About Rod D. Martin
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by Richard Rahn
December 16, 2016
How many political enemies would a dictator have to kill before you would no longer want your non-adult children to meet with him?
Sean Penn wrote a particularly mindless semi-tribute to Fidel Castro in the Dec. 3 edition of the Daily Beast, where he is far harsher on Donald Trump than on Castro. The article caught my attention because he had taken his young children to Cuba to meet Castro.
He also referred to Luis Posada, “often named as the architect of the 1976 Cubana [airline] DC8 bombing” (more on that below), unfairly lumping him in with all the peaceful Miami Cubans who celebrated the death of the dictator.
I assume that Mr. Penn would not have been as enthusiastic about his children meeting Hitler, Stalin or Mao (if that had been possible), because they each were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people, rather than just mass-murdering thousands, as was Castro.
Many Castro tributes poured in from those who should have known better, such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In addition to all of the killings and imprisonments, Castro also deprived the Cuban people freedom of speech, of assembly, of the press and of religion, the right to travel, and to fair and free elections, among other things.
His apologists say “Oh, never mind, because he improved literacy and health care.”
A few facts: Marian Tupy, who runs Cato Institute’s Human Progress Project, and who grew up in a socialist country, last week wrote:
“All socialist regimes have had a two-tier healthcare system — one for the senior communist party members and one for hoi polloi. Between 1960 and 2015, life expectancy in Chile rose by 42 percent … . It rose in Cuba by 25 percent. If this is success, I wonder what failure looks like.”
Cuba has achieved a high literacy rate, as have most other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, but literacy rates in the average Latin American country have grown at a faster rate than in Cuba, and without censorship. [Note by JW: Commie governments always promote literacy to better indoctrinate their subjects with Commie propaganda, the only thing that’s legal to read.]
In the 1950s, Cuba, Chile and Hong Kong were all low-income countries. Cuba still is a low-income country (with food shortages), while Chile now has approximately four times the per capita income of Cuba, and Hong Kong has approximately eight times the per capita income of Cuba.
The difference: Hong Kong has the highest level of economic freedom in the world; Chile ranks high; while Cuba is one of the least free.
Those who have praised Castro and Cuba merely reveal their own ignorance and lack of an ethical compass.
Back in 1976, because of my previous leadership role in a Republican policy and research organization, I was invited by the Cuban government to put together a very small team to visit Cuba and meet with high-ranking government officials.
We were supposed to fly into Cuba on Cubana Airlines Flight 455 from Kingston, Jamaica on Oct. 6. Tragically, the flight was blown up off Barbados — with the loss of 73 lives — by terrorists, a couple of hours before we were supposed to board.
The previously mentioned Luis Posada was charged with masterminding the operation but was only convicted of a lesser crime in the United States. We were told his group wished to discourage our trip (which may or may not be true), not realizing that we were going with express encouragement and guidance of the U.S. State Department.
One of our team members was a leading human rights journalist by the name of Ted Jacqueney. Ted met with some members of the Cuban underground during our trip, which motivated him to write an article about Huber Matos (Castro’s highest-level political prisoner at that time).
Four days after the publication of the article, Matos’ brother was killed in Honduras by Castro agents, in revenge. Three years later, Jacqueney was killed in New Jersey.
Upon our return from Cuba, I wrote an article about the trip, which, before he was president, Ronald Reagan used for one of his radio commentaries (March 25, 1977). Reagan said,
“The conclusion of author Rahn was the U.S. should be very slow to ‘normalize’ relations with Castro, especially since Castro needs better relations far more than we do. Any such agreement, Rahn says, should require an end to Cuban intervention in Latin America, compensation for the expropriation of some $1.8 billon of property owned by Americans, and freedom to emigrate for political prisoners. I hope the State Department is listening and I’m glad I was.”
The question remains, why do so many ignore the failure of socialism every time and every place that it has been tried? It is because there is widespread ignorance of both history and fundamental facts among most of those who advocate socialism.
Many cannot differentiate between aspirations and what is doable, given the nature of man. And finally, most of them exhibit a very limited ability to think beyond Stage One — i.e., considering the likely secondary and tertiary responses to any political or economic policy action.
In sum, their brains are immature — many grow out of it with age, but some never do.
— Richard W. Rahn is chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth, serves on the board of the American Council for Capital Formation, and is a former senior fellow of the Cato Institute. This article originally appeared at To The Point News.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
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