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John Rolfe| Taking it Personally

I recently had a thought-provoking email exchange with a reader of Cuban descent, who is disturbed by Cubas brutal response to public protests over food and medicine shortages.

Recent protests should [underscore]the failure of socialism, wrote Gloria, who asked that I use her first name. Although I have lived here many more years than there, I still have strong feelings and attachments. I lived the Cuba of Batista and a little of the Castro regime. Batista was a cruel dictator. Castro seemed a savior until he began to kill anyone who opposed him.

I certainly sympathize with the plight of Cubas people. They deserve far better than they've gotten during the last 60 years. What's happening is horribly typical of a tyrannical regime. However, Glorias comments made me wonder why many people are referring to Cuba as socialist rather than communist and using the terms interchangeably.

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Refresher research reminded me that socialism is considered an early phase of communism, in which private property and acquiring more wealth than others is possible.Communism is supposed to be classless;all property is public, the government controls the economy (usually badly), with personal freedoms strictly limited.

Gloria wrote of returning to Cuba in 1998 and seeing impassable roads and streets without light. Salaries, even for doctors, were low. People lacked basic necessities.

One positive was education and health care for all but [there was]very little medicine and no infrastructure, Gloria wrote. People told me (once they were convinced I was not a spy) that they were too tired to think of revolting. However, enough is enough and the whole island has people protesting.

According to World Population Review, Cuba is one of only four Communist countries. The others are China, Vietnam and Laos, though China successfully modified its economy with market-based principles and some privatization. There are 11 Socialist nations including Venezuela, Nicaragua, Portugal and Iceland. Many others, such as Sweden and Norway, are Social Democracies with capitalist economies funding social welfare programs.

Six decades of American sanctions, a "comprehensive economic embargo" according to the State Department (www.state.gov/cuba-sanctions/) intended to keep money out of the hands of Cuba's leaders, havent changed that awful government. Unfortunately, the Cuban people suffer, too.

Communism fails because humans inevitably create pyramid social/economic structures with a wealthy, powerful few at the top who often try to preserve their status by repressing the struggling masses below.

Any system is only as good as the people running it. The key: Are they helping the greater public or only a select few? And too much of anything can be bad. Just as water is essential for life, an extreme excess can dissolve and destroy. Americas water capitalism without concern for societys overall well-being will create great wealth disparity, stifle upward mobility and feed social unrest.

Personal initiative should come first, but I still favor an adjustable (by the people) combination of private and public. One sector meets needs that are unmet by the other. But in our overwrought politics, those who propose even modified socialist ideas to address problems like low wages or capriciously astronomical healthcare costs are accused of advocating all-out communism like Cubas.

It doesnt have to be a strictly either-or proposition, but how do we achieve more balance if government cant help and private businesses wont do it of their own volition?

Capitalism, if practiced with social justice in mind, is a great incentive to study and work hard, Gloria wrote. In the ideal world, people would be compensated fairly. The United States is still a country of opportunity. Lets appreciate it and work to improve what we dont like.

Agreed. Meanwhile Cuba is in dire need of democracy so its people can have a say in how they are governed and treated.

Write to columnist John Rolfe at personallypojo@gmail.com or visit his website Celestialchuckle.com

More:
Don't fear socialism. Fear any economic system taken to the extreme. | Rolfe - Poughkeepsie Journal