05 April 2007

Siren Song


Members of Cuba's Communist Youth Union gather

Cuban Vice President and Cabinet Secretary Carlos Lage spoke to Communist Youth Union in Havana’s Karl Marx Theater.

His message went something like this:

Yeah, since the revolution never lived up to its promises, you grew up in a hell- hole without electricity, water, food, medicine and freedom, but, hey, lots of people have it a lot worse than you. There are worse hellholes.

Don’t believe me here are the quotes:

(the revolution is ) ``not as ideal as the one we wished for, or achieved years ago.''

''the people saved their revolution, which continues with more strength and pride than ever,''

''Even aware of our justified dissatisfaction, our people today enjoy rights that for billions of people on the planet aren't even imaginable,'' he said. ``Free access to education and healthcare from one extreme of the island to the other. In our country, no one lacks the opportunity to study, or a job.''


Lague cynically, also rubs the youths’ nose in the fact that Cubans who were born in the 80’s don’t know what development, progress, material comfort and freedom are because they have been kept cloistered in an island prison:

''We always knew the biggest challenge of socialism is to instill in young people a communist conscience and rejection of capitalism, without having lived in it, without having seen the moral damage it produces,''


No, the decision to choose what kind of life to live was made for them by the accidental place of their birth.

He also said that the Communist Youth Union’s biggest challenge was to make the young people:

``immune to the siren song of capitalism.''

The song that Cuban youth are hearing is not the siren song of capitalism but the siren song of freedom that comes from their yearning to lead free, productive lives, not lives in which they are “made” to listen the same old tune of lies, propaganda and empty promises.

Ironic how young people who don’t even know what they’ve been missing, still know they’re missing something: Freedom, and are looking around the dial for a better song.

2 comments:

Fantomas said...

Fantomas apuntando

Gusano said...

Apunta, que la lista es larga.