Is Fidel the only person to have actually organized a revolution, and not lost a grip on reality in the years of retreat, debilitation, and finally overthrow of the remnants of the October Revolution?
Maybe. Probably. At the Encounter on Problems of Development, forget if it was the 2nd or 3rd one, there was a great presentation on the actual costs of "tourist development" to the Cuban economy, actual costs including the "ecological footprint," aggrandizing more and more resources away from those required for real, useful, social development. After the presenter finished her presentation, Fidel was silent, but as is always the case, only silent for a moment, and then went on to discuss possible solutions to the problem-- for which he found only one, recommending it by explicitly not recommending it-- revolution. "You [meaning other the representatives of the various countries and groups at the conference] can do what we did, although I don't recommend it. You can make a revolution." But as he went on speaking, it was clear that he was really tracing this problem way back, historically, and analytically, way back to the first chapter of the first volume of Capital-- of the conflict between use value and exchange value-- and that development that was made by and for exchange could never raise the overall social platform that human society required, even within variations of "socialist" "state-managed" systems. Pretty remarkable comments, I thought. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Louis Proyect" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 11:03 AM Subject: [PEN-L] Fidel on foreign investment in Cuba (This, the latest communication from Fidel Castro, is a bit elliptical but seems directed at academic Marxists who propose that Cuba emulate China, even though he refers to them somewhat oddly as "super-revolutionaries". This is the last way I'd describe somebody like Eric Olin Wright, but I suppose Fidel has his reasons. It is worth pointing out that Paul Burkett and Marty Hart-Landsberg decided to write their article on China after attending a conference in Cuba where the Chinese economic model was being touted as a way forward. I am going to extrapolate Fidel's remarks within the article first, just to clarify his intention and follow it with the entire piece.) Extrapolation: What is happening with the super-revolutionaries of the so-called far left? In certain cases, the alleged friendship with Cuba allows them to attend numerous international meetings and chat with as many people from abroad or from the country as they want, without any objection from our imperial neighbor just 90 miles away from the Cuban shores. What is their advice to the Revolution? It’s pure poison; the most typical of the neoliberal formulae. They advise investments which are ruinous, and the services they provide, such as rent, are practically free. If foreign investments in housing had not been stopped in time, they would have constructed tens of thousands without any more resources than the prior sales of that same housing to foreign residents in Cuba or abroad. Furthermore, they were joint enterprises governed by a legislation intended for productive companies. There were no limits for the authority of the buyers as owners. The country would supply services to those residents or clients, without the need of being knowledgeable in science or computers. Many of the dwellings could be acquired by the enemy intelligence agencies or their allies. We need some of the joint enterprises since they control very necessary markets. But you can hardly flood the country with money and not sell our sovereignty. ---- REFLECTIONS BY THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF THE SUPER-REVOLUTIONARIES Every day I carefully read the opinions about Cuba in the traditional press agency releases, including those from the peoples which were part of the USSR, those from the People’s Republic of China and others. News reaches me from the Latin America press, from Spain and the rest of Europe. The picture is increasingly uncertain as we face the fear of a prolonged recession like that of the 1930s. On July 22, 1944, the United States government received the privileges granted in Bretton Woods to the most powerful military power, that of minting the dollar as the international exchange currency. After the war, in 1945, with its economy intact, that country had at its disposal almost 70 percent of the world gold reserves. On August 15, 1971, Nixon unilaterally decided to suspend the gold backing for each dollar minted. With this he financed the slaughter in Vietnam in a war that cost more than 20 times the real value of its remaining gold reserves. Since then, the United States economy is sustained by natural resources and the savings of the rest of the world. The theory of continuous growth from investment and consumption, applied by the most developed to the countries where the vast majority is poor, surrounded by luxuries and the wastefulness of a tiny minority of wealthy individuals, is not only humiliating but destructive, too. That pillage, and its disastrous consequences, is the cause of peoples’ growing rebelliousness, even though very few are aware of the history behind the events. The most gifted and cultivated intellects are included on the list of natural resources and they have their price tags on the world market of goods and services. What is happening with the super-revolutionaries of the so-called far left? Some simply lack realism while others enjoy the pleasure of dreaming sweet dreams. Others still are far from being dreamers and are experts in the subject; they know what they are saying and why they are saying it. It is a well conceived trap that should be avoided. They recognize our breakthroughs as if it were a favor to us. Are they really short of information? That is not how it is. I can assure you that they are absolutely well informed. In certain cases, the alleged friendship with Cuba allows them to attend numerous international meetings and chat with as many people from abroad or from the country as they want, without any objection from our imperial neighbor just 90 miles away from the Cuban shores. What is their advice to the Revolution? It’s pure poison; the most typical of the neoliberal formulae. The blockade does not exist; it would appear to be a Cuban invention. They underestimate the Revolution’s most colossal achievement, its work in education, the massive cultivation of peoples’ talents. They sustain that some must live doing simple and rough work. They underestimate the results and exaggerate the costs of scientific investments. Even worse: they overlook the value of the healthcare services that Cuba provides to the world; actually, with modest resources the Revolution is stripping bare the system imposed by imperialism which is lacking the human personnel to carry it out. They advise investments which are ruinous, and the services they provide, such as rent, are practically free. If foreign investments in housing had not been stopped in time, they would have constructed tens of thousands without any more resources than the prior sales of that same housing to foreign residents in Cuba or abroad. Furthermore, they were joint enterprises governed by a legislation intended for productive companies. There were no limits for the authority of the buyers as owners. The country would supply services to those residents or clients, without the need of being knowledgeable in science or computers. Many of the dwellings could be acquired by the enemy intelligence agencies or their allies. We need some of the joint enterprises since they control very necessary markets. But you can hardly flood the country with money and not sell our sovereignty. The super-revolutionaries who prescribe such medication deliberately ignore other resources which are truly decisive for the economy, such as the growing production of gas which, when purified, becomes an invaluable source of electricity without affecting the environment and brings with it hundreds of millions of dollars each year. About the Energy Revolution promoted by Cuba, of vital and decisive importance for the world, not one word is spoken. They go even further: they see an energy advantage for the island in the production of sugarcane --a crop that was grown in Cuba with semi-slave labor-- to counter the high cost of diesel being guzzled by the automobiles of the United States, Western Europe and other developed countries. The egotistical instinct is being fostered in human beings while the price of food is doubling and tripling. Nobody has been more critical of our own revolutionary work than I have, but they shall never see me hoping for favors or apologies from the worst of the empires. Fidel Castro Ruz September 3, 2007. 8:36 p.m.
