How End-Users Suffer Under Socialism By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, August 11, 2009 4:20 PM PT
Economic Systems: If you ever wonder why we so resist socialism, consider the latest news out of that collectivist island paradise known as Cuba. Central planners announced this week that they were fresh out of money to buy toilet paper — yes, toilet paper — for the island's 9 million citizens. But not to worry. A nameless official for state-run monopoly Cimex and quoted by Reuters assured that "the corporation has taken all the steps so that at the end of the year there will be an important importation of toilet paper." The predicament would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic. But toilet tissue is hardly the only item Cuba is lacking. Food itself is in short supply, with red bean and chickpea rations cut by a third, according to the Miami Herald. Special hard-currency-only stores for the elites have mysteriously failed to open after last week's "inventory," with no explanation given. There's no gas, either. The Associated Press this week reported that state planners have decreed that oxen — yes, oxen — would replace tractors in the fields, a bid to conserve fuel. This, despite the fact that Cuba gets 100,000 barrels of oil a day from Hugo Chavez's Venezuela — effectively free, because Cuba never pays its bills. But again, not to worry: Cuban socialists say the ox represents progress because it's so eco-friendly. As these examples of Cuban progress roll in, CNN is presenting Cuba's socialized health care system as "a model for health care reform in the United States," according to a report on the cable network last week. The report credits low cost and universal coverage. "How does Cuba do it?" gushed the CNN anchor. "First of all, the government dictates salaries. Doctors earn less than $30 per month — very little compared to doctors elsewhere. And priority is given to avoiding expensive procedures, says Gail Reed (a contributor to the Cuban communist party propaganda organ Granma), who's lived and worked in Cuba for decades." But instead of pluses, these features are at the root of why the Cuban system is not a model. Government-dictated salaries — like Medicare payments here — reduce incentives for doctors to provide quality care. And when cheap procedures are a priority — as they are, say, in the U.K. — teeth get pulled instead of filled. But the basic problem with socialism is that there's literally nothing there. CNN gives little attention to the fact that hospitals in Cuba have no Band-Aids and are short on aspirin and actual medicine. Photos from TheRealCuba.com show hospitals strewn with filthy mattresses, infested with cockroaches and full of bony patients nursing ugly bedsores. The only plenty within Cuba's universal coverage system is one of want. The scary thing is that if you copy that system, the same shortages appear. Take Venezuela, which is following the socialist model and now suffers shortages of milk, meat, steel, gasoline and tires. (Yes, it too had a run on toilet paper a few years back.) This week, the country crossed its first milestone for socialist street cred. It was forced for the first time in its history to import a crop it has grown exquisitely well since 1730: coffee. The problem with the telltale shortages in Cuba isn't a few incompetents at a state-owned toilet-paper company or some hurricane that's wiped out its crops. Nor is it the U.S. trade embargo of which the country constantly complains. "The system itself is dysfunctional," explains Brian Latell, a leading expert on Cuba at the University of Miami. "Workers have scarcely any incentive to be productive. The distribution and transportation systems have broken down." Even with slight improvements from the newer Raul Castro administration, "it's a centrally planned economy and still highly centralized. There's little private enterprise and initiative." The shortages are a natural byproduct of central planning, price-fixing and a system that disregards human nature. Yes, four hurricanes did damage estimated at $10 billion last year, Latell acknowledges. But Cuba has also been a bad credit risk for nearly 50 years, he adds, limiting its own access to credit out of loathing for capitalism. That has cut into the nation's productive capacity, which was once one of Latin America's highest. Now, "they're not producing anything to speak of to earn hard currency, they're not exporting to earn, and the economy is in a terrible state," Latell says. An economic system that can't supply its people with commodities as basic as toilet paper is no model for anyone. http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=334882669428387 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
