On: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relation...

[scardine]

I highly recommend reading "Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot" which explain how dictatorships can pick a handful of indicators and elevate them to first-world levels while still making everybody's life miserable.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Perfect-Latin-American-Idiot/pro...

[discardorama → scardine]

You're talking as if the dictators sit around, wondering about some sort of "SEO" to game their ranking on these lists.

The "life expectancy" figure can't be gamed, unless you out and out lie.

Here's a recent article for thought: http://www.wired.com/2010/04/cuban-health-lessons/

[scardine → discardorama]

The indicators per se are not gamed. Instead, you select a few indicators like "Olympic medals", "life expectancy" (etc) and commit every resource of the country to them at all cost and without regard for everything else. The indicators you picked will show amazing and you can use them to justify your ideology. Pretty much like a SEO hack, they are hacking public opinion (looks like it worked on you).

[mistermumble → scardine]

I highly recommend travel to those countries so that you can observe it for your self. The picture is different than the book.

[wdr1 → scardine]

Michael Moore needs to read this book.

[jff → wdr1]

He's already mastered the essential strategy of selecting a handful of indicators to make your point seem right.

[Moru → wdr1]

I'm sure he already did