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What a Totalitarian State Really Looks Like
12/30/2003

If ever you need to reaffirm your suspicion that the United States is nowhere near resembling a totalitarian state or, God forbid, if you should begin to be persuaded by the rhetoric of the Left, just try to picture President Bush sending out agents to collect every copy of a newspaper that has a manipulated picture of him looking like Hitler, as Castro has done:

Although details of what happened remain unclear, what is known is that someone or some group at the newspaper appears to have risked all in the name of political satire.

Yesterday a spokesman for the newspaper confirmed that an investigation was under way, but that the photographer who took the picture was not responsible.

Now the talk of Havana is not just of what the image was supposed to mean, but of what has happened to those under suspicion. Rumours have spread, not least because the local offices of the Communist party went to work as soon as the change was noticed, ensuring that fewer copies than normal made it on to the streets.

Many people did not receive their daily delivery, while those sent to offices were subsequently recalled.

Don't get me wrong; I'm thankful that there are Americans willing to fight at the fringes of our freedom. What bothers me is the sense that, for many of them, the protection of freedom is subordinate to the protection of their political inclinations. This has been seen on multiple campuses, where liberal students have rounded up all copies of student papers that they've deemed to be offensive. It is also subtly apparent in the hilarious twist of emphasis with which the Guardian ends its story:

Young Cubans, particularly in Havana, have failed to immerse themselves in the revolutionary ideals to the same extent as those born before 1959 and President Castro's triumph over the former rightwing dictator Fulgencio Batista.

With the collapse in 1989 of the Soviet Union - Cuba's main international source of financial and political support - the island has been forced to turn to tourism.

Although this has brought in much needed dollars, and helped to fund education and healthcare, it has also been the source of discontent.

Wealthy foreigners parade along the streets of the capital, carrying digital cameras, mobile phones and wearing the kind of expensive sportswear of which the average Habanero can only dream. It is no surprise then that young Cubans look on enviously, while turning their backs on the Communist ideology that preaches against western consumerism. But, with the regime as vigorous as ever in clamping down on opposition, they may yet have to wait for change.

In this view, the activities of the Communists are partly to be excused because the rebellious youth of the nation have "failed" to get with the program, mostly out of envy of those tourists (so necessary to keep up the world class educational and healthcare establishments) who inspire them to "turn their backs" on Communism. Surely you see the difficult position in which Castro finds himself! For the good of his people, he is forced to invite representatives of the very ideology that defeated the Soviet Union (on which he previously leaned) to spend those ill-gotten dollars on his island, yet they bring with them a bad influence that threatens his utopia.

If only the Patriot Act were meant to ensure full payment of taxes to maintain a socialist healthcare system, then it might not seem so bad to those who proclaim Bush's similarities to a certain 20th century maniac.

Posted by Justin Katz @ 05:59 PM EST

2 comments

Another irony here is that Castro is a hero to American leftists who rail at Bush for being a dictator. This merely shows that they disapprove of only the wrong (that is, Right) kind of dictator.

ELC @ 12/31/2003 08:29 AM EST

"If only the Patriot Act were meant to ensure full payment of taxes to maintain a socialist healthcare system, then it might not seem so bad to those who proclaim Bush's similarities to a certain 20th century maniac."

Hehehehe, that is one Hell of a good point, Justin. I may not be able to resist stealing it!

For a truly nauseating account of Castro and today's Cuba, check out Arthur Miller's piece in the current issue of The Nation.

George Lee @ 12/31/2003 12:34 PM EST