What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Just the other evening, my wife and I found ourselves watching "Our Man in Havana," a movie now available on Netflix's streaming video. The film can't quite make up its mind whether it's a light farce or something heavier-handed, but the performances by Alec Guiness, Noel Coward, and Ralph Richardson--dry, witty, understated, but utterly compelling--the performances alone make the film worthwhile.
But my point here is historical, not literary. You see, shot in Havana in 1959, just months after the revolution, "Our Man in Havana" captures shot after shot of Havana in the old days--the look of the place, the life of the streets, the architecture, the transportation, the vendors hawking flowers and fruit. Havana, fifty years ago--fifty years ago--looks incomparably more prosperous, more beautiful, more alive, than Havana today.
If you have any college or high school kids around for the holidays who wonder what that whole Cold War thing was about--Communism? What difference did it make?--call them over right now, have them take a look at Havana in the opening sequence of the movie, then show them a few shots of Havana today. You might want to note in particular that the same cars--the very same cars, five decades later--are still on the streets.
Thanks, Fidel. You may have impoverished an entire island, once rich and beautiful, but you've provided a neat little exhibit for the rest of us.
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Aug '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Upon reading this sentence :
If you have any college or high school kids around for the holidays who wonder what that whole Cold War thing was about--Communism?
Was expecting you to recommend a trip to Havana, thankfully you didn't. Too many of our students go there anyway. Sandalistas looking for a glimpse of utopian heaven. A couple of mojitos, some cigars and a lecture later, they return missing the ruin that was Cuba, the blinded and malnourished, the sex workers, the racism that exists against the Black Cubans, and the transit points used by the Chavez/Hezbollah/Cartel drug organizations. I could continue , but you have pictures showing the degree of investment opportunities for redevelopment when the Castro Bros. join their bloody friend Che in Hell.
First item on Google search for Cuba Travel was AARP's advice on how to flaunt US laws and go to Cuba. AARP looking out for the senior insurance providers since 1953 !! AARP really takes the cake.
Besides we don't have to go to Cuba to see old Soviet missile launch sites, we can go to Venezuela and see the new Iranian ones .
Edited on Dec 22, 2010 at 10:00amJul '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
If you have any college or high school kids around for the holidays who wonder what that whole Cold War thing was about--Communism?
If You have do to this, then it speaks volumes about Their schools.
Jun '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
What gets me is that there are people in this world who still believe this Communist crap. Clearly, reality is a country seldom visited by socialists.
Jun '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
A few years ago I invited a visiting colleague from Amsterdam over for dinner. Inevitably the conversation turned to politics and the cost of the social safety nets in Europe that he felt was more than justified. Keep in mind this is about four years ago before Europe had spent "other peoples' money" (to paraphrase Maggie Thatcher) and now the riots in the streets. He was an ardent socialist and so I asked him to name me one country where socialism had succeeded, just one. I expected him to name Sweden, since this is often the fallback position for European socialists and held up as a great success - never mind that Sweden still is to a large extent a fierce industrial competitor and exporter of iron, steel, chemicals, technology, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, etc. So, arguably more capitalist than socialist. Instead, to my amazement he named Cuba.
"Cuba? Cuba? Really?" I said. "Because millions of people by the boatloads are trying to get into Cuba all the time."
“Well, perhaps that wasn’t such a good example” he admitted.
I diverted the conversation to other topics.
Jun '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Communism kills the soul, and without a soul, what's beauty for? It's useless. Communism doesn't kill everybody's soul. Just everybody with the political power to transform their surroundings.
Oct '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
This is great stuff. Let me also recommend showing your kids Andy Garcia's love letter to his home, The Lost City.
Well, let me amend that: Mr. Garcia's city of origin. I'm pretty certain that Mr. Garcia would say that his home is America.
Aug '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Well, the stagnation could be the complete failure of Communism (just like everywhere else it's been implemented) or it could be the US embargo, which seems to serve as the Satan of Cuban theodicy.
May '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Castro's Cuba has long been famous, or infamous, if you will, for the remarkable state of preservation of it's fleet of 50's era American cars. The cars are maintained out of painful necessity as there is no possibility for most of the Cuban people to replace them. But I wonder: the Trabat was produced in East Germany and exported to much of the communist bloc. They must have been exported to Cuba, I guess. I've seen lots of photos of the old American iron still running in Cuba, but I haven't seen any Trabats. Where did they go? Was the centrally-planned Trabat such a basket case of a car that even the improvizational Cuban whizzes couldn't keep them going? I think this illustrates the superiority of free enterprise over central planning if that's the case.
Sep '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Brian Watt
"Cuba? Cuba? Really?" I said. "Because millions of people by the boatloads are trying to get into Cuba all the time." · Dec 22 at 10:14am
But millions of people do go to Cuba each year: Tourists. Sadly, they love Cuba for its rundown (in tourism lingo: "historic" and "romantic") cars and buildings. But only as long as they get to live at a beach hotel, have access to a Michael Moore Certified Hospital, and an airport after a two week stay.
May '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
I have to preface this with a statement... I am not a communist sympathizer...
But isn't it true that we are, in large part, responsible for this? I mean, I know that Castro could have changed his tune at any time and accepted our largesse, but does anybody in the world survive without us (America)?
I know, I'm such a fascist xenophobe!
Sep '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill up the gas tank.
Sep '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
I know, old joke.
But on the question of exports: To my knowledge, former East Germany did not ship Trabants to Cuba.
Jun '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Ryan Gaines
I have to preface this with a statement... I am not a communist sympathizer...
But isn't it true that we are, in large part, responsible for this? I mean, I know that Castro could have changed his tune at any time and accepted our largesse, but does anybody in the world survive without us (America)?
I know, I'm such a fascist xenophobe! · Dec 22 at 12:23pm
In a word no! We are not responsible for Cuba's failure. Cuba can trade with any other country in the world, and when it needs to it does. Why Cuba is a failed state is because Castro took the 4th most prosperous economy in the western hemisphere and bled it white. The reason Cuban's cannot afford new BMWs or computers or Fiats or anything else you can think of is because they have no money. You know, money, the stuff capitalism spreads around so well.
May '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Peter Hintz: I know, old joke.
But on the question of exports: To my knowledge, former East Germany did not ship Trabants to Cuba. · Dec 22 at 12:37pm
If that was the case, I wonder why? Could it mean that Castro's economic model was so anemic that the Cuban people couldn't even afford a socialist "people's" car, or did ol' Fidel just decide that he knew best, and best was that his subjects should not have mobility? What a pathetic regime, its toppling long overdue. May it be soon.
Sep '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Kervinlee
Peter Hintz: I know, old joke.
But on the question of exports: To my knowledge, former East Germany did not ship Trabants to Cuba. · Dec 22 at 12:37pm
If that was the case, I wonder why? Could it mean that Castro's economic model was so anemic that the Cuban people couldn't even afford a socialist "people's" car, or did ol' Fidel just decide that he knew best, and best was that his subjects should not have mobility? What a pathetic regime, its toppling long overdue. May it be soon. · Dec 22 at 12:52pm
Just like everything else, trade was planned, and tradepartners assigned by a central governmental authority, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon). The USSR assigned itself as Cuba's main trading partner for cars (mainly Russian Ladas). To (sort of) 'own' a new car in the Eastern bloc you'd either have to wait a couple years [1) simply because there weren't enough cars around, and 2) for background checks], know somebody higher up in government, or be a high-level political operative yourself.
Edited on Dec 22, 2010 at 1:33pmAug '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Cas Balicki
In a word no! We are not responsible for Cuba's failure. Cuba can trade with any other country in the world, and when it needs to it does.
Well, we were Cuba's biggest trading partner and a natural fit for their tourism industry. Still, I basically agree with you.
As a thought experiment, imagine that in 1960 Canada and the United States got in a nasty fight over soft timber imports, hockey finals, pronunciation of the word "about" or whatever and the US created a trade embargo against Canada but Canada otherwise remained a basically free market country with good courts. I'm convinced that there would have been a notable hit to Canadian growth but it would still have been a pretty great country.
May '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Another very tragic but very illuminating example is North and South Korea.
You have a single people with a shared culture, language, land, history, and heritage, yet the outcomes are as completely different as night and day. You have one of the richest, most dynamic countries in the world on the south; and one of the poorest, most beaten-down countries in the world on the north. And it's all due to the differences in their form of government. There are no other factors you can point to that explain the difference in their outcomes. Arguing that the allies chosen by each side made all the difference is an insult to Koreans of both sides.
To be sure, a good government alone does not guarantee a South Korean outcome. Good government is a necessary but not sufficient condition for prosperity. You also need a people who are moral, hard-working, visionary and dynamic. What happened in South Korea is that the innate nature of the culture and the people was simply unleashed and encouraged, whereas it was suppressed in the North.
Edited on Dec 22, 2010 at 1:38pmSep '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Since China and Venezuela have replaced the USSR as Cuba's main trading partners, this is the result.
Edited on Dec 22, 2010 at 1:39pmJun '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
anon_academic
Well, we were Cuba's biggest trading partner and a natural fit for their tourism industry. Still, I basically agree with you.
As a thought experiment, imagine that in 1960 Canada and the United States got in a nasty fight over soft timber imports, hockey finals, pronunciation of the word "about" or whatever and the US created a trade embargo against Canada but Canada otherwise remained a basically free market country with good courts. I'm convinced that there would have been a notable hit to Canadian growth but it would still have been a pretty great country. · Dec 22 at 1:28pm
I'm not sure your Canada US argument is valid as anything other than an example, which I accept as valid. The reason it does not quite fit, however, is that the US gets most of its imported oil from Canada, which fact gives Canada some leverage over a vastly larger economic power. That said, any trade war between Canada and the US would have a disproportionate impact on Canada to be sure. Still, Cuba has had fifty years to absorb the shock or losing the US as a customer and has not yet recovered.
Jun '10
Re: What 50 Years of Communism Will Get You, or, Viva la Revolucion
Peter Hintz
How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill up the gas tank. · Dec 22 at 12:32pm
The Trabant was exported to Cuba in the millions. They were given duel exhaust pipes, stripped of all interior components, and now with the rear wheels removed pass for serviceable wheelbarrows.