geekchick | (no subject)

My alumni association is sponsoring a trip to Cuba led by a professor who has written several books on Cuba's cultural history. I am dancing around with excitement, even though I know in my heart of hearts that I won't be able to afford it. =/ I've sent off for the information anyway, hoping that I'll be pleasantly surprised. For the first time in recent memory, I'm happy I didn't delete their spam. =) Wannagowannagowannagowannago. *jumps up and down*

I'm still not donating to the annual fund though. I haven't yet finished paying off the $80k, you don't get any more until I've had a good long time without loan payments due.

In other exciting travel news: Boston in November (8-10). What a good idea for a tropical vacation, followed only by Edmonton in February. ;) I am officially going to APC9, and will probably have some small amount of time free over the course of the weekend if anyone wants to meet up for lunch/dinner/general hanging out. I'm not sure yet if I'm driving or flying or taking the train; I'm tempted to do a train trip since it's 8 hours of being able to do other things while travelling. It's also by far the least flexible of the three options. Things to ponder...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sanctions have a far from perfect track record, but they can work if a government needs a particular resource and has no way to acquire it domestically. One example of effective sanctions was the US decision to embargo oil shipments to Japan in early 1941. Japan needed far more oil than it could produce to supply its war effort, and therefore had little choice but to either negotiate or conquer supplies of oil. Of course, we all know that they chose the latter, but it was a choice they would not have been forced to make absent the sanctions. One reason why Mussolini was not similarly effected by League of Nations sanctions was that they did not include oil.

The situation in Cuba is different. Sanctions are being imposed by only one large state. The Europeans want nothing to do with this US policy, for example. That alone prevents the sanctions from being decisive. However, with Soviet support gone, Cuba is fairly short on the sorts of foreign goods which require hard currency to purchase. Tourism assists Castro's ability to deliver these types of goods and is likely to reduce domestic opposition to the regime.

Dictatorship is not eternal. I doubt that many who looked at the Soviet Union in 1985 would have foreseen its collapse. Just because we can't visualize how Castro will fall doesn't necessarily mean that he won't.

I don't disagree that Americans are capable of causing great embarrassment to a government like Cuba's. In fact, I'd be happy to see some of the money I donate to Amnesty international used there. Where I disagree is with your implication that tourists routinely do the same. I would expect most tourists to have little contact with locals. They largely will not speak Spanish, will stay in hotels which Cuban citizens are not even allowed to use, and will spend most of their time in activities very distant from the day to day life of Cuba.

We should continue this discussion via email.

Probably less hassle to conduct via email, but FWIW I was finding it rather interesting. =)

Heh. Well, I was worried that you'd not want your journal comments section turned int ogrounds for debate by two other people.

Heh. Nope, doesn't bother me at all so long as the level of discourse doesn't fall to the "d00d, you suck!" "no d00d, YOU suck!" level, which I have a very hard time imagining happening.

(no subject)

Both Sanctions and Visitors are of Situational Help

Re: Both Sanctions and Visitors are of Situational Help

Re: Both Sanctions and Visitors are of Situational Help

Re: Both Sanctions and Visitors are of Situational Help

Re: Both Sanctions and Visitors are of Situational Help