Nothing renews one\u2019s faith in capitalism like visiting a communist country.\u00a0 Cuba, for all the praise some foreign visitors heap upon it, is no exception.\u00a0 Certainly you can\u2019t visit the island, as I did recently, without admiring its many charms:\u00a0 its physical beauty, the accomplishment of its architecture and music, the warmth of its people.\u00a0 And yes, there\u2019s something invigorating about seeing those classic American cars form the days before the revolution\u2014bright, curvy, chugging along the streets of Havana.<\/p>\n
But the Cuban economy simply doesn\u2019t work; the evidence is easy to see.\u00a0 The charter we took was half empty, as Cuban Americans bring so many goods to family back home (medicine, clothing, electronics, food)\u2026the plane reached its weight limit long before they sold all the seats.\u00a0 Cuba\u2019s shops reminded me of the department stores I don\u2019t remember seeing as a baby, when my parents took me to Hungary (it was still under Soviet rule).\u00a0 The architecture in Cuba is reminiscent of the most graceful European capitals, just dirty and dilapidated.\u00a0 The glamorous classic cars spew black smoke.<\/p>\n
As the saying goes, if something can\u2019t continue it won\u2019t.\u00a0 What role should we all play?\u00a0 The politics and economics can be debated endlessly, but what is the potential for humanity here?\u00a0 The answers are uncertain, but I think there\u2019s more potential than we think.<\/p>\n
Capitalism has serious drawbacks.\u00a0 But the ability to debate and initiate change confirms that, compared to some countries, we have little cause for complaint here at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nothing renews one\u2019s faith in capitalism like visiting a communist country.\u00a0 Cuba, for all the praise some foreign visitors heap upon it, is no exception.\u00a0 Certainly you can\u2019t visit the island, as I did recently, without admiring its many charms:\u00a0 its physical beauty, the accomplishment of its architecture and music, the warmth of its people.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n