Cuban Days: The Inscrutable Nation
“Cuban Days: The Inscrutable Nation” in the World Affairs Journal is a powerful essay on the reality of life in Cuba. The journalist Tom Gjelten captures the essence of Cuban culture today and how it has evolved in response to Fidel Castro’s revolution, proving how much culture can change over a few generations as a result of governmental change. The analysis of how cultural behaviors have formed over the last half-century has major implications for governance and leadership.
“The combination of fierce repression and a paternalistic state has squelched initiative and fostered a culture of passivity,” says Gjelten. A strong hierarchical force has been in place since the revolution, which makes conformity the easiest and safest mode of living for most in the country.
Gjelten adds that “for average working Cubans, the inclination to conform is even more deeply felt, fostered by a…state that provides for Cubans’ basic needs without nurturing individual responsibility.”
The totalitarian regime imbues Cubans with an extreme aversion to risk, which stifles entrepreneurial activity and makes hope for change to a less severe form of government, one unlike Castro’s, very dismal. In other words, Gjelten concludes that change must be top-down, and that a change in political ideology will be the impetus for cultural change.
Click here to read the essay.
