EPGAH writes:
If Communism is so great, why were and are there so many refugees from it?
Look, Communism isn’t for everybody. A lot of people didn’t like it, so they left. But a lot of people did like it, and they stayed. Recent surveys of East Europeans have found solid majorities in most countries saying life was better under Communism than it is now.
And the West always had larger economies with a higher per capita income.
But when Germany first split, it is little known, but vast numbers of West German socialists, Communists and Leftists left for East Germany. I have a German friend from Hesse who told me that there were many leftwingers in her extended family, and most of them emigrated to East Germany.
Venezuela has been experiencing high immigration from Colombia for some time now. These are the Colombian poor, working class and peasants. They are unanimous that their lives are much better in Venezuela than they were in Colombia.
The eastern half of Cuba is full of refugees from Jamaica and Haiti who left on rafts. These are the poor of Jamaica and Haiti and they are all adamant that life in Cuba is better than life in Haiti or Jamaica.
Yes, many Cubans want to come to the US. But has anyone ever noticed that Cubans always go to the US or Spain and never to the Latin American capitalist countries. If Latin American capitalism is so great, why aren’t Cubans heading there?
The thing is, it’s not only Cubans who want to come to the US as economic refugees. Huge waves of Mexicans and Central American economic refugees have flooded the US in recent years. Does this mean that Mesoamerican capitalism has failed? After all, 82% of Mexicans say they want to come to the US as economic refugees. Why doesn’t that prove that Mexican capitalism is a failed system?
