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Social Effects Of Communism In Cuba

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The Effects of Communism in Cuba

The idea of communism was originally created from the writings of Plato. He envisioned a society where everyone has equal ownership of everything, which he believed would create long-lasting peace. Karl Marx was inspired by Plato and wanted to put his teaching and ideas into action. The main flaw in communism that Plato did not address is that because everything was run by the state, corruption in the government was common. Communism was not executed properly by the governments that attempted to utilize it. One of the countries that had become communist was Cuba. The people of Cuba were thrown into constant fear of the Cold War getting hot and new regulations that changed their lives drastically. Cuba, …show more content…

One of the main conflicts that arose in Cuba was the rapidly declining economy. Cuban farmers lost all of their land and were forced to work on much smaller plots given to them by the state. Because of this, the agricultural production decreased, which brought down Cuba’s economy with it. In Marc Frank’s Cuban Revelations, he says “Some 70 percent of the land in Cuba is owned by the state, making it the largest unproductive landowner in Latin America when Raul took over” (116). The Cuban government began filtering things on the news to make the people believe different things were happening around them than what actually was happening. Back when Fidel Castro first took control of Cuba in 1959, he envisioned the same utopia slowly forming in front of him that Plato had first described in The Laws (Pipes 1). Unfortunately, he formed a government full of corrupt and greedy individuals to help him accomplish his goal of creating a peaceful and happy society. The reality of what was happening in Cuba was far from what had been promised by the Cuban government. Hospitals that supposedly offered free care only did so with their friends, family, and powerful politicians. Also, due to the farmers …show more content…

The whole world fared that a third World War may happen soon, and nuclear weapons may be used. The U.S. eventually put an embargo on Cuba, which disallowed all trade and travel with each other. Not only was Cuba’s economy hurt from this, but they lost a good ally as well. In Jeffrey Cunningham’s Cuba Libre, he describes the break of the U.S. and Cuba relations: “the United States went from being Cuba’s liberator, benefactor, overseer, and military, business, and diplomatic partner, to principal foe” (Cunningham 49). Recently, the embassies in both countries have been reopened, which marks an important point in restoring the U.S. and Cuba relations. It was not long before it that Fidel Castro was replaced by his brother, Raul Castro, who quickly began to change many things in Cuba to improve the country’s economy and living conditions. Many regulations that limited the people were abolished, and freedom was given back to the country. Karl Vick and Dolly Mascarenas in Cuba on The Cusp describe the slowly mending relationship between the two countries by saying that “A quarter-century later, Washington and Havana finally agreed to acknowledge that things may have changed” (Mascarenas and Vick 2). Although the relations are slowly forming back together now, the U.S. and Cuba’s past will not soon be forgotten by

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