The basic point of your thread is entirely correct, Larry.

The USA is a society that in some respects is very rich and powerful...but in other respects is like some wretched 3rd World society in a state of unravelling decay. Americans are constantly told by their schools and media about the first part, while they remain largely unaware of the second.

It's a population in denial, sustained in their mythology and ignorance, imagining that they live in the "greatest society on Earth".

The average Cuban since Castro's revolution has been treated with far more human decency and consideration (and EQUALITY) than has the average American (and is healthier than the average American too)...but I know how futile it is to even suggest such a notion to people who have bought the myth of the American Dream.

The American Dream is a dream of the affluent few at the top...it has no pity on the rest of humanity. If you're American, you've probably got a DVD player and a Nintendo and a personal computer, but you haven't got a decent health care system or a government that really gives a damn about ordinary people's health and welfare, despite what they may say at election time. Your government is a hostage of private enterprise moguls, once known as "robber barons". They devour the poor for profit. (And I am not opposed to free enterprise in itself...I am opposed to gigantic, centralized, corporate free enterprise that establishes unofficial monopolies, hides its profits in overseas tax shelters, and ruins the World in the process.)

- LH