Posted on 03/24/2004 6:44:34 AM PST by LoneConservative
Friday, March 12, 2004 Cuba is officially socialist, but that hasn´t prevented some elements of capitalism from seeping through. Throughout our time in Havana as well as Veradero, many Cubans we´ve run across have perfected a myriad of ways to obtain a better life for their families.
But first, a little background. We´re all familiar with the Cubans who use a little ingenuity, as well as parts from a ´57 Chevy and attempt to float their way to the Florida Keys. While it may seem they're attempting to escape from a repressive regime, what they're looking for is opportunity—as are many refugees around the world who come to America. The most important opportunity for those who make it to America is sending money back to their families.
Cuba´s brand of socialism involves everyone's having just enough to get by. There is free housing, free education, even up through and beyond the university level, as well as food rations that provide pounds of sugar, rice, coffee and other necessities on a monthly basis. As you might imagine, this doesn´t leave much for extras, considering that an average salary works about to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-$30 US dollars a month.
However, since the ´90s and the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba has taken some pretty interesting steps in its quest to evolve into a land of business opportunity. One of the first acts was the legalization of the U.S. dollar. Considering the tension between the US and Cuban governments, it´s amazing that the dollar is king here. Those who have it can afford all sorts of of things—televisions, other top-of-the-line electronic equipment, name brand sports apparel, even Internet access.
One Fuqua student on our trip remarked that Cuba is a land of the poor. What he meant by that is that as compared to the U.S., where intellectual capital in most cases is summarily rewarded, here in Cuba, those who get ahead of those who work in hotels, bars, and other places where they can easily come in contact with tourists who tip in dollars. Those who work in professions like doctors, lawyers, diplomats, etc. subsist on standard government salaries. However, these persons are able to travel more freely and have more access to information than their lower social class counterparts.
Back to capitalism. Outside of the U.S. dollar, Cuba has welcomed direct foreign investment, a change in official policy from years past. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of tourism. The Canadians, the French and other Europeans have projects to build hotels and other venues here. However, to maintain control, Cuba keeps a a majority of the ownership.
But those things are on a grander scale. Even average Cubans feel the capitalist spirit. There are Cuban families who run paladeros, family-style restaurants right out of their homes. And of course, no trip to Old Havana would be complete without someone's attempting to sell you black market cigars. One person in our group ran into a little trouble with the Cuban police as he was attempting to buy cigars off a man on the street. Cuban officials are extremely serious about cracking down on the number of illegal cigars that are sold because it´s felt that the brand is diluted each time a tourist brings back a fake.
Most Cubans at all levels are waiting for the embargo to be lifted. The prize is the influx of U.S. capital and tourists into the Cuban economy. And while they're waiting, it seems very few have thought about what this will mean for the economy, the environment, or even socialist idealism.
Until next time, your correspondants in Havana, signing off
(Excerpt) Read more at fuqua.duke.edu ...
Hhmmmm, well, I'll let those that know more about Duke answer that one. All I know is what I've heard. It's a bastion of liberal/Socialist/Communist thinkitude here in NC, rivaled only by the well known liberal UNC system (aka The Berkeley of the East).
NC Ping!
MKM
This elitist little snot believes that the Cuban proleteriat is there only to service foreign tourists such as himself.
Has he given any thought to how the Cuban proletariat in a non-tourist town is supposed to earn a living? Has he given any thought to the obscene irony that, in Castro's worker's paradise, a Cuban worker can only "get ahead" by being given tips by vacationing tourists from capitalist countries?
The economy in Communist Cuba is a feudal economy with a parasitic noble ruling class (the Communist Party) that rules by the force of arms over the rest of society composed of learned men, artisans and laborers. The commoner classes are allowed only and as much as the armed noble class allows them. Any rebellion is put down by force of arms. Any dissenting voice ends up in the dungeon or at the execution block.
The one way to "get ahead" in Communist Cuba is not to be a professional earning practically nothing or a laborer making even less or a tourist area waiter asking a fat Canadian tourist if food not available to the commomn Cuban was to her liking.
The one way to get ahead in Communist Cuba is to become a member of the Communist ruling elite that is the nobility in that feudal land.
You did a great job here. Duke aka Berkely of the South is a Citadel of Postmodernity and Political Correctness. It inculcates its so-called smart students in superiority and righteousness. DUKE is now an Ivy League School and like Coloumbia and Yale are havens for radical Professors spewing their contempt:
Friday, March 19, 2004 Summing up a Cuban Experience
We are privileged to have been in Cuba at this moment in time. Despite all the contradictions precariously balanced in a dollarized, socialist dictatorship, I found the Cubans to be full of humor and optimism, shrewdly capitalistic, and disarmingly honest.
Walking through central Havana at 1am on a Monday night, it was eerily quiet and devoid of the usual "urban" late night shenanigans.
Talking with many Cubans about how proud they are of their free medical system, despite their awareness of its antiquity, made me realize just how sacred the notion of equity and solidarity is to most Cubans. Seeing young children recite in unison "La Historia de la Revolución" helped me understand just how powerful a single idea can be in drawing boundaries and creating identities.
From a business standpoint, Cuba has incredibly diverse resources upon which to draw. If Castro's regime were to really open up to foreign capital investment, investors would be beating a path to Havana. Real estate and tourism investments together could transform the island.
Lessons from sustainable development projects abroad would have broad application in a richly diverse environment. The education and general wellbeing of the populace also bodes well for foreign investment.
It's my guess there's not another place on the planet with a population so eager, flexible, and ready to embrace high-skilled jobs.
Where else could you find a population with a literacy rate that surpasses the US (some figures put it at 97%) and a functioning health care system that's accessible to everyone?
Looking forward, I am optimistic that Cubans will one day, in the not too distant future, realize their potential as a free people and remake their country through liberal democratic means. I for one hope to be there when it does!
These idiots really believe they've seen the real Cuba.
They just gotta find a place to insert the "D" word. Rose colored glasses come to mind. Duke promises its students a Rose Garden.
Wonder if the Duke University students were allowed to go in the secret, private, bars and restaurants that are reserved for the bureaucrats and those they approve of?
The Duke students feel right at home since their school is an island in one of North Carolina's most run down, dangerous, drug infested, and obviously liberal cities.
I was told by "someone who knows" right here on this forum that UNC is, in fact, one of the most conservative colleges in the United States.
Yes, I saw that thread LOL. He/she was obviously a disrupter or had never set foot in this state.
MKM
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