out at me is this concept that one thing is the same as the other. Oppressing the poor is a bad thing. No one would ever make that part of his election campaign, "Vote for me! I'm going to oppress the poor!". Yeah, that's funny, but how many campaigns have as their centerpiece "Vote for me! I'm going to lower taxes!"? I know many of you will jump on the usual, "But we've got to cut taxes to spur investment!" bandwagon. I'm not going to disagree with you. There are sound economic ideas in lowering taxes to spur investment.

That said, where do we draw the line? Trickle-down economics will only bring good to the poor if capitalism has a conscience, if the rich will pay living wages to their workers.

I voted for the current administration, but I don't support all that they do, and am becoming more and more disappointed in their actions. They do not have a clue what it means to be poor, or even middle class. They are more interested in cutting taxes to people that don't need the help than they are in even coming close to any kind of real economic justice.

That's my opinion, you betcha. That's what a blog is all about.

Thanks for reading,

AC