Some Thoughts on Cuba
by Donna Schoenkopf
I'm sitting (once again) in the Tecumseh, Oklahoma library using their WIFI connection. Yes, my computer is down again. The evil Hughesnet has left me stranded out in the boonies. I only have a few minutes left on my computer battery so I'll make this snappy.
Everyone from FourStory is in Cuba as I write this. I imagine the balmy warm air, the colorful sights, the delicious smells of cuban food, the sound of magical music. My sweet daughter, the renowned and highly sought after author, Rebecca Schoenkopf, has been given instructions by me to record her experiences indelibly somewhere -- mind, body, notebook -- and has sworn to bring them home to me. I asked her to take pictures of anything with Che Guevara on it. She said she would.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to accompany the merry band of FourStory writers to the land of my dreams. How ironic! I am one of the only people I know who loves Cuba with all her heart. To me, Fidel's emphasis on educating everyone (Cuba has the highest literacy rate in the western hemisphere) and truly universal health care (a medical practitioner in walking distance to everyone) is what a society should be doing for its people. To me Fidel has the right idea.
I know, I know. The repression, isolation, etc. are always pointed out to me. And maybe, and this is a distinct possibility, MAYBE I am being defensive and apologetic for Cuba when it doesn't deserve for me to be. But I DO know that we, here in the good old US of A have our own political prisoners, for example. Everyone in jail for marijuana use is a political prisoner, put there by a policy brought about by Nixon's hatred of hippies. Just let your mind open a bit and I know you'll come up with other categories of political incarceration yourself. (Two wrongs don't make a right, Fidel. So let's do better than we do on political incarceration, okay?)
Isolation of the Cuban people by Fidel's policy of barring internet access to everyone is horrible. But I understand why he's done it. With the continual attacks on Cuba by U.S. supported entities, he's protecting his land and people. You say, but let everyone decide for themselves! Yes. That is a good thing. But you must realize that we have a whole bunch of Tea Baggers right now who want to tear down all governmental involvement in our lives, which in my humble opinion, would devastate our country. And the Tea Baggers get their ideas from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Fidel is being protective. Kind of like a parent. Yes, it smacks of paternalism and all, but when was the last time you heard ANYONE discuss communism or socialism with any degree of candor and objectivity in our public media? We have media that is almost completely controlled by corporations and powerful rich men with agendas of their own. Yes, we do have a tiny speck of alternative thought, this website is an example, but for the most part MOST Americans are never exposed to anything except right of center ideas.
And finally, we aren't the shining example of liberty, either. Ever hear of the Patriot Act? Everyone I know now thinks twice before they say anything on the phone or writes something on the internet.
So, power to the people. Fidel, lighten up so I don't have to defend you. And United States, get real. It's about time we truly became the land of the free and had justice for all.
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