Wow -- lots of issued being discussed here in one big jumbled mass. Whether communism is a viable system (however it has been applied), the merits of government-sponsored health care vs. private health plans, the social impacts of corporate institutions on formerly closed societies, the viability of a Marshall plan in eastern Europe, the quality of Cuban cigars... makes my head spin.

Improved relations between the US and Cuba won't solve all the ills of either country, but I think they would be a step in the right direction. Our current situation has bi-partisan roots, and I'm happy to note that there appears to be a move towards a bi-partisan solution.

I think Castro has done pretty well by Cuba, when you consider how things could have worked out. I think we could have done a better job of tempering his authoritarian leanings if we had engaged constructively with Cuba, instead of drawing battle lines and trying to isolate them economically, diplomatically and militarily.

Whether or not something on the scale of the Marshall plan was or is warranted (either in Cuba or in eastern Europe), I think it's important to point out that our motivations in implementing the Marshall Plan were not completely altruistic; we did it because it served US interests to do so, by keeping western Europe within our own sphere of influence and preventing continuing wars prompted by scarce resources and failed infrastructures. The American taxpayers who footed such a substantial portion of the bill for the Marshall plan also realized substantial returns on their investment; we certainly weren't driven into poverty in the late 1940's and early 1950's by the Marshall Plan.

It's also worth noting that all of the major powers in the world have been steadily moving towards hybrid economic systems with elements of both socialism and capitalism. This only makes sense: "pure" capitalism is the economic law of the jungle, which allows the strong to completely dominate the weak, and lets huge numbers of people starve and/or die from inadequate housing, medical care, etc.; "pure" socialism results in a listless society which cannot compete with more robust economic systems elsewhere in the world. The US has been steadily moving towards a hybrid economic system since the days of FDR (at least), while countries like China are now moving aggressively towards a similar hybrid from the other end of the political/economic spectrum. World leaders who do not recognize the need for economic systems that are both market-based and socially responsible will gradually lead their countries to ruin, unless and until they are overthrown from within or conquered from without.

I don't smoke, so I'll defer to others on the quality of Cuban cigars.