Yes, the issue is with single party states because in such states, the party and the state are basically synonymous. Insofar as a party is a voluntary organization, it’s fine to set standards for ideological unity. But once those standards become a requirement to access political power, your state is functionally no longer democratic.
And sure, there are other one party states, and they’re also bad. But I’m criticizing the Cuban government specifically because it has more defenders on Lemmy than those states do. Just look at how many angry comments I got.
sure, there are other one party states, and they’re also bad.
Is there a metric in which you use to determine if a country is good or bad? Surely it’s not just democracy = good?
Cuba (when not being illegally embargoed) has much higher living conditions, education, and access to healthcare when compared to other “democratic” countries with similar demographics.
Respect for autonomy and worker’s rights is important. Cuba does well in some metrics and very poorly on others. For example, few people know that they have one of the highest rates of incarceration of any country on earth. That’s not a sign of some socialist paradise, whatever other achievements they might have.
But I would generally look at an array of metrics but political freedoms are an important component, especially when we’re discussing government since unlike other metrics it’s totally within their power to control.
Yes, the issue is with single party states because in such states, the party and the state are basically synonymous. Insofar as a party is a voluntary organization, it’s fine to set standards for ideological unity. But once those standards become a requirement to access political power, your state is functionally no longer democratic.
And sure, there are other one party states, and they’re also bad. But I’m criticizing the Cuban government specifically because it has more defenders on Lemmy than those states do. Just look at how many angry comments I got.
Is there a metric in which you use to determine if a country is good or bad? Surely it’s not just democracy = good?
Cuba (when not being illegally embargoed) has much higher living conditions, education, and access to healthcare when compared to other “democratic” countries with similar demographics.
Respect for autonomy and worker’s rights is important. Cuba does well in some metrics and very poorly on others. For example, few people know that they have one of the highest rates of incarceration of any country on earth. That’s not a sign of some socialist paradise, whatever other achievements they might have.
But I would generally look at an array of metrics but political freedoms are an important component, especially when we’re discussing government since unlike other metrics it’s totally within their power to control.