Some Thoughts on Cuba

Text and pictures by Joshua Tartakovsky  (c) All Rights Reserved 2014.
Having just spent a month in Cuba where I stayed with a local family (note: religious purposes), I thought it is about time I will put my thought on paper on my experience of Cuba, impressions and insights. Considering the fact that the island is off-limits to many, whether due to legal restraints or to psychological fears or misconceptions, and due to the deep ideological manner in which Cuba is being portrayed both by the Left and the Right, will attempt to pass out my points in a non-ideological manner.

I lived in Brazil for an extended period in the past and the differences and similarities between Brazil and Cuba is worth pointing out. Brazil is vast and rich in resources while Cuba is tiny. Brazilians tend to be easy going, avoid conflict, in happy spirits and friendly, whereas Cubans are direct, have an attitude, say what is on their mind and are more pushy. However, it is precisely the directness I encountered which made the country appealing in a strange way. I appreciate honesty, and in Cuba you have to be tough and stand your ground since otherwise people who make $20 a month (the average salary) will rip you off. However, once you stand your ground and are firm yet genuine, you will earn the confidence of people, and you can make real friendships that will last. In other words, behind the hard surface you can meet many kind people who will help you in time of need, only that you need to work to earn it.

Cuba is far from being a socialist dream manifested, nor is it a totalitarian state. Most people earn very little but somehow manage, resorting to extreme ends. The medical system and care is superb though medicine is sometimes lacking in some pharmacies. Cuba boasts of having more doctors than all of Africa whom it sends to Brazil or to countries where Ebola is spreading. However, it is very rare to see violence in Cuba or killings, nor does the police shoot youth as is the case in many other parts of the world (Brazil, Columbia, Palestine etc.) However, that is not to say that people’s lives are comfortable. People need to struggle very hard every day just to make sure they have enough food on the table. In a paradoxical sense, it could be argued that the Cuban revolutionaries produced a country where people are educated and have a good health, yet do not have a comfortable life. In other words, enough conditions are sufficient just for people to exist, and to demonstrate to the world that ‘here, we have Socialism, and it works’. Cubans can therefore be seen as exhibits demonstrating that a different way is possible, with all its limitations, while they cannot chose a different path if they want to. That said, most Cubans are very supportive of achievements of the Cuban revolution in the areas of health and education, they just wish the economy would be a bit more open so that they could earn more. In any case, it is not Cuba that is pursuing a policy of aggressive wars throughout the world for the sake of expanding its capital.

What happens in a country where there are no commercials and where people have a lot of free time (assuming they are not working)? People tend to focus more on relationships, community, friendships, music, dance, reading, television and alcohol. Any westerner who comes to Cuba will notice after a few days the many benefits that come from not seeing constant commercials that clog one’s mind. One experiences greater powers of mental concentration, a thinking that flows more easily and greater creativity. There is little doubt in my mind that what we have in the West is quite extreme, as people rarely live the moment and are constantly bombarded with commercials while human relations are tainted by Capitalism and people’s worth lies on how much they make. However, not having cheap internet (access is available for all but it is quite expensive, $8 per hour), also means people do not have access to youtube videos and to news around the world, and one feels somewhat disconnected and isolated from the rest of humanity (although for Westerners seeking to take a break this is a gift).

The arts in Cuba are very well developed and the modern art scene is flourishing and easily tops arts in Western countries. People’s poverty means they explore spirituality and religion, and I have seen many things take place which in the West would be considered mystical or supernatural, which shows you the power of the mind once it decides to focus on matters of the spirit rather than material matters. In other words, yes, Cubans are very poor, and yes, their lives are not easy, but in a way socialism was successful in producing people who exhibit the bare life of humanity, naked of possessions with only the richness of the spirit. Precisely due to their suffering and lack, this outcome is possible, as humans learn to adapt to every given situation. That is not to say that people have it easy or that I would like to live in poverty but I also came to realize that having pity for people diminishes them of their humanity. People get accustomed to every situation and manage, and I also believe people are in every situation for a reason. That does not mean that people are doomed to an unchangeable karma; but that it is quite arrogant to assume that people in Cuba are miserable and people in the West are happy. In fact, as I noted early on during my first days in Cuba, many people in the West think that people in developing countries are poor and suffering but they are not as unhappy as people in the West think, while many people in the developing countries think that people in the West are happy and content, while they are not as happy as people in developing countries assume. In other words, where as people in developed countries usually have many material goods (though now inequalities in the West are widening), they usually neglect relationships, internal happiness and lack a deep community. In fact, loneliness and anxiety is a common Western disease. At the same time, people in economically poor countries, may not have many material goods but they enjoy close friendships and the warmth that comes from not being an island but part of a wider community of emotional support.

(c) Photos by Joshua Tartakovsky. All Rights Reserved 2014.

Joshua Tartakovsky

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