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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Yes. Many.
Oh, this is crap. They understood the communist threat. John Kerry went to Vietnam and got shot at.
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Yes but then he went and tried to work out a deal with Ortega undermining Reagans foreign policy.
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop This whole scheme you've got about how Communists would seize control and never relinquish it is mighty hard to reconcile with Reagan's foresight in seeing that Communism was doomed to fail. Were Russians condemned to permanent poverty? No, thanks to Reagan's wisdom. Nor were Nicaraguans condemned to permanant poverty, thanks to Reagan's wisdom.
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You are kidding right? Look at North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam - and it took 70 year to get rid of the Soviet Union. Communist dictatorships are tough to get rid of.
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop Supporting right-wing dictatorships hurt our efforts to fight communism. Communists drew strength from the abuses and excesses of these governments. The Cold War was a global battle for hearts and minds, with a military undercard. A real commitment to democracy and capitalism -- a faith that we would win out -- a faith that I submit to you liberals like Ted Kennedy had and conservatives like Negroponte did not -- counseled that we act with the courage of our convictions.
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Would South Korea be better off if it was part of North Korea?, would Malaysia and Indonesia be better off if they were Communist like Vietnam. Sometimes the choice was between communists or authoritarians. What these liberals were promoting is that we withdraw support from the anti-communist regime and let the communists take over
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop Too many conservatives feared that democracies were too weak to stand up to totalitarian Communists regimes, and thought that dictators were a necessary evil.
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This was a tough call.
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop And dictators do not necessarily give way to democracy. Look at Singapore, which you inexplicably keep calling a democracy,.
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What makes you think Singapore is not a democracy. The communist party operates freely there. They have democratic elections. All adults can vote. Singapore, by the way, is the only country to go from a third world country to a first world country and thirty years. Also, and not coincidently, it has been consistently rated the freest economy in the world every year since 1975.
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop or China. .
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First of all China is run by communists. Since 1985 they have slowly been moving towards capitalism. The communist party thinks they will be able to hold on but they are sowing the seeds of their own destruction. Pretty soon there is going to be strong middle class that will demand democracy.
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop South Korea's democratization was hardly inevitable. Of course, Weimar Germany is the classic example.
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South Koreas turn towards democracy was inevitavble. Like I said before countries when they reach $6,000 to $8,000 per capita income they always go Democratic. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Chile, Argentina, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan etc. Can you name a country that has over $8,000 per year in per capita income that is not a democracy?
