Alan Cook's Blog - Posts Tagged "cuba"
Notes on Socialism
Although my novel, Trust Me if You Dare, is not intended to be about Socialism, a picture is painted about what a socialistic country is like because the book takes place in 1962 and one of the locations is Cuba. Castro was in power and people were feeling the effects of his rule.
Many people left Cuba by boat when they weren’t permitted to leave voluntarily. For the most part they were trying to get to Florida, but the boats were overcrowded and flimsy, and many lives were lost in the attempt. You don’t risk your life to leave a country where the living is good.
One aspect of Socialism is that the government owns everything and tells everybody what to do. Personal freedom is a meaningless term. Pay is low and food is often scarce. One joke is that the first thing that happens in a socialistic country is a scarcity of toilet paper. Central planning doesn’t work like the free market.
Huell Howser, who broadcast on public television in California, made a video in Cuba in the 1990s. One of the things that struck me was when he visited a farmers’ market that had recently been allowed to open. Food was sold by private citizens who had grown it themselves. A wide variety was available. Then Huell visited a government-owned market. Only a few items were being sold and those didn’t look good enough to eat.
One problem that is alluded to in my book is that doctors are paid so little that female doctors often resort to prostitution to make ends meet. Medical care is supposed to be good, but there are three levels of care: one for Castro and his buddies, one for tourists, and a third for everyone else. Abortions are allowed for any suspected problems in unborn babies, and sometimes done by force, thus ensuring a better survival rate at birth, which looks good in statistics.
After the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, they had a very high death rate. Everybody was supposed to farm the common land together, but it didn’t work. When Governor Bradford and some of the wiser colonists realized what was happening they changed the system so that every family owned their own land and everything that was produced from it. That’s when the colony started to flourish.
A current example of socialistic failure is Venezuela, where there are no jobs, no money and no food. The local currency is worthless due to hyperinflation. Socialism was successful in zero of many attempts in the twentieth century, and it’s not starting out well in the twenty-first.
Many people left Cuba by boat when they weren’t permitted to leave voluntarily. For the most part they were trying to get to Florida, but the boats were overcrowded and flimsy, and many lives were lost in the attempt. You don’t risk your life to leave a country where the living is good.
One aspect of Socialism is that the government owns everything and tells everybody what to do. Personal freedom is a meaningless term. Pay is low and food is often scarce. One joke is that the first thing that happens in a socialistic country is a scarcity of toilet paper. Central planning doesn’t work like the free market.
Huell Howser, who broadcast on public television in California, made a video in Cuba in the 1990s. One of the things that struck me was when he visited a farmers’ market that had recently been allowed to open. Food was sold by private citizens who had grown it themselves. A wide variety was available. Then Huell visited a government-owned market. Only a few items were being sold and those didn’t look good enough to eat.
One problem that is alluded to in my book is that doctors are paid so little that female doctors often resort to prostitution to make ends meet. Medical care is supposed to be good, but there are three levels of care: one for Castro and his buddies, one for tourists, and a third for everyone else. Abortions are allowed for any suspected problems in unborn babies, and sometimes done by force, thus ensuring a better survival rate at birth, which looks good in statistics.
After the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, they had a very high death rate. Everybody was supposed to farm the common land together, but it didn’t work. When Governor Bradford and some of the wiser colonists realized what was happening they changed the system so that every family owned their own land and everything that was produced from it. That’s when the colony started to flourish.
A current example of socialistic failure is Venezuela, where there are no jobs, no money and no food. The local currency is worthless due to hyperinflation. Socialism was successful in zero of many attempts in the twentieth century, and it’s not starting out well in the twenty-first.
