The kid sends me an e-mail in which she writes, "Today, a friend came over. She recently returned from Cuba. She told us a lot about it. She said the hotel seemed nice, but the second you step outside...... The dogs and cats are emaciated -- not to mention the people. The store is two shelves with a tootbrush and rice. The ancient buildings are lived in by many families. the buildings, you could tell, were magnificant. But, since there's no maintenance, they're falling apart.
"A young girl came over to her and asked her for a tooothbrush and pencil.
"The doctors there are amazing and people come from other countries to be treated by them. They do eye surgery and help with breast cancer. They charge around $400, which for them is a five year salary.
"She said that when she spoke to some people and mentioned 'communisnm,' they said, 'no, no, it's socialism.' They are so naive ....... bainwashed ...... to think that they are well taken care of.
"They have the old cars which they paint flashy colors. Gas is free. To go see a doctor or dentist is free; but, there are no toothbrushes! Things are free but there are no things to be had.
"No one is allowed to leave the country!!! What kind of messed up place is this???"
"P.S. Have you ever been to Cuba? My friend says that the beach is stunning and their fruit, such as mangos, are big and delicious."
To which I replied, "Yes, I was there in the August of 1955. That was before Fidel Castro. It was a lot better then than it is now. However, it was ruled by a corrupt military man named Batiste. Also, US mobster families wanted to run gambling casinos there and do other anti-social things. Batiste was their man. Because of the corruption, many in the US and Cuba welcomed Castro when he overturned Batiste.
"Also, Castro said he was no communist. He lied.
"To understand what's going on with countries like Cuba, Zimbabwe and other failed states, you've got to understand two tiings; namely, economics and political power.
"1. Political power: The difference between socialism and communism is mainly the distribution of political power. In socialism, it is shared among various political parties and it is shared based on the will of the people, as expressed in fair elections. In communism, there is no sharing of power. It is held entirely by the one party (generally referred to as the communist party) and that party has one leader. In the case of Cuba, it is Fidel Castro. When he dies, the power will probably go to his brother, Rauel.)
"Regardless of what they call themselves, China, North Korea, and Cuba are clearly communist countries.
"2. Economics: Economics is the study of how resources are distributed; namely, who gets the money, who gets the land, who gets medical care, who gets to farm what, etc. To undersand this subject, you've got to understand the thinkers and philosophes who have come up with their various theories. You've also got to undertand that the world keeps changing. For example, when the U.S. was only 13 colonies, ours was mainly an agricultural economy. Today, the fastest growing part of our economy is intellectual property, e.g. computer software, and entertainment. (Don't get me wrong; we still have plenty of the other kinds of economic activity.)
"Each type of economy has different needs. Alexander Hamilton understood our country's need for a central bank. Andrew Jaackson did not. Hoover was a nice man who didn't understand the how credit worked. FDR had the advice of people like John Maynard Keynes, perhaps the first of the modern economists.)
"There have been really very differnt understandings of how an economy works. There is Adam Smith and then there is Karl Marx. How do you know who is right? You wait to see how contries following each school of economic thought makes out. Today, it's become pretty obvious that Marx has failed. Communism, as an economic theory, doesn't work. Free mardets do. (Although Adam Smith was the first to outline the importance of free markets, the latest great economic theoretician of free markets was Milton Freedman. )
"It's a big subject and I believe I should end it about now. But when you look at countries you can see some interesting things. China is a communist country that has come to realize that a free economy works best. what they now seem to be trying to do is run their country with all political power being centralized, but where their markets are allowed to allocate resources freely and without interference by the cental government. It might take a while to see if this actually will work.
"Cuba still doesn't get it. And Zimbabwe is run by a thug."
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