Cuba with and without Castro

Fidel Castro’s resignation on February, 19, 2008, makes an old question come up to us once more: was he good for Cuba? Backing to 1959, when Mr. Castro and Che Guevara overthrow Fulgencio Batista from power the leaders of Cuban Revolution had made a promise of holding free elections and restoring democracy to the island. Years have gone since then and Cubans are still waiting for that political freedom.

Since July 2006, Mr. Castro has stepped down and has empowered his younger brother Raul – who is blamed by international press of alcoholism and lack of charisma – as a President of the Communist Party and the head of the Council of State. By that time Castro had undergone to an emergency surgery for a terminal intestinal cancer or diverticulitis with complications and last Tuesday (Fev, 19, 2008) he finally resigned by stating an official announcement on the Granma that he would not accept to be indicated by National Assembly to occupy the position of President and Commander in chief.

Washington and the large community of Cubans living in Florida and New Jersey still seem to wait for an opportunity to open Cuba to the world after Fidel’s resignation. However, nothing seems to change at all. The daily life on the island is exactly the same that used to be before that such a long-hoped announcement. Policymakers have different perspective of the following event. Some of them believe that it finally give to US the right opportunity of restoring democracy and an open society in Cuba. Others think the opposite by stating that communism in Cuba will outlive after Fidel, specially because he has prepared his staff for this moment for many years and the Cuba’s system seems to be ready for a very smooth and stable transition.

It has been told that Cuba’s system will not survive at all after Mr. Castro’s death, firstly, because his successor has a more opened agenda to modernize of the country inspired by Chinese model of development; secondly, because the long-oppressed population of Cuba is eager for political freedom and market democracy. But some main factors might be taken in consideration before saying so that easily: achievements and failures of Castro’s regime. Cuban’s life-expectancy raised up from 60 in the 50’s to 80 years in 80’s, literacy rate raised to 90 percent. Public vaccinations programs eradicated many diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus, meningitis, and measles. Castro’s regime has also delivered full employment, free education and universal health care system. But at the same time, Cubans are deeply frustrated by their just making ends of meet’s way of life, although they have a skilled work force, and bad conditions of housing, public transportation, clothing . On the other hand, adversaries of Castro’s regime are always calling attention of the public opinion outside and on the island to his human rights violations such as 5,700 roughly executions, 1,200 extrajudicial murders, and 300 political prisoners, without speaking about 2 million Cuban refugees living abroad.

In the last years the fall of Cuba’s socialism was predicted by its critics at least three times, when US made its economical blockade after the missile’s crisis at the Pigs Bay in the fall of 1962; or when Soviet Union cut off its $4 billion annual subsidy and the economical growth of the island fell down 35% overnight by the end of the Cold War; and, lastly, at the present time by the dawn of the myth, who is still an icon of social justice in many countries of Latin America, including in Brazil. Whatever happens after Castro on that island no one is yet able to predict. But it has been told truly that rule of law, free market, private property, pluralistic elections, respect to religious minorities and sexual freedom, releasing political prisoners, all of those modern and western values and achievements still remain only a whispered desire in Cubans’ hearts and minds.

EAST TIMOR

The Small Asian Island of East Timor seems to have an irrefutable fate: rampage. That resource-rich but still impoverished country has been invaded by Indonesia since 1976, the following year that Portugal pulled out of its territory after almost four hundred years of colonization.

When Asia-countries economic crisis of 1999 arised and reached Indonesia its occupation in East Timor became much more difficult, at first because the fourth biggest populated country in the world had no longer support of international communities and financial international institutions as World Bank or FMI; secondly, because at that time many human rights activists groups were struggling to push Indonesia military troops out of East Timor by spreadig out worldwide reports on human rights violations there.

However, they had many concerns in 1999 about Indonesia's pulling out of East Timor and its full independence before its government was ready to keep up peace. Finally, when it took place an UN-sponsored vote in August, 30, 1999, beginning waves of violence sparked through the country.

East Timor has been divided by anti-independence militia groups - for whom Indonesia military still provides clandestine guns - on one side and the government on the other side. Many of militia troops are made by former soldiers who came from the army, including Alfredo Reinado. They claim having been sacked by the army just because they came from the western part of the island which was colonized by Dutch and already was part of Indonesian territory.

East Timorese have been watched uncountable acts of terrorism against their people taking place everywhere in the country. Rebels are hidden in the mountains and protected by local people and they have been planning many attacks into the government. Few days ago, there were two attempts of murdering the East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta, who underwent to an emergency surgery after the attack and still has his life at risk, and the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao who escaped without injuries and claims that the attacks were carried out by Reinado and his followers.

More than 200,000 people have died since 1976 in East Timor. International organizations must help East Timor before nothing else is left.

Cultural Literacy

I actually did not have formal learning in cultural literacy, but I received the right influence from some members of my family and from close relationships. I was twelve years old when I read at the first time one famous magazine in Brazil called “veja” which means “see” in English. After that I would read the book review section and some reports about music every single weekend. The editor of that section would write a list of the best-sellers and of the best long-players – LPs as we have called them at that time. As Brazilian people had lived for a long time under a dictatorship, they were fed up with cultural censorship and they were avid of knowledge such as music, painting, literature and Culture. So was I. Although I was born in the plenty light of the military tyranny, I was a teenager who liked to read a lot and listen to “different” kind of music. I have found out the revolutionary musical rhythm of “bossa-nova” made in Brazil and exported to the rest of the world by Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto. And simultaneously I had also my first contact with the “Tropicalia” – a cultural movement in Brazil – listening to the music of Caetano Veloso. In his long-players I found out the poetry of Haroldo de Campos and of other Brazilian poets who leaded me forward the worldly literature and then to the philosophy. As I was growing, by suggestion of my uncles, I used to enjoy my time reading Russian, French and American literature, including the main books of Fiodor Dostoievski, Victor Hugo, and Ernest Hemingway. When I got into at high-school it was the turn of philosophy and I started to read Germany Philosophy such as Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. The music of Richard Wagner came to me automatically after then. At that time I made important and cultured friends who helped me increasing my level of knowledge about music, painting and literature, especially because one of them was a pianist and the other was a painter. I was seventeen and had a lot of spare time to read books, visit museums, go to the theater and see all festivals of cinema. I am not sure if it is the best way to acquire Culture literacy, but it was how I did – by sharing experiences.

Peace and War

The Iraq War 2003 has been considered one of the most controversial American wars since the World War II. The Bush Administration told the American people that they had to remove Saddam Hussein because he would have Weapons of Mass Destruction and was developing a program of enriching uranium, supposedly to create a nuclear bomb. As soon as it wasn’t found any WMD in Iraq, that administration begun to change their rhetoric from principle of preventive war to speech of democracy in Middle East. As Condoleeza Rice said once at the American University in Cairo: “Now we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people” (Time, Feb.12,2007). However, there are some and powerful voices in United States that disagree with Bush and Rice’s foreign policy, such as Senator Chuck Hagel has affirmed: “American cannot impose a democracy on any nation – regardless of our noble purpose. You cannot have a foreign policy based on divine mission. We tried that in the Middle Ages, that’s what the Crusades were about.” (The National Interest, Jan/Feb. 2007, p. 5). Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, in the academic journal "Foreign Affairs" (January/February 2007) states: "A free and fair election, moreover, is not the best first step toward democracy in a country that has no history or tradition of self-government." So, it is the relationship between democracy and foreign policy in US that consists the subject of our project research.

Male and Female

Lecture: Male and Female Communicative Patterns.

Professor Scott has presented at Concordia University a lecture of a research made by Deborah Tannen. She wrote a book about differences in men and women’s communicative patterns. She supports her thesis using a linguistic-pragmatic theory. It was explained in the lecture that pragmatic consist in part of linguistic which study the practical use of language. I will give an example by myself, if an owner of a restaurant located in front of a beach put a sign stating: “It’s forbidden enter using bikini”; it means that it is not allowed to come in without being dressed up. But, if the same sign is put in entrance of one nudist beach, it will mean something completely different. This is an excellent example of use pragmatic of language, i.e. when the same sentence have opposite meanings. It was also explained by Professor Scott based in Deborah Tannen’s research that female usually tell each other stories about how fights destroy their relationships, while male speak about troubles in general topics. Both of them talk about other people, importance of friendship and put down other people, but men do that in very general way, while women talk in a specific way, such as when they talk about hair-style or clothes other women are wearing. In that lecture, it was shown study on patterns communication between male and female in debates on TV show as well. In this kind of TV show people are invited to talk about scientific, cultural, social or political topics, specially well-known, celebrities, and experts. In that kind of show when male experts are talking about their field of studies women always support them. But the opposite has never happened, even if the women had extrinsic values and highest level of knowledge. It has never been easy for women negotiate their status, explain Professor Scott. In workplace environment, for instance, women are always making suggestion, alliances and negotiations, but men usually just state their ideas in a very positive and direct way. In conclusion, it is recognized that exist certain patterns of communications separated by genders, but it doesn’t mean that all women or men speak exactly at the same way. [Comments: the lecture was really fruitful because Professor Scott gave us practical examples of using communicative patterns in men and women conversations and it was presented in a simple and clear way].

In the Skin of a Lion - Ondaatje's Novel

Michael Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka and came to Canada as immigrant, exactly like many of his characters did. Ondaatje’s novel “In the Skin of a Lion” introduces people who were forgotten by official history: thieves, actresses, bridge builders, immigrants and anarchists, lonely voices fighting against the power of money and of oppression. He gave us one kind of story which travels “languorously like messages in a bottle”.

In 1923 the 21 years-old Patrick arrives in Toronto. He looks at the huge arches of Union Station – the heart of the city – which seems a magical portal that will turn the meaning of his life. “He was an immigrant to the city”, even though he was born in Canada. He is entering into the jungle in a skin of a lion; he is willing to fight for his survival. “Now, in the city, he was new even to himself, the past locked away” .

Ambroise Small, the millionaire, disappeared in 1919. He met the radio actress Clara Dickens who became his lover. At that time, Patrick became a searcher, because he was also interested in how to find Abroise Small since his family offered $80,000 as reward for his whereabouts.

Patrick meets Clara Dickens in Paris (Ontario), “the rare lover, the ‘perfect woman’”. She is a woman who has sexual liberty in the beginning of the 20th century. Patrick can’t stand the idea that she loves another man. He was a boy coming from the country while she already was an experienced radio actress and thirsty of freedom.

1930 is the year of the economic depression. Patrick felt ashamed of himself, he was just working in the lake tunnel and nobody knows anything about him. When he was going back home he stopped at a building where people moved in noise. There were a party and a political meeting. And there he will met Alice Gull at the second time. She tells him some political ideas about anarchism and about how to destroy the power of rich people.

Patrick is looking for the meaning of his life in other lives, trying to forget his past or build his future searching the past of other people. He named his enemies and chose his target with resolution: Muskoka hotel, the riches’ paradise.

Definitely, the author of “In Skin of a Lion” is among those who can bring back the order from the chaos and light minds and hearts as if he was reorganizing the several pieces of a puzzle, the strange and magical puzzle of life. It’s a powerful story, plenty of love and compassion. And how said its author “all else is labour and darkness. (…) An unfinished world.”

Happiness Revisited

Psychologists, social-scientists and researchers have been studying how certain aspects of life or individual traits would predict happiness, such as money, genetic programming, friendship, education, marital status, youth or religious faith. We will summarize the main ideas of two articles that explain what is really related with happiness and what is not. The first article was written by David G. Myers, The Funds, Friends and Faith of Happy People, published in American Psychologist Journal (Jan. 2000), and the second article, The New Science of Happiness, was published on Time magazine by Claudia Wallis et alli.

At first view, it is noticed that both authors agree about the relevance of friendship to be happier. People who are attached to friends and partners are able to share intimate thought are happier than others that are not. Myers explains it demonstrating that a person who has five close friends or more can live better. But, if the social ties were broken increasing rates of disease and death would occur.

The result of Dienen and Saligman’s research (Times, 2007) - scientists from University of Illinois - demonstrate students with highest level of happiness and few signs of depression had strong ties to friends and family. That observation confirms that commitment to spend more time with family and friends can effectively improve people’s well-being. Myers adds that another kind of close relationship which might also improve people’s well-being is the marital status, since three in four Americans see their spouse as their best friend.

On the other hand, people still believe that money can buy happiness (Times, 2007), but studies have been shown that it is not as true as we have thought. Meyers (2000) points out that people who go to their work by bus on average have the same level of well-being as rich men that go there driving imported and expensive cars. This fact seems to demonstrate that relationship between wealth and well-being is not so relevant. Equally, according to Time (2007) social-science and psychological research has shown there is no strong relationship between how much money is earned and how good people feel about their lives.

Both authors made studies on lottery winners, and the result of different researches were the same, since it was demonstrated that the emotional impact of the event dissipated as soon as the euphoria was gone and that those people did not feel themselves significantly happier. Time’s article shows an interesting example, describing how happiness is the strongest emotion of paraplegic people eight weeks after the accident, highlighting the incredible human capacity of adaptation. Moreover, Myers affirms that the wealthiest people from the Forbes list are only slightly happier. Similarly, Time’s article demonstrates that rich people usually feel jealousy about others who are wealthier. Probably, this happens in part because a phenomenon is described by psychologists as anxiety, meaning that once the human basics needs are satisfied, for instance, if we have an additional income, it will not raise the sense of satisfaction with life.

Therefore, it is possible to see in both authors their concordance about one important point. They both indicate that happiness depends less on wealth than is most commonly supposed by Americans. However, Myers reminds his readers that in poor countries as India where people have extremely low income money can predict greater well-being, whereas the same event does not happen in countries where better distribution of wealth exists such as Canada, US or European nations.

Lastly, another important aspect of life which contributes to happiness is religious faith. Time’s article just mentions briefly that faith seems to lift the spirit but it does not explain if it is because of faith itself or the influence of living in religious-community. In addition, they usually do not make use of alcohol or cigarettes and tend to be healthier and tend to live longer. Myers concludes that active religious North Americans are less likely to become delinquent, divorce or commit suicide.

In conclusion, it can be said that, even though those studies have been written for different audiences, both authors agree in one essential viewpoint: happiness is more related with close relationships and spiritual development than with personal income.