The world we see in the news today is a world torn by civil conflict. I ask myself: what could someone who is professedly opposed to war and to leaving things in the hands of the powerful do in the face of all this? Can one do anything at all?
The word proletariat historically refers to a class that lacks property and possesses only its offspring. In classic capitalism it’s used for the working class, who according to Karl Marx are free in two ways: as free people (that is, never slaves) and free of property.
We find ourselves immersed in a growing atmosphere of scandal regarding government spying on the digital signals generated in the public or private lives of citizens, chancellors and presidents. E-mails are read, telephones tapped, lists of cell phone numbers are sold among companies.
Among the many believable characters in the recently released Cuban film Conducta – a film that has already begun to receive international recognition – we find one that is especially realistic. Ignacio likes to call things by their name and has a very clear idea of everyone’s private interests.
It would seem that time of the year in which Cuba is chilled by cold fronts arriving from the north – the period we euphemistically refer to as “winter” here – has definitively ended. A couple of cold fronts gave us slightly cooler days last week and had no other significant effects on the country.
When I was a teenager, I read Curzio Malaparte’s book Coup d’etat: On the Technique of Revolution. In it, this energetic and multifaceted Italian author advised all who aspired to stage a coup to make use of scientific breakthroughs and to involve experts practically in all strategies.
“Cuba is a multicultural and multiracial country,” said a journalist for Cuba’s midday news while reporting on an activity organized for an anniversary of Havana’s Arab Union. I’m glad someone’s finally realized that the concept of a “mixed race” is obsolete and dangerous.
I saw a news piece on television reporting that the president of France and the German chancellor are discussing the possibility of signing a code of ethics. Apparently, it has to do with how governments should behave in order not to end up spying on one another.
The part of the new labor code that would regulate work relations in the non-State sector grants employers a series of unheard-of faculties, while leaving employees virtually without any real protection before the management’s decisions. In essence, the new code seeks to empower Cuba’s emerging middle class.
Recent announcements about Cuba’s imminent monetary unification do not afford us much information on the changes we can expect to see over time. The “psychological” message behind this is that we must forget, once and for all, of ever going back to the parity between the Cuban Peso and the US dollar.