The Plight of the Disconnected

In 1966, during a speech on the steps of the University of Havana, Fidel Castro warned, "Let us not produce in our classrooms generations of Cubans disconnected from the reality of the country" — individuals unaware of the sacrifices required to carry out a socialist revolution under the conditions in which Cuba must pursue its project of social, economic, and political justice.

Cuban revolutionaries are recognized around the world for their human values, patriotism, dedication, and solidarity. They are men and women capable of making any sacrifice for the common good. This remains one of the great achievements of the Revolution.

However, a segment of the population is marked by a troubling superficiality. These are people convinced they are entitled to everything, believing the rest of the country and the state exist solely to fulfill their whims, while they contribute little or nothing in return.

For these fellow citizens, the United States' economic war against Cuba is simply an invention by the country’s leadership, used to justify alleged or actual mistakes and missteps. Mentioning the blockade in front of them often earns, at best, a mocking smile or a sarcastic gesture.

Not long ago, I overheard a young man say — as we waited for some form of transport to get home — that he planned to move to a certain country in the South Pacific, because a friend had told him life was good there.

A young woman accompanying him asked how he planned to live in a place where he did not speak the language or know the customs, and where he had neither family nor acquaintances.

He replied, quite confidently, "In that country, people throw away refrigerators, mattresses, and brand-new furniture on the street." He would simply collect what he needed and live in a small house until he learned the language. Then he would open a sportswear business.

There are even more complex cases. Many self-proclaimed commentators have never opened a book, while others polish a superficial cultural veneer with borrowed phrases picked up from social media, unable to make any effort unless it serves to satisfy their ego or personal comfort.

The influence of the enemy is not absent from this phenomenon of the disconnected. A massive media campaign and an unprecedented cultural and cognitive war in the modern era has been and continues to be waged against Cuba.

Yet we cannot ignore the shortcomings that have led to the growth among us of this attribute-less being — someone who is indifferent, ignorant, self-important, and worships material things. This is the homo frivolus of the consumer society.

Socialism can only be the work of conscious individuals. Living in a blockaded Cuba can be challenging, but we maintain our trust in the Revolution because we know that, with all the obstacles and despite them, we have built a different kind of country.

We have secured rights that remain a dream for many around the world. We work together without the divisions that plague other societies. We do this because we believe in ourselves, in those who stand with us, and because the majority of men and women in this land refuse to be reduced to objects, to mere things, to commodities.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff