In Cuba, It’s Communism or Nothing or Both
Por Benjamin Noria
HAVANA TIMES – In the same way Rene Descartes once said: I think therefore I am, with the objective of investigating a person’s intellectual abilities and inciting humans’ liberation from religious fanaticism. The Cuban government has imposed the following upon its people: I’m Communist therefore I am. You’re either with the Communists or against them.
It would seem a lie that in the 21st century, with all the progress science and technology have made, that there is still a utopian Communist system in Cuba. This ideological/dogmatic/orthodox illusion has broken up thousands of Cuban families, many of whom have had to emigrate to other countries and many others have perished due to the hardship they’ve endured, as well as the poor quality of life in this country on the whole.
Cuba’s communist government is founded upon a hate culture and contempt for intelligence. Other totalitarian, tyrannical, autocratic and dictatorial governments share this nature.
For example, a German military officer in Hitler’s government said: “When I hear people talk about intelligence, I put my hand on my gun,” and a general of Franco’s dictatorship jumped philosopher Miguel de Unamuno when he was leaving a Spanish university and told him: “Long live death, let intelligence die.”
The Cuban government has become an exclusive system. They don’t stand for any criticism of their ideology, nor any minor amendments, even when Karl Marx wrote that: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
What’s more, they call themselves revolutionaries, yet they are the most conservative and backward to have ever existed. The term “revolution” means constant change and taking the ruins and rebuilding them and continuing to rebuild them until something perfect is created.
Over 60+ years have passed since a Marxist/Leninist revolution took place, which is nothing but a failure now. Cuba is already mixed up in a second “Special Period” crisis and the Communist government is still trying to keep this system standing. What further proof or sign does the Cuban government need to finally understand that socialism and communism have already failed as an ideology?
Cuban communists criticize the capitalist system a great deal, but capitalism is founded upon logic; and everything needs to be supported with a well-grounded argument.
While it’s true that there isn’t a single system that’s perfect, capitalism takes its principles from what can be calculated or measured with concrete numbers. They are more realistic and pragmatic. Liberal capitalist ideology has managed to satisfy the material, physical and spiritual needs of humans a lot more accurately than totalitarian and tyrannical governments.
The communism we see today is just a small group of fanatics who take power and stay there for 100 years ruling over the country. These fanatics tell the general population which movies they can and cannot watch, which books they can and cannot read. They believe they are invested with some superior and divine power to mark the correct path for people’s lives. At the end of the day, they end up driving their countries into poverty and leaving them dry intellectually-speaking.
Sigmund Freud once wrote that Communists thought that human nature would disappear if they got rid of prostitution and casino games.
This communist illusion has cost many people’s lives during Mao Zedong’s dictatorship in China, Pol Pot’s dictatorship in Cambodia and Joseph Stalin in what is known as Russia today. Over 50 million people lost their lives during the forced implementation of Communism by these fanatics.
In Cuba, for example, we had the UMAP at the beginning of the Revolution. These were forced labor camps where people were sent for just listening to rock music or wearing a checked shirt. The world has never seen anything more irrational or pitiful than this.
The Cubans leaders know their system is a failure they don’t care.
It’s about power, control, self enrichment, blocking democracy and a lack of morals.
If they had morals there would be other political parties and different ideas.
But they don’t.
Stephen,
Thank you.
And I would agree with your sentiment regarding opinions and debates.
I would also like to say that I always read your comments.
I may not always agree with every word you write, but I always find your studied analysis to be interesting and well argued.
Nick, you write:
“I am aware that my viewpoint is not so popular here.”
Your viewpoint is just as valid and interesting as all the other viewpoints submitted to HT. That’s what makes argument, debate, criticism so interesting. As you know, if we all saw and experience things the same way, the world would be very, very boring.
Continue your valid, open-minded opinions.
Stephen makes some interesting points. As he always does.
I have no problem with people criticising the current state of affairs in Cuba.
My point, as stated many times, is that these critics would be better served by sticking to the facts and by staying within the bounds of plausibility.
As I have alluded to on many occasions- the general trend on HT is that any article which is critical of the state of affairs in Cuba is automatically viable.
And it will automatically be applauded by the majority of readers.
I am aware that my viewpoint is not so popular here.
I fully accept that I am in a minority here when I suggest that such articles would carry more weight if they managed to take into account the slightly wider context of the world at large.
I fully accept that I’m in a minority when I suggest that such articles would carry more weight if they stayed within the parameters of the factual and the plausible.
But that’s all fine with me. Being in a minority doesn’t cause me any concern.
I gave several examples of some of the frankly weird points put forward in the article.
For Example – The suggestion that this alleged prohibition of wearing a checked shirt in Cuba at some point within the last 60 years was the worst thing that the world has ever seen is clearly nonsensical.
And I would just like to point out that people in Cuba, in this century, seem to wear wtf they wanna wear as far as I can see.
And also that these days checked shirts would be a sign of a fairly dull, lame-assed fashion sense anyway. Especially in Cuba.
Whatever atrocities the Cuban government has committed in the past or continues to do in the present doesn’t justify a 60 year embargo and draconian and bullying sanctions that the US has instilled in Cuba. It’s only about Florida’s 29 electoral votes and pleasing a few anti-communist fanatics . The US is doing absolutely nothing to advance democracy in Cuba by financing and encouraging dissidents. The Cuban government knows the only goal of the US is regime change in Cuba, so why should they kiss up to the US ?
It has been my observation that HT respects all opinions and contributions written and submitted to this forum be they pro communist Cuba (Elio), or be they the myriad of opinions of many domicile Cubans against the current Cuban government, or the writings of the insightful journalistic contributors. There are those resident in the country currently experiencing the daily hardships and their witness testimony is to be appreciated, I believe.
There are those who live comfortably outside Cuba and have visited the island and have a semblance of understanding of what is going on there and submit their opinions freely to HT with no prejudice.
Nick submitted this opinion:
“This article is typical of the skewed, one sided, irrational, misinformation that seems to be ever more apparent on HT these days.
I ain’t no big fan of the status quo in Cuba. But this type of BS does provoke a certain amount of recourse to very basic fact checking in this day and age of fake news.”
I disagree. I do not believe Benjamin is writing “BS” nor is his writing “irrational”. I also submitted an opinion regarding Benjamin’s article and correlated his viewpoints with those of an esteemed, learned Canadian psychology professor: Dr. Jordon Peterson.
Benjamin wrote and Nick took issue with this sentence: “Cuba’s communist government is founded upon a hate culture and contempt for intelligence.” Benjamin, I am sure was not attacking the communist government’s attempt to eliminate illiteracy in Cuba in the 1960s. The communist government at that time is certainly commended for such a benevolent task and I am sure Benjamin would agree.
What I believe Benjamin was referring to was the unintelligence, the incapability, the mismanagement of the Cuban economy for the past 60 plus years, despite an economic embargo which can be used as an excuse, a shield, a sword whenever a convenient crisis occurs.
Those communist ideologues in power in Cuba today do have a “contempt for intelligence”. Any intelligent government administration whether communist or capitalist does not have the right to remain in power while its citizens are feeling hunger pains on a daily basis in a hopeless economy while those “higher ups” in government enjoy the many luxuries extended to them, not from their intelligence, but merely because of Party affiliation.
In a capitalist democracy those unintelligent, power hungry politicians are voted out. Cuba, unfortunately for the majority of its citizens, has no such option. The democracy door is shut tight.
I refer back to Dr. Peterson and his summation after his extensive study and academic work on communist regimes and their consequences which Benjamin clearly reinforces: “Ideologues are the intellectual equivalent of fundamentalists, unyielding and rigid. (Beyond Order, p.173).
Benjamin simply calls the current communist ideologues in power “ . . .a small group of fanatics . . .” Some agree; some disagree. Certainly not “BS” nor “fake news”.
Mr Circles,
I actually have a good deal of respect for your publication. I read many interesting articles.
Including some which are devoid of any ideological bias.
FYI – There is nothing in my comment which is not factual as far as I’m aware.
From my standpoint I see a lot of failures within the Cuban system but also a lot of failures within the far more numerous examples of Capitalist systems.
I’m kind of a neutral. With an open mind.
From your point of view do you think it would be a step forward to lay your cards flat on the table and declare HT to be an officially pro capitalist publication?
There would be absolutely nothing wrong in such a declaration.
Capitalism ain’t all bad. I’m sure it has many good points.
Having said this, I must also point out that various of my friends in Cuba who have an entrepreneurial mindset have been stymied in their efforts by the low down and dirty policies of your fellow countrymen.
Nick you are clearly the Cuba expert from your UK vantage point. Cubans should put up or shut up because the holocaust was worse.
You say “Don’t get me wrong. I totally get the frustrations of people in Cuba.” I would question if you really do.
You say the author “needs to get himself in touch with kinda semblance of reality.” Yep, Nick you are the reality man and this Cuban professional of over 25 years in his profession, working for a State institution, knows nothing of reality. You wish him well after belittling him with your extensive knowledge of life for Cubans. And by the way, NO Cuban has received a fully tested vaccine. Up until this point they are only volunteers taking part in several tests. Hopefully at least one of them will actually be recognized as being effective.
This article is typical of the skewed, one sided, irrational, misinformation that seems to be ever more apparent on HT these days.
I ain’t no big fan of the status quo in Cuba. But this type of BS does provoke a certain amount of recourse to very basic fact checking in this day and age of fake news.
‘It would seem a lie that in the 21st century, with all the progress science and technology have made, that there is still a utopian Communist system in Cuba.’
Regarding scientific progress: I have dear and beloved friends of many years in Cuba who have received Covid vaccination that have been developed in Cuban laboratories.
I have a very close and beloved relative who lives in Capitalist Peru for whom there is no possibility of any sniff of any Covid vaccination of any type on the horizon or the next horizon or the next horizon after that……….
‘So being frowned upon for wearing a checked shirt is more pitiful than anything the world has ever seen?’
More pitiful than the Holocaust?
More pitiful than the slave trade?
More pitiful than the original population of Cuba being slaughtered by the then Christian Fundamentalist Monarchist Spanish?
‘Cuba’s communist government is founded upon a hate culture and contempt for intelligence.’
Contempt for intelligence. Really?
The author forgets the literacy campaigns that were initiated in the early 1960s?
Or the far higher lever level of graduates than ever previously?
‘This ideological/dogmatic/orthodox illusion has broken up thousands of Cuban families, many of whom have had to emigrate to other countries’
Does the author of this piece not realise that the vast majority of economic migrants emigrate from impoverished countries at the bottom of the Capitalist ladder to wealthy countries at the top of the Capitalist ladder?
Don’t get me wrong. I totally get the frustrations of people in Cuba.
I wish the author of this article the absolute very best of luck.
But hey, he needs to get himself in touch with kinda semblance of reality.
Benjamin writes a very telling article about how the Cuban Revolution is a classic example of irony. What began as a communist utopian dream has turned into a wrecked, dystopian nightmare.
To reinforce what Benjamin has written, and fully supported by his communist country examples and learned individuals, I provide another analogous perspective taken loosely from the book “Beyond Order” written by Dr. Jordon Peterson in his chapter called: “Abandon Ideology”. It aptly applies to historical and present day Cuba.
Dr. Peterson writes the world has seen the consequences of the totalitarian alternative in which the collective (the majority of Cubans in this case) were and still are suppose to bear the burdens of life while the few overlords transform the country into the promised utopia.
The communists (the Castros and company – circa 1959) produced a worldview that was attractive to fair-minded Cubans. At that time perhaps communism may have been a viable solution to the problems of the unequal distribution of wealth and extreme illiteracy that characterized Cuba back then, if all of the hypothetically oppressed were good Cubans and all the evil was to be found, as hypothesized, in their bourgeoisie capitalist overlords, Battista and friends.
Unfortunately for the communists, a substantial proportion of the oppressed were incapable, unconscientiously, unintelligent, licentious, power mad, violent, resentful, and jealous. This is simply human nature in any population. Likewise in the population a substantial proportion of the oppressors were educated, able, creative, intelligent, honest, caring. Those who rose to the top in 1959 in Cuba were a mixture of the two groups.
To reinforce what Dr. Peterson says, Benjamin writes: “Cuba’s communist government is founded upon a hate culture and contempt for intelligence.” Those Cubans in power today (the once oppressed – incapable, power mad, etc.) have severely mismanaged and ruined the Cuban economy.
In the Soviet Union when the communists gained power, it was vengeful and jealous leaders (oppressors) who were redistributing property, while it was competent and reliable farmers (oppressed) from whom the property was violently taken. One unintended consequence of that “redistribution” of good fortune was the starvation of six million Ukrainians in the 1930s, in the midst of some of the most fertile land in the world. That is a fact.
Sound familiar? Cubans going hungry on a tropical island with weather to grow food abundantly. Cubans today having to line up for countless hours under scorching sun to buy limited food, if they are lucky. The trials and tribulations thousands of Cubans have had to endure, “. . . many of whom have had to emigrate to other countries and many others have perished due to the hardship they’ve endured, as well as the poor quality of life in this country on the whole.” as Benjamin states.
Dr. Peterson unequivocally states: “Ideologues are the intellectual equivalent of fundamentalists, unyielding and rigid. (Beyond Order, p.173).
Benjamin reinforces that same sentiment describing the Cuban ideologues in Cuba today as “. . . just a small group of fanatics who take power and stay there for 100 years ruling over the country. The irony and incongruity is not lost. What was suppose to be right turns out to be dreadfully wrong.
well said
Actually the world has seen its fair share of ”irrational and pitiful” acts, and likely most of them were not committed under Communism. The UMAP were created at a time in which, unfortunately, being different was a sin, be it by skin color, sexual orientation or political ideas. Off the top of my head, only in the States, I can mention the internment in concentration camps of Japanese Americans, the use of ice-pick lobotomies and chemical castration with hormonal treatment to treat homosexuality, McCarthy hunting communists, and this is hilarious… banning dancing in a city in 1980. Can you imagine that!
Cuban Communist as a parasite that can not survive without a Host, The Tourist was the last host & their Survival instinct has brought out stronger Repression over a Flock that will Not Follow any longer. OR that is what we learned & still teach Canadian Youth.