--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's absurd. We would all like to see…" description: "\"It's absurd. We would all like to see Cuba move toward civil society and free markets and greater respect for human rights. But the U.S. policy is exac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/wayne-smith-73483_absurd_it-s-absurd-we-would-all-like-to-see-cub_849906.png" --- # It's absurd. We would all like to see Cuba move toward… ![“It's absurd. We would all like to see Cuba move toward civil society and free markets and greater respect for human rights. But the U.S. policy is exactly the wrong way to go about it.” quote by Wayne Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/wayne-smith-73483_absurd_it-s-absurd-we-would-all-like-to-see-cub_849906.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/wayne-smith-73483_absurd_it-s-absurd-we-would-all-like-to-see-cub_849906.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/wayne-smith-73483_absurd_it-s-absurd-we-would-all-like-to-see-cub_849906.png) > “It's absurd. We would all like to see Cuba move toward civil society and free markets and greater respect for human rights. But the U.S. policy is exactly the wrong way to go about it.” [Wayne Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The U.S. approach to Cuba is counterproductive, hindering civil society, markets, and human rights progress. **In simple terms:** US policy hurts Cuba's freedom and development. Key Takeaway Reevaluate strategies to support Cuba. Themes foreign policy human rights economic development Mood critical concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - NGO work - diplomatic negotiations - trade agreements - humanitarian aid Key Concepts democracy promotion sanctions soft power Questions to Reflect On - How can the US support Cuba without imposing its own agenda? - What alternatives to sanctions could foster freedom? A Different Perspective Policy may ignore local agency and cause backlash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) [Civil society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-society/) [Cuba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cuba/) [Cuba Civil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cuba-civil-738062/) [Free market](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-market/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [Human rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-rights/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Like Cuba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-cuba-738061/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Rights Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights-policy-738063/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wrong way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-way/) ## Related quotes > [It seems clear to me that the Obama Administration has no human rights policy. That is, while in some inchoate sense they would like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/it-seems-clear-to-me-that-the-obama-administration-has-no-human/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [I've been able to accomplish goals that I set for myself, where in countries like Cuba you just don't get those opportunities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddy-alvarez/i-ve-been-able-to-accomplish-goals-that-i-set-for-myself-where-in/) [Eddy Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddy-alvarez/) > [The Castro government is disproportionately white given the color of the island. It doesn't look like Cuba.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-falcoff/the-castro-government-is-disproportionately-white-given-the-color-of/) [Mark Falcoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-falcoff/) > [What I really like about Cuba is that you can go into a local bar in a provincial town and you'll get jazz played…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gimlette/what-i-really-like-about-cuba-is-that-you-can-go-into-a-local-bar-in/) [John Gimlette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gimlette/) > [I'd like to go to Cuba.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elian-gonzalez/i-d-like-to-go-to-cuba/) [Elian Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elian-gonzalez/) > [ I wouldn't like to see Cuba change in other ways. And the trouble is when Fidel \[Castro\] does go - I am sure he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gimlette/i-wouldn-t-like-to-see-cuba-change-in-other-ways-and-the-trouble-is/) [John Gimlette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gimlette/) > [What's certain is that a totalitarian enclave like Cuba's can't continue to exist, so change will definitely come there, eventually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/what-s-certain-is-that-a-totalitarian-enclave-like-cuba-s-can-t/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [For me, sexual identity and orientation is a human right, which should also be accepted by the United Nations. Of course, innovations in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariela-castro/for-me-sexual-identity-and-orientation-is-a-human-right-which-should/) [Mariela Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariela-castro/) > [When you see my performances, even people that you might have known, like Nicky Barnes in 'American Gangster,' you have to get over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cuba-gooding-jr/when-you-see-my-performances-even-people-that-you-might-have-known/) [Cuba Gooding, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cuba-gooding-jr/) > [I've never been anywhere in my life like it and I only really noticed it when I returned to Los Angeles and then Berlin.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wim-wenders/i-ve-never-been-anywhere-in-my-life-like-it-and-i-only-really-noticed/) [Wim Wenders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wim-wenders/) > [“The Baxter house sparkled with multicolored lights and evergreen garlands draped with icicles. The piney scent of a real Christmas tree mixed with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-diaz-gonzalez/the-baxter-house-sparkled-with-multicolored-lights-and-evergreen/) [Christina Diaz Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-diaz-gonzalez/) > [Cuba seems to have the same effect on US administrations as the full moon has on werewolves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-smith/cuba-seems-to-have-the-same-effect-on-us-administrations-as-the-full/) [Wayne Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-smith/) > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) ## More by Wayne Smith > [Cuba seems to have the same effect on US administrations as the full moon has on werewolves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-smith/cuba-seems-to-have-the-same-effect-on-us-administrations-as-the-full/) [Wayne Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-smith/) > [“He would never go home again. He had no home to go to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-smith/he-would-never-go-home-again-he-had-no-home-to-go-to/) [Wayne Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-smith/) > [“Nothing is worse than loneliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-smith/nothing-is-worse-than-loneliness/) [Wayne Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-smith/) [Explore all 4 Wayne Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-smith/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's absurd. We would all like to see Cuba move toward civil society and free markets and greater respect for human rights. 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