Epiphanies and Flip-Flops

Apathy in Cuba ahead of presidential decision
So reads the headline from that bastion of ethical journalism, Reuters. This epiphanic proclamation and its accompanying article is sure to catch the world by surprise. Reuters, however, still wonders if the Cubans on the island, as this article seems to imply, are forgetting just how good they have it:

Apathy and resignation reign in the communist island nation where waiting for slow public transport or finding deals on the black market to supplement low wages or pay for costly and scarce consumer goods are major pastimes.
”This system has good things and bad things, but I don’t see a future for myself in Cuba, and I’m not speaking badly about the government. It’s a reality,” he said.
Jose Carlos will not have to pay a cent to study to be an engineer at university, or for universal free health care, but he complains his father had to pay 15 dollars, equivalent to the average monthly salary, for the flip-flops he is wearing.

Yes, it is true; Jose Carlos will have a university education and the Cuban regime’s version of Universal Health Care (which is universally inadequate) without having to pay one red cent. But not because it is free, but because the regime does not exact payment from its subjects for these benefits in the form of money; instead, Cubans pay with their blood, their sweat, their integrity, and their souls. The oligarchic dictatorship is not preparing them to earn a livelihood—they are preparing them to be the most productive slaves they can make of them.
In spite of this, the apathetic mood in Cuba is still puzzling to Reuters, and its journalists (and I use that term loosely) are still scratching their heads in bewilderment. But the article makes sure to remind us that there is still hope; raul, who is next in line to the throne, is encouraging open debate among his slaves. Maybe, they hope, he will make a deal with the Chinese to import some reasonably priced flip-flops. Then perhaps the slaves will feel a little better and a little more enthusiastic about their masters.

4 thoughts on “Epiphanies and Flip-Flops”

  1. “waiting for slow public transport or finding deals on the black market to supplement low wages or pay for costly and scarce consumer goods are major PASTIMES”?
    But of course. Life in Cuba is one big, happy game. The people are really very happy, just a little whiny sometimes. They just don’t realize how good they have it. Besides, it’s a tropical island, so why not just go barefoot and forget about flip-flops? Leave those for the tourists.
    Despicable asshole.

  2. What is truly despicable about articles like this, Asombra, is that these are the same reporters who day in and day out decry the “horrible” US economy. Yet in Cuba, not being able to get consumer goods (which is a nice way of saying soap, toothpaste, underwear, etc.) is not that big of a deal because they have free university schooling and supposed health care. They leave out the part that all those “well educated,” “healthy” Cubans still won’t be able to get soap, toothpaste, underwear, etc.

  3. The double standard these people routinely use is monumental. They can’t possibly be dense enough not to see it; they just don’t give a shit, in part because they figure they don’t have to. There’s no real disincentive to this kind of duplicity, as long as it’s pro-left.

  4. Apathy, you forced to vote for one candidate, one party and one parliament, that has been there before you were born and never has done a thing.

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