Cuba is a communist country. This means that all important market elements are run by party loyalists and not necessarily by people who know what they are doing. Masu.
This is typical. Behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, where I was born, the Soviet Union took control of manufacturing and agriculture. They nationalized everything and put people in charge based on party loyalty rather than expertise. As a result, production and quality declined significantly, and the people suffered. Many people starved to death as the communists expelled capable agricultural producers, whom they called “capitalists.”
Since Fidel Castro's communist revolution in 1959, Cuba has become even poorer than before. Now I can't even keep the lights on. The power grid has been on and off for months. But recently, Cubans have been suffering from power outages that last for days. They are thinking of protesting, but doing so could result in them being beaten or thrown in jail, which would make things even worse.
When I asked those responsible, they blamed the blackouts on the US trade embargo that began in 1958. The embargo is the scapegoat for all national ills in Cuba. However, there is no doubt that it had an impact.
The embargo against Cuba began with arms restrictions. It was then upgraded in 1960 to include everything but food and medicine. Then, in 1962, President John F. Kennedy expanded the embargo to include imports of all products containing Cuban products, even if the final product was manufactured or assembled outside Cuba.
But if this country wasn't run by communist idiots, its people would have long found a way to improve their standard of living. Cubans have proven to be highly intelligent and capable when given a chance in a pseudo-free market society like the United States.
No motivation = poverty
Communism is essentially a monopoly. This means that the person in charge has no incentive to try to improve anything because there is no threat to their job. Civil servants receive job security at the expense of everyone else's standard of living. This explains why 3 million Cubans will leave the island between 2022 and 2023.
Competition is the key to excellence. But when it is suppressed, poverty prevails, excellence is undermined, and the human spirit is constrained.
This also applies to private organizations. Organizations that don't hold people accountable for the quality of their work produce a lot of bad work. Organizations that prioritize politics over excellence produce poor quality work.
On the other hand, organizations that prioritize quality are more likely to weed out poor performers, disinterested employees, and complainers. Someone who does minimal work but expects to receive full pay.
Competition is the key to innovation and high living standards. It's no coincidence that the bigger the U.S. government gets, the worse things get. The most obvious example is government intervention in health care. Although insurance premiums are rising, the medical environment is deteriorating. why? Because the government intervened. Private insurance costs are rising as health care providers place the burden of covering losses from Obamacare, Medicare, and Medicaid on productive citizens. This also lowered the morale of talented doctors and nurses.
America was built on ambition. Ambition is our heritage, Donald Trump said at this year's Republican National Convention. The American economy soared to dizzying heights in record time. Because the rumor spread all over the world that the only limit to success is you, the individual.
That tradition is gradually being lost.
We must have great ambitions again, lest we all end up like Cuba.
