Death of a Tyrant

Fidel Castro is dead!
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

That exclamation point says it all.  Fidel Castro was a murderous dictator who inflicted horror upon the people of Cuba to such a degree that untold thousands have sought to escape on anything that would float.  He was a happy pawn of the Evil Empire throughout the Cold War.  Though his apologists will offer hagiographies to him, he was an old school totalitarian in the mold of Stalin, Mao, and Hitler.  He himself declared that his success was based on "twin themes of socialism and nationalism."  National socialism?  Where have I heard that before?  Oh yeah, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, otherwise know as the Nazi party.  Of course, he also proclaimed himself to be a Marxist-Leninist, aligning him with the workers' paradise of Communist Russia.  Like the USSR, Castro had gulags.  Granted, a gulag on a Caribbean island is nowhere near as inhospitable as one in Siberia but that's small consolation for the inmates.

 

Considering how much of a villain Castro was, why is he so admired by so many Westerners?  Envy.  There are elected politicians who wish that they could impose their will on the rubes outside the capitol like Castro has been able to do for more than half a century but are limited by laws and voters.  Thomas Friedman has praised Chinese autocracy for its ability to move the country in ways that President Obama was unable to move America.  Envy.  Obama himself declared that America could learn from the Castros during his surrender tour earlier this year.  Envy.  Most politicians and their courtiers would like to exercise power like Castro did.  No politician or political theorist likes that there is opposition that will inevitably prevent full implementation of their dream policies.  Envy.  Castro didn't have opposition because he lined them up for a firing squad or put them in prison.  Sure, autocracy has its downside but imagine how smoothly things would run if not for that darned opposition party!  Envy.

Beware those who express condolences and sorrow for the passing of the tyrant.  Embrace those who said 'good riddance!'  With Castro dead, a Cuban Renaissance may finally be on the horizon.