E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSThe New York Times had an excellent story and slideshow today on the impact of a new law allowing the sale of homes. Currently, all housing is owned by the government. As they reported:
When Cuba legalizes buying and selling by the end of the year — as the government promised again this week — José and many others expect a cascade of changes: higher prices, mass relocation, property taxes and a flood of money from Cubans in the United States and around the world.
Desmond Boylan / Reuters
People look at removable tattoos for sale at a soviet-era apartment block in Havana July 3. Cuba will authorize limited housing and car markets by 2012, the Communist party newspaper Granma said on Friday, a move awaited by local residents since the early 1960s when home and most auto sales were banned. Granma, reporting on a recent meeting of top level party, government and other officials, said Cubans would still be prohibited from owning more than one home. But for the first time, they could buy and sell the dwellings with minimal government interference.
Enrique De La Osa / Reuters
Cars drive on a street in Havana July 1, 2011. Cuba will authorize limited housing and car markets by 2012.
AFP - Getty Images
Cuban self-employed Lorenzo Conejo fixes a bicycle wheel's spokes in front of his house, on June 21 in Havana. Many Cubans make their business using any tools or workspace available in an effort to adapt to the the new economic rules.
Reuters
A man repairs his house in Havana July 13. Cuba has begun lifting restrictions on individual economic activity earning applause from local residents even as the moves stoke anger over why the prohibitions existed in the first place and the many that remain. President Raul Castro has loosened regulation since taking over for his ailing brother Fidel as he moves Cuba's Soviet-style economy in a more market friendly direction and battles the paralyzing and often corrupt bureaucracy and black market it has fostered.
Enrique De La Osa / Reuters
A man goes down stairs of his house in Havana July 1.
Leave a Comment:
Marx is rolling in his grave. Private ownership is one of the first prohibitions of the Manifesto!
First Russia, then China, and now Cuba are headed towards free markets. We, on the other hand are headed in the exact opposite direction.
This may harm Cubans in the long run. If Cuba ends subsidization of shelter, they will start having the same problems the broken American system has... empty houses and homeless people. I'm sad to see this change.
Ben, as a member of the Socialist Party USA, I couldn't possibly disagree with you more. The scourge of capitalism is more present in our American society than ever and growing stronger every day under Obama as he continues the Friedman-style policies of Reagan and the Bushes.
Unregulated markets are self-destructive due to the profit models they foster. One needs to look no further that 2008 to see what happens when companies put profits over sustainability.
Alan - no, the problem will be the lack of employment opportunity distributed evenly throughout the country. It is much better to be in a city than the country in Cuba. Thus, rural homes will not appreciate, and city/surburban homes will be be artificially overinflated in price.
This is no different than the fall of the U.S.S.R. - the collective farms were re-surveyed into smaller individual farms. Getting that property back to the orginal aristocratic owners was practically impossible. Reparations to A-A slaves from Southern cotton plantation owners after the Civil War ended didn't take place. Getting artwork and other valuables seized by the Nazis back to their rightful Jewish owners/heirs has also been very difficult.
Right or wrong, sometimes things can't be corrected; you can only go forward and make sure wrong is not done again.
What's gotten into the Communists? I guess 50+ years of squalor and tyranny have finally convinced them of the error of their ways. Anyone on this thread who laments Cuba's tentative embrace of freedom should move to Cuba and attempt to convince the throngs clamoring to be free that they should continue to embrace their chains.
And Gary, you should google Batista, the actual tyrant that was overthrown by Castro.
Alan, I know all about Batista. They traded one dictator for another. Better to reject dictators of every stripe.
I don't doubt that one bit.
cuba homes si...yankee homes no;-)
HA, Cuba is moving towards capitalism, after seeing what a dismal failure socialism was, and obamer has us going their way, Can 2012 come soon enough tto save ouir country
Oh look another winger without a clue as to what socialism is.
Obama is a corporatist.
Cuban socialism has been far from a failure. The revolution that removed Batista and provided shelter, food, work, health care, and more for Cubans is alive and well after 52 years, even if taking a step toward allowing more freedom in how money is spent and allowing more successful savers to invest in higher quality housing. Socialism isn't as much about equal pay as equal opportunity... from each according their abilities, to each according to their needs.
Alan, get a clue. Have you ever been to Cuba? I have. The system does not work. The people are desperately poor. Just because a food or other basic necessity is listed on their ration cards does not mean it is available.
Their homes, regardless of whether they are city or country dwellings, are very run down. Cubans do not have the money or reliable, ample access to supplies to make repairs, let alone improvements.
I visited a village pharmacy, and the drug supplies on the shelves were practically nonexistent. Because I traveled under a humanitarian license, I and everyone in our group brought 10 lbs. ea. of medical supplies, which are inventoried and distributed by a sister (who is also a doctor) at charitable convent.
The system does not work because of the natural human desire to first fulfill self interests. I have tremendous ability (intelligence, higher education, etc.), but I apply it first and foremost to benefit ME. Then I choose IF, and what amount, to share with others (family, friends), then altruistic concerns.
Why should I make the extra effort, only to have the fruits of my labor handed to someone who chose not to, or couldn't make the effort, so the can live in a style equal to mine? I would have no reason to strive to excel to live better than my parents, who didn't finish high school (the Depression) and held low-paid, labor intensive jobs.
The only way the Cuban system would work would be if it was done Indian style. Example - two Indians pick berries. One picks one bucket; the other three. Both will go home with two buckets, but - the Indian that picked three buckets gets first choice of berries - the biggest, tastiest, perfectly ripe ones. The other goes home with the little, overripe, underripe ones.
We both get feed. This applies whether the Indian that picked only one bucket was lazy (wouldn't work), or perhaps had a handicap (couldn't work). The Indian that picked three buckets has no reason to feel guilty, and the one that picked only one bucket has no right to be angry/envious.
Why should I make the extra effort, only to have the fruits of my labor handed to someone who chose not to, or couldn't make the effort, so they can live in a style equal to mine?"
1. Because Christ would want you to.
2. You lump chose and couldn't in the same sentence, implying they are the same. But they aren't. There are lazy bums you shouldn't have to support. There are also 88 year old widows with no means of support, no children to help, confined to a wheelchair. There are also 3 year old children whose father has left and whose mother is a crack addict. And neither is going to live "in a style equal to mine," by any stretch of the imagination. A social safety net for such people is not socialism and you come off as a selfish, uncaring cad.
Is there a building on the island that isn't crumbling ? They will do far better with private ownership...
I love how we are so quick to bash Cuba for all their faults and the decaying buildings. But help me remember here: Who is the worlds only superpower and was once the tiny islands major trading partner who closed their doors on them because they changed dictators that wasn't deemed acceptable? At least a majority of Cubans are educated (Free College) and healthy (universal healthcare).
Oh yeah, free education, but what can you do with that education? Work for the government. And what does the government pay? My cousin is a surgeon and he gets paid $35.00 PER MONTH!!! He makes more moonlighting as a cab driver in his 1958 vehicle that my uncle owned when we were all kids. Don't blame the USA for this mess, they have plenty of trading partners all over Europe and South and Central America. The only problem is that they have NOTHING to sell because NOTHING is created that is worth buying. Cuba now has to IMPORT SUGAR for heaven's sakes because since the land is all government owned, no one gives a @!$%# about cultivating it. What's the point if what you make you can't keep. Education is only valuable if you can do something with it to improve your life and the life of your family. Most of these educated Cubans are working for less than minimum wage and making a living on the black market. Mr. McPherson, with all due respect, you have no idea what you are taking about.
I agree with you. I have a very good friend who's a Doctor from Cuba, worked in the emergency room, and thats exactly what she got paid. She was able to get away on a trip to Venezuela. She's here and will start working on her RN license this month. I cry with the stories she tells me and I come from El Salvador, went thru alot myself during the civil war. FREEDOM...has many meanings to different people, Castro took that word out of the Cuban dictionary.
Not entirely. Cuban cigars are still, by far, my favorite.
Alex -- Yeah, and they are all poor and unfree, except for the ruling Communists.
MsEddy - actually, the reason sugar is being imported was that the Soviet Union paid artificially high prices for it, in support of having a political ally mere miles off the coast of its biggest superpower threat, the U.S. When the USSR collapsed, so did its sugar market, and many other forms of support the USSR gave to Cuba. (I traveled in Cuba via the Hershey Foundation, and we visited the town of Hershey because Milton Hershey owned a sugar plantation and factory in that town. He sold it long before the Revolution.)
You are right about education. A tremendous amount of Cuban education and ability has gone to waste, and continues to go to waste. After higher education and twenty years' employment, I lost my job in 4/2010 and have not found a new job. I feel like I'm going to waste, so I sympathize with my fellow Cuban professionals.
Being a doctor in Cuba is prestigious, but I discovered that in the 21st century a job in the fledgling tourism industry is far better because of the tips in other "hard" currencies, whether you are a tour guide, hotel maid, restaurant server or resort worker (Canadian kids n particular love Cuba for spring break - it's cheap).
Other than that, the only ways you can make life better is if you're lucky to enough get remittances from family in the U.S., or the black market. It was a wonder our charter flight from Miami to Havana took off. U.S. Cubans visiting family had huge quantities of shrunk-wrapped goods to check in at the baggage area. Needless to say, there was a $2/lb. excess baggage weight charge. Otherwise, we would have had a Walmart at 30,000 ft.
It's my understanding Castro sends his excess doctors to other socialist countries in his "goodwill" efforts to support that political system. It's disappointing to hear that your friend's Cuban education as a doctor isn't enough for her to do a residency and then take the exams to be a licensed U.S. doctor.
It is amazing that it has taken them 50 plus years to figure out that government ownership of anything is a miserable failure. Hey Obama, wake up and smell the Cuban cigars! Personal ownership is what makes an economy thrive, not government ownership, control and intervention. Cuba is still stuck in the 1950s, and nothing has been repaired, repainted, rebuilt, remodeled, improved, expanded or anything since the country became communist. It is like going into a time machine. The same family that the government GAVE our house to in 1962 still lives there and the place is practically crumbling down but since they don't OWN IT, why bother fixing it. That is the same mentality nation wide. And if we are not careful, Mr. Obama will turn the USA housing market into one great big disgusting government housing project!!!
Most people don't seem to understand how devious this is. A brilliant stroke.
Allowing private ownership would make it practically impossible for the US to overthrow Cuba. If you did you would now be violating American (and other countries citizens) ownership rights.
I would say it is a scam - all these properties are falling apart - private ownership would be an incentive for people to fix them up - then Wacko Raul will take it all back again. Crazy - well - how about the whole communist idea - nuts!
Just GREAT! Now the U.S. has to pay Castro for his citizens to buy houses from his government. Cuban refugees are going to send millions of dollars to their relatives to give to Castro in order to buy the homes they have been living in. Am I the only one to see how dumb that is?
Why is everyone else moving towards capitalism and free enterprise while we are headed towards socialism and redistribution of the wealth. Wait till we get there and see how disappointed the people are and we have ruined our economy and are just a minor country.
Why is it that you define a increasing concentration of wealth in the US into the hands of fewer and far richer individuals as socialism? I admit it is redistribution of wealth and it will lead ultimately to third world status, but it's not socialism and it's not redistribution in the direction you are implying.
Or, one might ask, why is it that you cling to your false beliefs in the face of a mountain of evidence to the contrary?
Jon -- About half the public pays no income tax. That's right, they live off the income taxes paid by the rest of us. There's your redistribution of wealth. Everyone should have some skin in the game, should have to pay something, no matter how small, to participate in our society, to enjoy the schools, roads, hospitals, military, etc.
gary - national sales tax?
What do we tax in the US? Income, and property. On the low end of "no taxes" if you don't have income or property, you don't pay taxes. On the high end of "no taxes" . . .Those folks aren't socialists, betcha.
Blah blah half don't pay income tax blah. That's the most willfully ignorant statement that I've ever heard it and keeps getting repeated over and over by mindless drones, puppets controlled by the owners of capital.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB OR MAKE LESS THAN ENOUGH TO LIVE, HOW CAN YOU PAY INCOME TAXES?
The "half don't pay" argument is an indefensible fallacy.
Distribution of wealth has nothing to do with whether or not some portion of the population pays income tax. Distribution of wealth is simple and easy to determine: who owns the wealth? There are easy to obtain facts on how wealth is being concentrated more and more to the top tiny percentage.
That the poorest people pay no income tax means they have no money. Considering the Bush administration published fact that the richest pay taxes at a lower effective rate (17-18%) than the middle class (33%), it is clear logic to understand that they have an even higher percentage of the wealth.
And another thing, since the majority of state and local taxes are of the regressive kind, like sales tax, poor people do pay a lot of their annual income in taxes, so saying they get out of paying federal income tax and aren't carrying their weight is just misusing statistics to spread lies.
It is the richest among us who are not paying their fair share, according to the Bush administration.
Jon -- Don't be so ambiguous. Tell us what their fair share is. If someone makes 80K what % should they have to pay in income taxes?
Someone making $80K pays 34% of their annual income in taxes, according to the Bush White House's figures. Someone making $500K or more pays 18% or their annual income in taxes, according to the same study.
There is no ambiguity there. The person making the larger amount of income should at least pay at the same rate. A strong argument can be made that the rate for that person should be even higher than the lower income rate, but for sure, there is no sensible reason that it should be lower, but it is.
This was bound to happen. They're moving towards the Chinese model and that's wonderful news. One party government, capitalist economy. It's the system of the future. The multi-party system of democracy is messy and doesn't work. It just causes divisions within the country. China is showing the world how things are done right now. Keep most of the population united under one message, and give them the freedom to make a living and wealth. They have their share of problems like everyone else, but their system makes the most sense.
From The West Coast -- So we have to give up our freedom of speech, press, assembly , choice of leaders, is that how you see it? Bad plan.
Freedom of speech, press, assembly. No. But choosing leaders I see it as fruitless. Nothing really changes that much anyways when you change parties because they're trying to keep the status quo regardless, so what's the point? It's also a waste of money. How much money would be saved if elections were scrapped all together? Millions.
From The West Coast -- What do we do if your chosen masters deny the freedoms outlined?
They are going to buy/sell/trade real estate that did not belong to them in the first place, that was taken from others....Families and homesteads, businesses and more were distroyed. I bet they won't give them back to the rightful owners???
Just wait until they open the market for those sweet 1950s American automobiles.
Bertfw - I was in Cuba. Those "sweet" 50s cars are far fewer in supply than you think, and are typically in fleets and rented by tour operators for countryside drives, transportation to pallidars (family restaurants), etc.
Photographers take pics of the sweet ones because they look nice. Most are in horrible condition, and it is a credit to the Cubans whose ingenuity keep them running. Lift the hood, put it up on a rack, and you'd be shocked.
However, thanks to a Bush housing bubble burst, SS recipients could become property owners, with all its perceived power.
uh wasn't that Clinton and Barney Fwank's housing bubble?
Common sense why they are doing changes in Cuba now after 52 years the same..they can read and hear news about the revolts/protests in other countries and the Cuban government is worried that will happen there also..so a little change now makes some things better the government hopes!
Naw, the Cubans are going toward freedom and home ownership, while we are going the other way toward socialism, communism, and government housing. Maybe we can drive those old forties and fifties, Studebakers, Nash, Chevys once again, even if half of them have Russian motors in them. That situation may be closer than you think, especially if Obama is re-elected and doesn't have to worry about re-election after 2016. :-)
Dasvet - see my previous post about classic cars.
John - Cuba had a lot of supplemental support from the now-defunct USSR. One of their target industries is now tourism, and their people are being exposed to citizens of other countries, including Americans. Even without the Internet, digital TV/cable, etc. and control over information still in place (e.g., the newspaper Granma), the cat's out of the bag. I think the Cuban government thinks easy-does-it-wins-the-race will prevent an all-out revolution. Didn't work for Gorbachev.
GK, you are correct. Under the hoods are diesel engines, and old soviet bloc engines and very poorly cobbled together at that. The wonders of total government control is very evident in Cuba, and I am afraid we are headed that way unless we get our act together.
I wish we could own property in the United States. Instead we rent from the Government in the form of property tax. Don't pay and they take it and rent it to someone else.
Really and truly, we never own anything permanently, since we all die eventually. At least I have heard of no one yet that survived. What is your point?
No one on this blog is blogging from a crumbling building. If the Cubans did not like their way of life they would have blown up a long time ago.
Then why in the hell did those Cubans in Florida come here? I don't think the Cubans liked the Cuban (communism) worth a dam, they just had no choice except for prison or death if they opened their mouths.
To: The People of Cuba
Beware of gringos peddling "mortgage-backed securities".