Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:18:45 -0400
The exchanges below are between Carlos Eire, Professor of History and Religious
Studies at Yale and someone who wrote to him. Eire’s reply, while longish,
says a lot about the Cuban experience. Eire is the author of Waiting for Snow
in Havana.
Dear Mr. Eire,
Being very interested in Cuba a friend of mine recently made me a present of
your book, Waiting for Snow in Havana. As the saying goes, there are always two
sides to any story, or as they say in France, where I live ” il ya toujours deux
sons de cloche “. Yesterday I read the other side of the story by the
illustrious trovador Silvio Rodriquez, who recently performed in several cities
in America with great success and who is known even in Cuba to be someone with a
very open mind and speaks very openly without any censorship or hindrance.
I am sending you a copy of his interview. Of course, his remembrance of his
growing up in Havana is very different from yours. Maybe this is because he
didn’t live in Mirarmar and didn’t have all the privileges you had. He also
feels Fidel made mistakes, but bears him no hatred, maybe because he is not a
violent nor vindictive person who never got pleasure from killing lizards. I
also agree that Fidel Castro has made many errors, particularly in the economic
area, but he gave Cuba three things that no American president has yet been able
to give to his people: education, culture and health care. Yes the USA has those
three things too, but basically only through the private sector reserved for
those people who can afford it like those that lived in Miramar.
In peace and best wishes.
Sincerely,
GB
Here is Professor Eire’s response:
Dear GB:
Thanks for writing, and for letting me know that you consider me a selfish
bastard.
Obviously, yes, there is another side to my story, just as there is another side
to the story of the Holocaust, and that of the Gulag. All of the Nazis and
Stalinists who slaughtered millions of people had their story to tell too, and
they thought that their actions were justified. Mass murderers and psycho killers have their side of the story too. And some people are enthralled by black-velvet paintings of Elvis.
As the French would say, chacun à son goût. Or as the learned used to say, de
gustibus non disputandum.
Which story one believes or how one approaches the sublime depends on how one
discerns right from wrong. I understand that for those who believe in the gospel of Marx and Lenin, all of
history is defined by class struggle and the worst wrong of all is private
property and the “privileges” that come with it. So, from that perspective,
whatever violence takes place against the “privileged” is always right and
justified. I just don’t happen to agree with that view. And the fact that I was born into
privilege has little to do with it, for thanks to Castro and company I ended up
at the very bottom of American society, a penniless orphan and a “spic” who was
constantly reminded by teachers and counselors that his proper place in the
world was at the bottom. So, I’ve been there, with the poorest, living in the
same slums, facing all of the discrimination and obstacles that those at the
very bottom must surpass. And no one helped me out of the pit. I climbed out
because I was lucky enough to live in a free society where effort and
accomplishment are not punished, but naturally rewarded. I know poverty, and
have lived much longer as a poor man than as a child of privilege. But I don’t
think that creating a murderous dictatorship that enforces the redistribution of
goods is the solution to poverty.
Aaaaarghhhh…. I could go on and on, but I will try to keep my response brief.
I know I can’t change the way you think. I am now old enough to realize that it
is very hard to convert anyone who is committed to their faith. And it seems to
me that you exhibit all the signs of a pious enthusiast, for anyone who thinks
that the so-called Cuban revolution is a good thing is indeed a religious
zealot, for seeing the destruction of Cuba and the enslavement of its people as
a good thing takes commitment to a very specific ideology, that of the prophets
Marx and Lenin.
Anyway, my friend, I’m glad we both live in a world where we can communicate
freely and disagree with one another. If we were both in Cuba, we’d be unable to
have this exchange, because you or someone else would probably be denouncing me
to the authorities, and I would end up in prison, simply for voicing an
“incorrect” point of view.
Communism has killed more human beings than any other ideology or religion in
the history of planet earth. It has also stifled the free exchange of ideas more
cruelly and systematically than any imperial power driven by greed. Yet, many
continue to believe in it.
Here is my take on communism: it only works for monks and nuns or for religious
communities such as the Hutterites, that is, it only truly works among those who
willingly commit themselves to it out of religious conviction. And even in such
communities, it often falls apart and ceases to work. Once it is forced on
entire populations, it never works, and becomes unjust to the maximum, since it
requires the constant use of violence and leads to all sorts of inequities.
Under Communism, “privilege” is never abolished. On the contrary, it becomes
more entrenched than under capitalism, and — even worse — is restricted to an
even smaller number of elites.
The three so-called benefits that you think were provided to the Cuban people by
Castro and company are illusory. First of all, Cuba had plenty of education,
culture, and medical care before Castro came along. In 1958, Cuba had a literacy
rate of nearly 80%, a lower infant mortality rate than many European countries,
a vibrant mix of European and African culture (which gave the world the rumba,
mambo, and cha-cha-cha, along with Jose Raul Capablanca, a world chess
champion), more television sets and more newspapers per capita than Italy, and
attracted over one million European immigrants, and so on… I could send you a
long list of items that prove that Cuba was no third world country before it
became Castrolandia.
Anyway… what about these so-called achievements of Castrolandia? What is the
use of educating people if you restrict freedom of expression and communication?
What is the use of health care if you deprive people of autonomy and bar them
from all of the privileges enjoyed by tourists to their country? Slave owners
provide health care for their slaves, after all, because they are investments.
And they educate them too, so they can perform their assigned tasks.
Hitler provided health care and education and culture for his people too.
So, as you can see, you’ve pushed my buttons, as the saying goes. Writing to me
and wagging your finger the way you have is an act of aggression, not much
different from telling a Holocaust or Gulag survivor that what happened to them
and their family was justified. Sending me an article from Granma is just like
sending a rape victim a note from the rapist, or sending a page out of “Mein
Kampf” to a Holocaust survivor. In other words, your email is an act of
unkindness, not much different from a death threat, or an excommunication that
seeks to damn me to eternal suffering for the sin of “privilege.”
Yes, I am scum. You are right. I deserved being torn from my family and being
prevented from ever seeing my father again, or from attending his funeral. I
deserve to die, and to be tortured for years, until the day of my excruciatingly
painful execution, and also for eternity after I die. And so does everyone who
does not believe in communism. Is that what you were hoping I would say?
I attach two items. One is a brief list of all of the commonplace human rights
that are denied to Cubans. The other is an essay I wrote a few years ago.
All the best to you, sincerely… I hope you continue to live in a society that
allows you to express yourself freely, and to wag your finger with abandon — a
society totally unlike that from which I had to flee.
Peace, love, and freedom, and mutual respect… forever,
Carlos Eire
