One of the most revealing items of idiocy about communism (or socialism which is just communism lite) is the statement that “true socialism/communism has never been tried.” This statement is often used to justify another attempt at communism somewhere in the world despite the unbroken record of failure of communism worldwide.
Cuba is currently the clearest example of this record of failure. On October 25th, Martin Gurri reported:
On August 6, 1960, Fidel Castro nationalized the Cuban Electric Company and sent his minions to celebrate in the streets of Havana. The company’s logo, a lightbulb-nosed stick figure nicknamed “Calixto Kilowatt,” was paraded around in a huge open coffin. I remember watching this revolutionary ritual on Cuban TV, a young kid frightened by the macabre imagery. Castro’s propaganda was never gentle or subtle.
Fast-forward to last Friday (October 18th), when the electric grid in Cuba suffered a complete collapse. This is not an exaggeration or a metaphor. The entire island went dark—even Havana, which has been protected from the worst of the recent blackouts. It was a civilizational breakdown. The economy quite literally ground to a halt, as factories and stores were ordered closed by the government. From elementary schools to universities, the educational system was put on pause. Hospitals turned people away. For three days, Cuba, already tattered and abused, entered a special circle of hell reserved for the most mismanaged nations on earth.
Let’s be reminded what this means when there is no electricity. There is no refrigeration, no A/C, no fans, no running water, no medical technology. Anything and everything that depends on electric generation no longer exists.
If this was a one-time occurrence due to some catastrophic weather event, one would expect a recovery to a more normal life soon after power was restored. However, blackouts are a feature of life for Cuba. Since 2021, some 10% of the population have left Cuba for destinations that embrace current civilization standards.
In December, Patrick Oppmann from CNN, reported on a new collapse of the electric grid.
Cuba’s energy grid has collapsed, leaving millions without power, the latest in a series of failures on an island struggling from creaking infrastructure, natural disasters and economic turmoil.
The state-run utility company, the Cuban Electric Union, said workers were attempting to get the grid back online but local officials warned residents the difficult process of restoring power to aging Soviet-era power stations could take days.
Cuba’s top energy producer, the Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas, suffered an overnight failure, prompting the grid’s collapse on Wednesday, the company said.
Let’s remember this is the entire country that is without power. Energy generation is not the only aspect of life in Cuba that is collapsing. Housing is another area. And collapsing is literally a deadly problem for Cubans.
The ongoing collapse of Cuba caused by decades of disastrous communist policies has left a significant portion of the nation’s housing in a derelict state, posing a high risk to its impoverished inhabitants, who live in buildings that could collapse at any time.
Collapsing buildings are a recurring deadly problem for Cubans. The communist Castro regime, which controls housing and all other aspects of Cuban life, appears to have no interest in improving housing for its people nor in maintaining Cuba’s historic buildings, many of which are presently in a precarious state.
To add to this tale of woe, Cuba has run out of sugar, one of its few export crops and a primary source of income. John Hinderaker reports:
This is like Libya running out of sand: Cuba is now an importer of sugar:
The Cuban government acknowledged that it is “shameful” for the island, traditionally one of the leading sugar producers in Latin America, to be forced to import this product.
…
Over the years, the crisis in the industry has been severe. During the last harvest season, the failures were evident, resulting in a drop in production that has impacted both the domestic market and exports, a sector that was previously one of the main sources of income for the country. As a consequence, Cuba has ceased exporting sugar and is facing challenges in supplying this essential product in the local market.
Agricultural production has exploded around the world, but not in poor, benighted Cuba.
So how much are Cubans now paying for sugar?
The scarcity of sugar has led to a significant increase in prices, reaching as much as 600 pesos per pound in the domestic market. This situation has severely impacted family economies, as sugar is a staple product in every Cuban household.
At the current exchange rate of 1 Cuban peso = .04177USD, 600 Cuban pesos are equivalent to 25 US dollars per pound of sugar. Meanwhile, how much does a pound of sugar cost in the U.S.? $1. It’s the miracle of socialism: in a Communist country that was formerly swimming in sugar, the product now costs 25 times as much as in the capitalist country next door. Which sums up, in a nutshell, the poverty of people living under socialism.
This is what true communism/socialism is. The continued evidence of communism’s failure is painfully undeniable. Yet, here we are in this country with loudmouth politicians, voted into office, who want to try this communist nonsense which is being offered under the guise of equity.
The Squad is one just on example of such people. Omar from Minnesota recently spent some time in Cuba learning the ropes. That trip did not change her view of communism. These people utilize the yoke of censorship to hide the dreadful results of communist rule. The proof of this censorship is the lack of knowledge in this country about the horrific conditions in Cuba.
Cuba is a failed country. The reasons for its failure need to be trumpeted around the world.