Cuba Attempts to Resuscitate a Dead Horse

by Gary J. Isbell

Raúl Castro is allergic to private property, at least when it is someone else’s. With historical evidence demonstrating that every flavor of Socialism produced only economic failure, he seems to think that by shuffling bureaucrats and writing more regulations he can somehow resuscitate Cuba’s moribund economy.

Typical of one who hallucinates with a socialist utopia, Raúl is attempting to find a way to achieve a free market without freedom and capitalism without capital. Though any child can clearly understand the benefits of proprietary interest created by owning private property, Raúl is intent upon “modernizing” the regulation of business, not privatizing it.

It appears that this new and improved Cuban economic model might be characterized as a private/public hybrid, in which multiple forms of production, property ownership and investments will be coupled with a leaner welfare state and greater personal freedom. This will all exist under the iron fist of military run state companies and Communist Party bureaucracies. That is, the same party that caused the mess Raúl is pretending to fix is still in control.

In a classic show of Communist magnanimity, defectors can now visit the prison island, or if they so wish, even repatriate. New rules affect the period of time Cubans can legally reside abroad without the risk of losing their bank accounts, homes and businesses on the prison island from eleven months to two years.
Raúl has stated that he intends to resurrect the economy by changing the methods of production: by lifting prohibitions on personal property, travel, minor economic activity and farming. Even if all of this is accomplished, there are still problematic issues such as a dual monetary system and the tremendously inefficient state run companies.

His utopian dream is to create a strong socialist entrepreneurial structure that is competitive, efficient and meticulously handled by his communist cronies—cronies that somehow will become honest managers and work tirelessly for the state without seeking personal benefits.

Because Raúl cannot create these heroically abnegated and charitable souls, he will have to settle for a cadre of new bureaucrats. He is playing a shell game that will only perpetuate the misery that Communism created. Raúl never learned from Fidel’s farming follies and has the grand idea that he will be the pragmatic foreman of the proletariat who can make Communism work, because Cuba is only suffering administrative failures, not philosophical ones.

The problem is Communism, and the solution is Christian Civilization. Stripping Cubans of their Christian traditions, the destruction of the family unit through immorality and the abolition of private property have destroyed Cuban society. They live in a country without honor and are not allowed to live with honor in their own country.
Communism has improved nothing. It only destroyed all that is good, true and beautiful through the application of Gnostic and egalitarian atheism. Cuba does not need more Communist regulations, reforms or an influx of riches to fix their defunct economy. They need to be allowed to live in concert with the four gospels, and their country will flourish again. Until then, Raúl and his cronies are only attempting to resuscitate a dead horse.