Raul Castro’s Reforms
Writing by abuhatem on Wednesday, 2 of April , 2008 at 1:51 am
It looks like Raul Castro is going the way of China. Socialism does not work, and instead of continuing to oppress his people, Raul is opening up some markets. First cellphones were okay, then foreign hotels were permissible to stay in, and now DVD players are allowed and some private land-rights legislation is opening up. Finally.
The land initiative, however, potentially could put more food on the table of all Cubans and bring in hard currency from exports of tobacco, coffee and other products, providing the cash inflows needed to spur a new consumer economy.
Government television said 51 percent of arable land is underused or fallow, and officials are transferring some of it to individual farmers and associations representing small, private producers. According to official figures, cooperatives already control 35 percent of arable land — and produce 60 percent of the island’s agricultural output.
“Everyone who wants to produce tobacco will be given land to produce tobacco, and it will be the same with coffee,” said Orlando Lugo, president of Cuba’s national farmers association.
China went in perhaps the greatest leap from slavery to liberty of all time when it rapidly transformed its command economy to a market economy right before the demise of the Soviet Union. Look at China now, instead of poverty there is wealth creation and free trade with others.
The Bush administration should abandon the failed embargo on Cuba. Trading with Cuba is not going to help socialism or totalitarianism. On the contrary, trade with Cuba will increase U.S.-Cuba ties and bring millions out of poverty. The implications such as move have on peace and freedom are remarkable.
The most peaceful solution is usually the best. China is doing some horrible atrocities right now, there is no doubt, but Taiwan’s election of a pro-China unification candidate is promising. When tensions decrease and trade increases then peace is a result.
Every socialist regime that has ever been created, all of which were pure socialism and followed some manifestation of the Marxist atheist historicism fantasy, failed. Why? The impossibility of economic calculation under socialism to quote Ludwig von Mises, or the bounded rationality of human beings to quote Herbert Simon and Friedrich Hayek. It is impossible to centrally plan an economy. China has learned this the hard way, the Soviet Union self-destructed, and Cuba and North Korea just simply cannot go on. Setting aside all of the moral arguments against socialism, and all of the political consequences of socialism, and that prosperity under socialism being inexistent, and the oppression entailed under socialism, there is one main point why none should truly fear socialism. Socialism is truly impossible. It can only exist for so long (while peaking at the prices in free-market countries I might add) before it dies out. Look at Syria now which can barely afford the subsidies and is making market economy reforms before its entire economy collapses.
Literally every single example that history has shown us of a socialist country has collapsed. And apodidic logical reasoning makes it self-evident that this is the case. Both reason and experience confirm this. Ibn Khaldun wrote of how injustice or disrespect of property rights (of which socialism is simply a manifestation) leads to civilizational decline as far back as 1400 A.D. Thus in the long run, there is no need for war or embargoes or furthering people’s problems. Trade breeds cooperation and peace. As we see now Cuba and Syria - two of the last few countries in the world which are truly socialist - are reforming at a rapid pace to save themselves. China and Vietnam have already reformed before it was too late. And the Soviet Union collapsed. The only country left - that of North Korea - is in a horrid state currently.
It is actually quite ironic and funny that Marx’s evil theory turned out to be the opposite. Instead of market economies burning out and becoming socialist creating a world socialist command economy, all of the socialist economies have burned out and become market economies. Instead of world socialism, we have more market economies today than in any other period in history. And instead of market economies creating poverty, we have higher standards of living now worldwide (including Africa) than ever before in world history and free-trade amongst peoples is increasing peace and prosperity worldwide while religious beliefs continue to exist and provide strength to civilizations and societies. The Satanic force that is Marxism is now rotting in the trash heap of history, as the Satanic Marx gets his just deserts in his dark narrow grave.
People who support embargoes on the innocent people of Cuba are simply impeding their progress in economic reform. Indeed, embargoes, like socialism, are impediments on economic freedom and property rights. Many have pointed out rightly that you cannot truly be a free-trader and believe in embargoes or sanctions, which even according to the greatest hawk in our government - Dick Cheney - do not work (Cheney refused to vote for sanctions against South Africa in the Congress in the 1980s for this very reason).
So instead of marginalizing Castro, it would do well for the foreign policy of the world to abandon the failed policy of the embargo. Indeed, Castro was in power for 50 years and left voluntarily. It is laughable farce that the embargo succeeded.
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