Lessons from Cuba
I write this week after returning from my trip to Cuba, a place of extreme difficulties and with many serious challenges. However, I have discovered that if you look closely at any situation there is always something to learn. Because of the shortage of foreign exchange earnings, due in part to the ongoing blockade, and also due to the communist ideology, the Cuban people have learned to ‘recycle’ items in order to keep other things working.
The first thing that you notice in Cuba is the number of old cars, many over 50 years old but which have been kept going through the use of parts and objects of all sorts. If the part doesn’t exist then you make a new one from whatever you have.
Other things such as plastic bottles and bags are not thrown away but are used over and over and passed on from one person to another i.e. one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If something gets a hole you patch it, if it breaks you repair it, even the peelings from vegetables and any uneaten fruit or food become a meal for pigs.
The government of Cuba has provided energy efficient bulbs for every single household in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil. In addition many high energy usage devices for example; air conditioners, microwaves, broiler ovens, etc, are not permitted to be brought into Cuba. There is a bus system that moves significant numbers of persons and a train system in operation.
Now I am not in any way advocating the benefits of communism but the benefits of self reliance and being satisfied with what we have. We have for too long tried to follow the western ideas of being a throw away culture. In these difficult times perhaps it is time to try a new way.
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The greatest lesson to take from the Cubans under siege by a bullying neighbor is the priority of education to the Cuban nation.
An effectively educated populace is highly creative and less violent overall.
A highly educated populace is inclined to seek out and find CREATIVE solutions to problems, instead of living the delusion of destructive/criminal ‘solutions’.
And we do not need to go abroad to learn lessons in evolving a successful society.
The Mighty Maroon ancestors already left to alert Jamaicans who know Ja history, lessons in Self-determination, Self-reliance & Self-sufficiency.
So Jamaicans don’t need to look abroad, just ‘look within’!
The Mighty Maroons ran independent, relatively peaceful and successful societies right here in Ja for centuries!
Effective education will liberate the Ja mind from continue mental enslavement to the self-destructive ways of their historical foes!
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH COMMUNISM!… FAR FROM THAT. ITS THE SOCALL CAPITOLSM THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH!…. AND THATS WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE TODAY!. I SHIP SINK ALL GO DOWN. EXCEPT FOR THE COMMUNIST ONES!… WE HAVE BEEN TRICKED AND BRAIN WASHED BY WESTERN IDIALOGY BECAUSE THEIR AIM WAS A WAR BETWEEN EAST AND WEST. AND THE WEST WANTED TO RULE THE WORLD!…
SO THEY TELL US THAT CAPITALISM IS THE BEST!. AND CRUCIFIED COMMUNISM…. NOW I SEEN SOME OF THEM NOW EMBRACING SOME OF WHAT THEY WERE CUSSING NOT TOO LONG AGO , EVEN FIGHT WAR OVER IT!. NOW THAT THE WORLD SEE THAT CAPITOLS M DON’T WORK .. THEY SHEEPISHLY START TO UNDERSTAND COMMUNISM….
Re:Lessons from Cuba. I must say how nice it is to hear a fellowman/woman speak so sensible reagrding the economy of things in our little island home. I have often times echoed the same sentiments and though I now live abroad, I have alwyas found that we as Jamaicans have been treacheroulsy tricked into ideolizing the North American lifestyle. We must come to the place where we value the simplicity of living in the caribbean and make do with what nature provides. I am sure many cannot comprehend the idea of buying dirt, well that is what we do in the great north! Crazy , isn’t it?
Cuba can teach Jamaicans how to save and how to recycle. Solid waste, NWC and plastic manufacturers should take a look. On the other hand, energy efficiency and maximizing productive capacity can only come from modernizing and upgrading. Truth be told we could learn some valuable lessons but we must realize that some things have to change here and in Cuba too
The North American lifestyle is good for education, technical skills and productive innovation. However they don’t have all the answers. Case in point Cuba’s health system works better than the US (The US has 49 million uninsured) Jamaica should look at the social aspect that Cuba uses and examine the technical skills the US has to offer. Nation building demands objectivity and in doing so we can stay within our means