tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post5176425610389000111..comments2023-11-16T03:57:05.158-05:00Comments on The Cuban Triangle: The new cooperatives lawPhil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-14858785847156016352012-12-13T18:57:41.404-05:002012-12-13T18:57:41.404-05:00Intelligent comments and I too agree
that the rea...Intelligent comments and I too agree <br />that the real test will come when<br />success rears its head. Sadly, if<br />the embargo didn't exist, all the pieces would fit together for some<br />real change. Mr. Gross was never needed if Cuban's had access to computers, cell phones and a direct<br />link with the USA's massive communication system. The changes that have been articulated would work and we'd probably see some scared older cronies on the run.brianmackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17218348094942589118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-32237305848366154962012-12-13T12:40:18.460-05:002012-12-13T12:40:18.460-05:00as raul has commented many times, cuba must move i...as raul has commented many times, cuba must move into a more sustainable 21st century socialism. and they will do it without stopping, but without hurry.<br />these new coops are vitally important to continue the plan the government has. the fact people will want them to go faster, the fact there will be problems to be solved and mistakes made, that's all part of the process. it's very exciting to see what is happening, and what will be the effects in the next few years.<br />and now, lets hope the idiotic american siege against cuba can finally be exposed for what a waste it is, and to have it end.<br />keith bolender<br />cuba under siege (palgrave)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-39325293960747302552012-12-13T11:16:04.699-05:002012-12-13T11:16:04.699-05:00Great analysis in this piece, as well as very astu...Great analysis in this piece, as well as very astute observations by your first"commentor" above. As for me, I see interesting parallels with Russia in the late 19th century, when the Tzar supposedly ended serfdom, but created the concept of the "Mir." In essence, while serfs were no longer shackled by the landowner directly, they were now shackled to their particular village group. In the end, serfs were as "enserfed" as ever. In Cuba, there is a clear reluctance to make room for individual intiative because it represents a diminution of governmental monopoly on power. We shall see if these new rules, in fact, stimulate production, just how far they'll let this initiative get.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-87660295579101590802012-12-12T21:56:21.930-05:002012-12-12T21:56:21.930-05:00Mr. Peters,
I agree with your comments. The law i...Mr. Peters,<br /><br />I agree with your comments. The law is promising.<br /><br />It does not place limits on the type of economic activity that may be carried out by cooperatives and it offers a potential way out of the state sector for highly skilled personnel with university degrees that are not being used efficiently by the state sector.<br /><br />It is also a way to provide employment out of the state sector and to reduce bloated and inneficient payrolls in the public sector.<br /><br />But providing the same weight to each participant in the cooperatives instead of in accordance to the capital each provides puts a limit on the speed with which such coperatives would be financed.<br /><br />Also the government does not have to ennunciate any explicit restrictions since these could be applied on an ad hoc basis through centralized national government approval of each new cooperative.<br /><br />Furthermore, it is a pilot program which means that it is an experiment and that definitive regulations have not been formulated but will be the result of ongoing results, of trial and error decisions and of the relative weight of conservative and reform minded government burocracies supervising the results of the cooperatives that ahve been created.<br /><br />So there are indefinitions about the project that make an analysis of it premature. <br /><br />We should wait for it to function for some time before making a serious analysis.<br /><br />It is a step forward taken because the totalitarian government as a last effort to survive because the leaders of the totalitarian government feel they have their backs to the wall and they have no other alternatives.<br /><br />But I have my doubts whether such cooperatives would be allowed to succeed if they have positive results.<br /><br />I suspect that at the first signs of success there would be severe efforts from th ruling hierarchy to restrict the growth of cooperatives or the whole effort would be so severely restricted and regulated that they would either be strangled on the craddle or placed under serious handicapps to try to sabotage their development.<br /><br />Because we must not forget that in Cuba there is a circle of privileged bureaucrats living off the efforts of the rest of society whose parasitic existence depends on the continuation of centralized government controls.<br /><br />This ruling group is well aware of the fact that its hold on power depends on the continuation of these centralized controls no matter how inefficient these controls are in practice or how dire is the economic situation of the country.<br /><br />We must not forget that for these groups their own welfare trumps overcoming the country's crisis unless the political situation takes such a turn that it is evident to them that their own survival in power is at stake.<br /><br />But, although Cuba is approaching that point, it is still not evident that this group considers that the situation is that critical because widespread public protests are not yet occurring.<br /><br />So let's keep our fingers crossed and knock on wood hoping for some enlightened leadership and the continued success of the new experiment. <br /><br />Buit do not hold your breath in anticipation, it will take some time for the results to become apparent and the project, even if successful, could be sabotaged or slowed down by the country's leaders. <br /><br />It is the curse of totalitarian regimes for reforms to be held up or slowed down till the final crisis occurs and then to be attempted when it is too late for them to have any effect on the final result. <br /><br />The elite's policies being counterproductive usually finally result in its downfall.<br /><br />Let's see what happens in this case!<br /><br /> Cantaclaro<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com