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Rob's avatar
Jan 8Edited

I actually grew up in the vestiges of the Canal Zone in the 80s and 90s and was there during Operation Just Cause when the U.S. came for Noriega.

When I was growing up, the CZ as we all called it had already ceased to be sovereign American territory. It was an American enclave surrounded by U.S. military bases but nominally Panamanian and under the civilian administration of the Canal Authority - whose management was all American.

The irony of the CZ was enormous. Everybody hated Carter and Democrats and were, and my generation are, loyal Republicans (not me, but that is a different story). They saw the reversion of the CZ as paradise lost, and with good reason, it was the greatest experiment in socialism the U.S. has ever seen. We aren’t talking really crappy everybody is poor socialism, but unlimited taxpayer funding where everybody is very comfortable socialism - the sort that can’t actually exist across any nation.

Imagine a civilian place with no private property ownership, where generations of a family could grow up in comfortable houses provided to them by the government. Imagine a place with no private commerce or private schools where your only choices were government and more government.

This is to say nothing of the segregation that existed in the CZ and the subjugation of the Panamanian people in their own country (the CZ was like a Berlin Wall Cutting the country in half you couldn’t get from one side to the other unless the Americans allowed you to and being government bureaucrats, they didn’t like allowing anything). Colonialism with socialism.

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Steve Berman's avatar

I never thought of it that way. Interesting and important story.

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Rob's avatar
Jan 8Edited

One final thing which will make you cringe. If you wanted to build a church, you had to get the government to build it for you since all land was government land and no private construction firms operated in the CZ. It is hard to describe to fellow Americans who complain about socialism here in mainland what real American socialism in the CZ was actually like.

Oh and all healthcare was completely free.

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Patricia Gauthier's avatar

First, you made it clear that the U.S. has perpetual rights to defend our country and our interests from foreign enemies in the Canal Zone. You explain how the inept press, uninterested in researching all the facts, understanding or helping Trump, does not understand the complexities of the Canal situation. That is why they do not ask the right questions. You explain Trump’s position and strategy in dealing with the stupid, hostile press, and accuse him of presenting a “ fact” and wrapping it with “ lies and distortions.” It seems to me Trump has both a strategic plan for the Canal and for dealing with the press that he wisely does not reveal every detail about so that our foreign and domestic enemies can counter it. So I do not understand exactly what the lies and distortions you accuse Trump of are: Can you tell me what they are?

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Kim's avatar

I am having trouble understanding why you think it’s okay for the US to move in on Denmark to take possession of Greenland. Do we then sit back when some country decides they want one or more of our territories?

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Steve Berman's avatar

Not moving in on Denmark. Greenland deserves self determination. They deserve to choose what political association they belong to. If Guam wanted independence or Puerto Rico, let them vote for it and go. Obviously there are reasons why these territories don’t do that. But Denmark should not have the last say about what Greenland does.

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