INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-CUBA:

SELF MANAGEMENT IN CUBA ?????????????:

Over at the Porkupine Blog our good comrade Larry Gambone has brought forward a debate that is presently going on amongst the ruling class of Cuba. The present nominal dictator of that island seems to be following the course of death laid out by Generalissimo Franco, who he so much resembles. One piece at a time. Meanwhile the apparatchiks are jockeying for power and influence before the inevitable. What is not in doubt is that the economic, political and social system of Cuba will change with the death of the dictator. The question is "how will it change ?". Gambone argues that there is a faction of the ruling class that is willing to move towards a libertarian form of socialism, self management. Molly thinks that this portion of the Communist ruling class is inevitably small and doomed to lose. First of all it must only profit minimally from the present situation or it would advocate "no change". Second of all it has to see little opportunity to loot the public treasury after the end of Leninism, as was done in eastern Europe. This restricts and diminishes it even further.No doubt there are legitimate "idealists" in the apparat (despite the inevitable corrupting influence of power and privilege, especially communist power and privilege ), but they will be voices crying in the wilderness unless there is a mass base for their proposals. In any case, despite my expectations, see the Porkupine Blog for the details of the debate.