Good news from Cuba!
Couple of weeks ago, some good news had arrived from Cuba,one of the last remaining frontiers of communism. The Cuban government decided to stop subsidizing cigarettes in order to cut down the state's spending. Earlier it had decided to stop subsidizing peas and potatoes. The communist government plans to eliminate all subsidies and allow workers to be self-employed or to set up small businesses.
Recent addition to this series of good news is the Fidel Castro's confession that "Cuba´s communist economic model doesn´t work." So, finally Castro brothers and their hoodlums are compelled to accept the truth. They had to accept that entrepreneurship matters after all. Communism isn't a good concept gone bad but it's a bad concept in itself for the reason that it completely ignores the aspect of human nature that covets private property and the self-interest that drives the civilization forward. However, the dog-headed Castros are still unwilling to depart from the socialist system. Their reluctance is understandable as no dictator has even been willing to give up his/her power too easily. But we can be hopeful that these small reforms in their system will attract more reforms and gradually transform the economy.
This news should serve as a lessons to almost ALL the political parties of Nepal whose political principles range from social democratic to hard core communist. It's ludicrous that when countries like Cuba are realizing their mistake and reforming their system our political parties and intellectuals are clamoring for the opposite. Despite compelling evidences from our neighbors and our own experience that economic liberalization can raise millions of people out of poverty and embark them in the path of prosperity, the process has come to a halt in Nepal and there have been attempts at reversing the process. Most of the so called intellectuals are fond of criticizing the little liberalization that happened in the early to mid nineties. Only thing their criticisms lack is a small portion of common sense and learning from other countries.
A left inclined friend of mine is very fond of Cuba and thinks it's a paradise. Maybe I should tell him, his paradise of communism is crumbling down as common sense is advancing.
