In times of war, one nation may set up a blockade around the other to dwindle down its resources and force them to surrender; an embargo is a restriction of trade and travel on an opposing nation, but either way, war is involved. So when did the United States declare war on Cuba? For nearly half a century, the U.S. has hindered the growth of Cuba by placing an embargo upon them, but what has the U.S. gained from it? What is the goal? If the goal is the economic collapse of Cuba, then it has failed. If it is against Communism, what business does the U.S. have trading with China or Vietnam? For the rational thinking individual, when the information is presented, unbiased with no propaganda, one would not be able to find a decent reason why the embargo was ever placed, let alone why it is ongoing, and eventually cannot help be biased when thinking about the injustice of it all.
For this project, by going through Cuba’s history, more so within the past hundred years, and by explaining Fidel Castro’s hardships and goals, along with other revolutionaries such as Ernesto “Che” Guevara, I hope to expose the injustice the Cuban people has had to deal with in terms of the imperialistic force of the U.S. and the events that took place in setting up the embargo.
In terms of audience, since most people are afraid of the truth, cannot handle the truth, or choose to ignore the truth to blindly follow what our leaders tell them, my audience should be free-thinking, open-minded individuals that want change, but are quite sure what needs to be changed or are looking for a narrow field of change, or are simply interested in the subject matter.
In terms of research, I will try to use periodicals from America, but since those are usually laced with propaganda, I will mainly use books on the subject and periodicals from other countries to make my point. However, what can be determined as propaganda and what is considered the truth? Because of this, I will be force to use sources I normally would consider “garbage”, but only to allow readers to view both sides and come to the conclusion on their own.
In conclusion, by stating the facts and exposing the injustice of our imperialistic state know as the U.S., readers would agree that yes, the embargo should be lifted, but also that the U.S. had no right to place it to begin with.
Moise, Hilary.(2006) U.S. Embargo against Cuba under Growing Siege. Council on Hempspheric Affairs. http://www.coha.org/cuba-embargo-under-growing-siege/Sierra, J.A. (2010) Economic Embargo Timeline. http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/embargo.htm
Oh Jon, you are so going to have to control your bias in this project. The proposal is seeping with your attitude against the embargo.
ReplyDeleteAs for your audience, people today don't "follow their leaders blindly" in the manner you imply. Look at the tea party people, for example. They blindly follow their leaders, just not our leaders. People may follow their leaders blindly, but different people follow different leaders blindly depending on their perspective of society, culture, and history. Your job will be to reach people who may follow other leaders than you. At the most all you may be able to do is get others to acknowledge you have a valid point, but they will still disagree with you.
We'll work together this summer to make certain you're just not raving at the "other."
45/50