(Video) Al Jazeera Documents the Process of Cuba's Economic Reforms & Popular Opinion

[RedSonRising]

This footage and series of interviews is a great look into the debate going on within Cuba, particularly among the working population, as to the effectiveness of their long-lasting economic system, the changes being made to it, and the future consequences of such changes.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/08/2011831736730355.html

(If someone could help me out as to how to embed the code for the video itself, I'd greatly appreciate it.)


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[Prometeo liberado]

I just dont see how foreign investment will not ultimately put its claws into Cuba. The situation is very dire and the great capitalist powers are literally on the doorsteps waiting to pounce. The social safety net is collapsing quicker than the next phase of state capitalism can pump cash into it. The one bright spot seems to be that mismanagement and corruption have yet to make an appearance.

Also there is a great thread somewhere on revleft on whether competition equals capitalism.

[RedSonRising]

I just dont see how foreign investment will not ultimately put its claws into Cuba. The situation is very dire and the great capitalist powers are literally on the doorsteps waiting to pounce. The social safety net is collapsing quicker than the next phase of state capitalism can pump cash into it. The one bright spot seems to be that mismanagement and corruption have yet to make an appearance.

Also there is a great thread somewhere on revleft on whether competition equals capitalism.

Ultimately, the Cuban government (despite lacking resources) does not own any entangling foreign debt or seem to have have any immediate interests in handing over assets and productive property to private foreign investors. It seems to me that self-employment and worker cooperatives resonate more with the people, while the social safety net is still there, but limited as it always has been since the Special Period.

Questions of the market and whether it is inherently exploitative are always interesting; I don't think their potential service to a functional socialist economy should be neglected or outright dismissed. The way the working people and statesmen express that sentiment makes it seem like a mostly positive progression, depending on where it goes from here.

[RedSonRising]

Really, that's it? When these reforms first came out, there were people jumping all over the place in debates as to the nature of these changes, the future of the Cuban working class, and the Cuban State itself. Now that we have a comprehensively detailed visual report on the processes, government stated goals, and popular opinion, revleft goes silent? :confused:

[getfiscal]

Thanks for this. I'll watch the video today.

My own preliminary assessment (I hope to read a lot more about this) is probably pretty typical. The focus on human health is a good thing but the state failed to transition away from agriculture because of their dependence on sugar exports to the Soviet Union. Now they are basically a beach for Westerners.

It seems plausible to me that they will try for a Vietnam model, where the state remains dominant in most sectors but many others are open to foreign investment aimed at exports. But reforms tend to snowball because of the economic logic involved. I mean if you want export-oriented growth and you are a few miles off the largest economy in the world then it doesn't take brilliance to suggest that hey maybe let's engage in liberal reforms to end the embargo.

[RedSonRising]

Thanks for this. I'll watch the video today.

My own preliminary assessment (I hope to read a lot more about this) is probably pretty typical. The focus on human health is a good thing but the state failed to transition away from agriculture because of their dependence on sugar exports to the Soviet Union. Now they are basically a beach for Westerners.

It seems plausible to me that they will try for a Vietnam model, where the state remains dominant in most sectors but many others are open to foreign investment aimed at exports. But reforms tend to snowball because of the economic logic involved. I mean if you want export-oriented growth and you are a few miles off the largest economy in the world then it doesn't take brilliance to suggest that hey maybe let's engage in liberal reforms to end the embargo.

The Vietnam model has no worker's control, and isn't desirable for anyone who appreciates the gains made by the Cuban working class, which extend beyond just training doctors. Cuba tried industrializing throughout the 70's and 80's, and it failed; they lack the infrastructure and basic capital to make such a transition. Their agriculture is actually quite innovative and more sustainable than probably every other food system in the world; some aspects of central planning are inefficient, but recent municipalization of decision-making organs concerning production and small-time farms & cooperatives have helped mitigate problems of miscalculation. Read a bit more into it before you condescendingly call Cuba "a beach for westerners."

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Thanks for this. I'll watch the video today.

My own preliminary assessment (I hope to read a lot more about this) is probably pretty typical. The focus on human health is a good thing but the state failed to transition away from agriculture because of their dependence on sugar exports to the Soviet Union. Now they are basically a beach for Westerners.

It seems plausible to me that they will try for a Vietnam model, where the state remains dominant in most sectors but many others are open to foreign investment aimed at exports. But reforms tend to snowball because of the economic logic involved. I mean if you want export-oriented growth and you are a few miles off the largest economy in the world then it doesn't take brilliance to suggest that hey maybe let's engage in liberal reforms to end the embargo.

Typical Keynesian, Macro-economic analysis.

Yeah, let's whore our supply out to meet demand, irrespective of how much living standards for the working class - the working class - in Cuba will drop.

GDP is not everything, and why would Cuba trade with the US - the country that invaded it, has tried to murder its ex-President hundreds of times - and caused widespread suffering via the embargo -, when it can trade with progressive nations as Venezuela, Bolivia et al., that have not?