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In 1958, Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba after leading his revolutionary army into Havana. Castro, however, would not be the one to change the social institution of his country. In fact, the change would come principally from a Doctor turned politician, his name was Ernesto Guevara, but to the people he would be known simply as Che. As economic minister, Che took up the challenge of repairing the damage done to Cuba from years of exploitation by aristocratic landholders. First, he issues 29-year bonds to all private businesses in order to bring them under national control [1]. He instituted a socialized economy, providing housing, heath care, employment, and schooling to his people. By 1960 he began his own program of industrialization, not focuses on export but on domestic necessity to provide the people with what they need and with employment. Cuba maintained a level of social benefit unheard of in the third world [4]. Although having to endure a trade embargo from the United States, the people of Cuba were never without shelter, medical care or food. In an area of the world, in which people seldom go to school, Cubans were provided with schooling. In an area where hospitals were meant only for the rich, the people of Cuba were provided with it [5]. No one was out of work and no one was homeless. When the USSR collapsed, Cuba primary trading partner also collapsed, however Cuba would not. With its social structure firmly in place, and its farms and factories aimed primarily at providing for the people, the Cuban people would be able to avoid dropping to the levels that could be seen in other Latin American nations. Even today, homelessness in Cuba is unheard of. The literacy rate there is higher than even the US or Canada. A country like Mexico, who’s potential for growth is much greater than Cuba, could easily reach a point where the suffering of the people was completely wiped out. However, the unwavering believe in capitalism held by the first world powers that control the economic conditions of these countries represses any sort of political or economic change. Thus, the people of a modern industrialized country are left trapped by the aristocracy of capitalism.
Development is constantly defined by comparing the GDP of nations, by looking at the wealth of the few. However, what can we determine from that? We can see how much the nation makes as a whole, but do we see how the wealth is used? A man is not judged by the wealth he accumulates, but rather by what he does with it. The same formula applies to any nation. A country that neglects, exploits and oppresses it’s poor for the sake of development is not a modern nation at all. It is a nation trapped within a feudal system of hypocritical wealth distribution. To work for the benefit of a nation, is to work for benefit of the people, to do any different is tantamount to treason. And yet, the global economy exists to perpetuate a system that ensures that the people of the world do not interfere with progress and production.
If the world as we know it is truly going to develop, we must realize that development is not a matter of producing funds for a corporation. It is not about getting the cheapest labour for the most expensive product. It is about the human condition. A citizen’s right to live free from exploitation, to be provided with the opportunity to work and unionise, the opportunity to receive education and medical care, the ability to live a happy life. These are freedoms that are crushed under modern capitalism.
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Julian Benson | May 21st, 2004
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