ARTEMISA, December 19, (Corresponsalia Libertad, BPIC).- A ghost was put to rest in Europe. How many years have passed since the time that Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto? How many events have upset the planet?
Two world wars, the shattering of the atom, cybernetic made to benefit humankind. None may be compared to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Europe Communist Block. In the end. It is ironic that it came to be by nations exercising one of the main principles of the German philosopher, and from within those which Marx called his world, that it was reached the decision of burying that which Marx called a "ghost."
How far from predicting reality was the German thinker when he stated; "in the end, practice will be the sole criteria upon which truth will be valued?" From predicting that seventy years of fruitless communist practice in ancient Russia and its colonies, and in eastern Europe communist block, were to be precisely the practical corroboration on the inefficacy of a system that in the name of freedom and well being, serves instead solely to suppress and to sink nations onto practical and moral misery.
A system which leaning upon the promise of a heaven on earth, seduces you first and hypnotizes later. That yields the power of forcing us into living a lie even while all of the time having the truth right in front of our eyes. Unfortunately for all Cubans, but more so for those who inhabit the island this ghost still stroll through our, formerly blessed, emerald fields and our decaying cities seeding detraction and desolation everywhere.
Now Again; Of what means counts this evil system to sustain itself in our country even after the crumbling of its main support and even, after more than 60 per cent of our people is against its course?
We could say paraphrasing Czech's President Vaclac Havel, that the system alienates men, and alienated persons support the system. But Cuban reality is even more sad and complicated. The Cuban regime supports itself, besides repression, by other mechanism among which there are four that may be considered as fundamental, without denying the complicity of other processes. This four processes we name; inertia, implication, human degradation and unfulfilled needs. . Inertia This process turn persons into inanimate passive objects, they just let things go by. They renounce their role as historic characters, allowing to be conquered by their fear of change, by their fearfulness of the future, their conviction that any change will mean certain involution, a return to previous times en which they confronted great economic hardship, like during the great depression.
Also, by means of a political campaign of hate. Hate directed against an enemy represented by the "Yankee imperialism" and the continuous remembrance of events occurred -or allegedly occurred- at the beginning of the sixties. This constant campaign, in which all means of communication under the government's grip participate, carries an implicit message; "This is what our enemies desire for you and your family." Anyone who does not totally accepts the interpretation of reality expressed in the party line is considered an enemy and labeled as a counterrevolutionary, imperialist ally, sellouts, etc., always in terms that are sure to be sufficiently derogatory and destructive
Fortunately this process of inertia is ineffective against the overwhelming majority of the population being useful only to manipulate citizens over fifty-five years of age and/or with poor analytical skills.
The extension of this mechanism is not necessarily due to a premeditated plan. It may be also the result of a series of needs and random responses most of all to the lower salaries in Cuba. Salaries which are able to cover less than 30 percent of the most basic human needs.
As result of this, and the state monopoly on basic properties, many Cubans need to resort to "extracting" production goods from their places of employment to compensate for the deficit in the supply of their family unit's economy. He who works at a cigar shop takes a few cigars. He who works at a chicken farm, eggs, chickens, and feeds. The woman at the Sugar Mill extracts sugar or, syrup and so on. To this we most add the commercial trade of those extracted goods, which may be pursued by the same persons, or by others members of the family.
All of those, who are forced to act outside the law, are highly aware of the risk implied in their actions. Hence they try to appear as the most loyal followers of the communist system and its ideology, and avoiding to get involved in any sort of political action which may bring the authorities attention upon them. It is a sort of camouflage. In other words; "He who owns a glass ceiling avoids the throwing of rocks."
Neither may the self-employed scape from this pseudo compliance, given that, they work mostly with goods and supplies of questionable sources. Goods and supplies which are certainly not available through the state market, or which are not feasible to attain in the official stores due to their inflated prices.
Is true that the self-employed has a little more freedom, but it is also true, that a sword is hanging over their heads in the event that any suspicion of dissidence were to come to the attention of the authorities.
The overwhelming majority of grown ups spend most of their time in attempting to satisfy the universal lack of resources they suffer, or devising plans in attempting to try to satisfy the most pressing needs of the day, be that; getting a piece of bread for the child's snack in school, or a trickle of kerosene for cooking, a dash of sugar, or borrowing a pair of shoes to go to the doctor.
Always the list of problems to be solved outscores the list of accomplishments, therefore the Cuban is accosted by practical riddles that need to be solved and think about. This taxes our intellect in such a way that there is no time to think in political terms.
Someone said (Marx) that everybody has to be clothed and fed, and have a suitable dwelling, before engaging in politics. Mathematical logic indicates that for every phenomenon there is a counter-reciprocate. We most remember that the fowl after being unfeathered by Stalin had no option but to run to him and adore him as a God.
Of all four mentioned processes the two previous are the most prevalent and closely related. Actually, being both related to the economy, this processes may explain, in our judgement, why does the government refuses to grant a real economic opening to the Cubans, since such opening will imply loosening its most useful tool in maintaining power against the expressed wish of a majority of citizens.