North by Northwest

Follow up on my recent post about Cuba finally lifting their ban of DVD players. This AP article discusses the current Cuban marketplace following Raul’s decision to allow sales of DVD players and many other previously restricted goods. Cheap electric bikes had been banned because the government didn’t think their power grid could handle the strain of charging all the batteries on all those bikes.

The government is also allowing regular citizens to purchase cell phones and stay at nice hotels, which were previously restricted to foreigners and high-up government officials.

Cubans snapped up DVD players, motorbikes and pressure cookers for the first time Tuesday as Raul Castro’s new government loosened controls on consumer goods and invited private farmers to plant tobacco, coffee and other crops on unused state land.

The change is a sharp contrast to the early days of Cuba’s revolution, when the government forced or encouraged private farmers to turn their land over to the state or form government-controlled collective farms. But without more details, it was difficult to tell the significance of program, which began last year but was announced only this week.

Many of the shoppers filling stores Tuesday lamented the fact that the goods are unaffordable on the government salaries they earn. But that didn’t stop them from lining up to see electronic gadgets previously available only to foreigners and companies.

Cuba’s communist system was founded on promoting social and economic equality, but that doesn’t mean Cubans can’t have DVD players, said Mercedes Orta, who rushed to gawk at the new products.

“Socialism has nothing to do with living comfortably,” she said.

“Very good! DVD players on sale for everybody,” exclaimed Clara, an elderly woman peering at a black JVC console. “Of course nobody has the money to buy them.”

Hopefully Raul will continue implementing this type of free-market reform and realize that legislating social and economic equality only leads to poverty for most.

Just in case you think life in a country where the government runs your life is a lot like life in mostly free-market country like the US, think again. Up until now sales of DVD PLAYERS were BANNED in Cuba! And that’s not the only thing you take for granted that is prohibited in Cuba; AIR CONDITIONERS will not be available until NEXT YEAR! Can you imagine life in Cube without the AC?! TOASTERS are on hold until 2010 due to limited power supplies. Communist utopia?… Dream on.

“The country’s priority will be to meet the basic needs of the population, both material and spiritual,” he said as he replaced Fidel Castro, a staunch critic of capitalist consumer society.

To me, this is outrageous. It also illustrates the dangers of a government with too much power. As you think about which candidates to vote for this year and in the coming years, remember that the USA is the great nation it is today due to the personal and economic freedom we have enjoyed through the years. Sadly, our country has been embracing the same ideals of socialism and communism that have produce these pitiable conditions in Cuba today. Please, for your own good (isn’t that what democracy is all about?), support public officials who embrace the ideas of limited government and free-market capitalism. Unfortunately, most politicians these days don’t.

Think about it this way: Do you like “Politics” or “Politicians”? Probably not, right? Well, most candidates running for office these days support bigger government, more programs, more regulation, etc. etc. Translate that into: more Politics & more Politicians. See where I going? If you say you don’t like Politics and Politicians, why vote for candidates who promise programs and the like that will only result in more Politics and more Politicians. The only way get reduce politics is to reduce the size of government. It’s really that simple. Unfortunately, most people seem happy to vote for candidates who promise them what they want but all they get is a bigger Political mess.

Cubans were delighted with the prospect of being able to buy items such as microwave ovens and air conditioners that were previously only available as stolen goods on the black market.

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Many Cubans expect the state to soon allow them to buy cellular telephones. While they will now be able to buy computers, access to the Internet remains controlled by the government.

Read more about anti-capitalist Cuba here.