Has Communism Been Good for Cuba?

How does one define the word "good?" If something is good, is it helpful? Profitable? Satisfactory? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, when something is good, it can be relied on, it's loyal, and it's true. Communism is misunderstood by many Americans. This is mainly due to a lack of knowledge of what it truly is. Before one can decide whether Communism fits the definition of good, one must first understand what this type of government is. Communism is a theory that was proposed by a German philosopher named Karl Marx. Under Communism there is no private property, instead, all property is owned by the state. In addition, no one works for a profit, but rather for the state. There is no need to work for a profit because a committee in the government controls the economy and evenly distributes land and wealth among all the people, eliminating social classes. This is the type of government that Cuba has established, and when looking at the political, economical, and social aspects of Cuba as it is, it is evident that Communism has been good for Cuba.

Despite everything Cuba has going against them, Castro and his communist policies have benefited the economy of Cuba greatly. The U.S.A. has had an embargo placed on Cuba since the 1960's and the Soviet Union cut off resources in the early 1990's. Even with these 2 factors making a huge blow to the economy of Cuba, Fidel Castro has been able to stabilize the economy of Cuba. After the Soviet Union cut off supplies, the economy of Cuba suffered great losses. However, with economic reforms, Fidel Castro has been able to increase the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), or total value of goods and services produced in a year, of Cuba in recent years. In fact, from 1995-1997, the GDP of Cuba was growing at a rate of 3-6%, higher than that of the USA (Document E). In addition, since Castro has come to office, his economic reforms have made the lives of people better. Before Fidel Castro and Communism were in place, when Fulgencio Batista was the dictator, the average annual income of a person was $91 (Document G). In 1999, the average annual income of a person was $1,700 (Document L). That's over 18 times the amount a person made under Batista. Obviously, Communism has been a great benefit to the economy of Cuba and Castro has proven himself very loyal to the people of Cuba.

However, when looking at the politics of Cuba alone, one may not have as great of an impression of Cuba. The government in Cuba does have a lot of control. The government is very strict and only allows for a Communist political party there. The government can also control what is printed or read online. However, all measures are discussed with the people. The workers, peasants, students, and National Assembly all have a say in what happens in the country. In fact, Cuba is ranked as having the 3rd lowest level of human poverty out of a total of 85 developing countries. This ranking is partially based on the level of social inclusion, or how much say citizens of a country have in society and government (Document H). This means that the people in Cuba know what is going on and have a voice in government decisions. All decisions made by the government, are for the good of the people and to benefit the people. This shows that the government in Cuba is a true Communist government and everyone is involved in it.

Especially when looking at the social factors of Cuban society, Communism has been great for the people and has made huge improvements. Before Communism, 44% of the people in Cuba never went to school and about 1/5th of Cubans were illiterate. Also, there was only one doctor per 2,000 citizens and there was a lot of corruption in the government (Document G). Now, with a Communist society, 95.7% of Cubans are literate (Document L). In addition, Cuba has the 3rd highest percentage of safe drinking water in their country out of all the countries in Latin America (Document M). They also have the 2nd highest sewage disposal and 3rd highest daily protein consumption (Document M). This all shows that living in Cuba is safe and that Cubans are living healthy lives in a Communist society. Cubans are also well taken care of. Cuba has the most physicians per capita out of all the countries in the world (Document I). They have 58.2 physicians per every 10,000 people, so there are only about 170 patients to each physician. The U.S.A. only has 27.9 physicians per every 10,000 people, that's less than half of the physicians in Cuba (Document K). These physicians are also good quality doctors. The life expectancy in Cuba is 73.84 for men and 78.73 for women, which is almost the same as the U.S.A., which are 74.24 for men and 79.9 for women (Document L). Not to mention, according to the World Health Organization, the percent of people in Cuba that have AID's is only .03% of the population, whereas in America its .61% of the population. The lives of citizens in Cuba have improved greatly since Communism has been in place. Cuban citizens have been able to rely on Communism and Fidel Castro.

As mentioned in the introduction, when something is good, it can be relied on, it's loyal, and it's true. The Cuban president has proved himself loyal to his citizens. He has proved that his Communist policies are beneficial to the people and that he will only do what is in the best interest of the people. In addition, the Communist government set up in Cuba is a true Communist government. Every person has a say in what is going on and every decision is made in the favor of the people. It is also certain that Communism can be relied on in Cuba. It has improved the lives of every Cuban and benefited the country greatly. Communism has improved almost every aspect of Cuba. So, has Communism been good for Cuba? Based on the facts, the only reasonable answer is yes. Fidel Castro and Communist policies have been true, loyal, and very reliable, which is the exact definition of good. Therefore, Communism has, in fact, been good for Cuba.