Reply #33: Visited once [View All]

[blindpig]

There can be no doubt that the 'Special Period' was the impetus of much of their innovation, which puts to the lie the meme that socialist states are bureaucratic monoliths incapable adequate responsiveness.

They were handed lemons and have made good lemonade. There has been a massive movement towards urban, organic agriculture. Public transit has been very clever, those 'camels' in urban areas and a system whereby state owned vehicles are obliged to take on riders at highway overpasses works well.

There has been a great de-emphasis of commodity agriculture(sugar). I saw small farmers plowing with oxen and mule, they were also used to pull carts. Livestock has the advantage of dunging the soil, far better than chemical fertilizers.

Cuba aims to have not only a sustainable society but a more human one as well, with an emphasis on culture instead of mindless bling and consumerism.They are very family oriented(often noted in Latino culture) and easy going, I even witnessed an encounter between some dudes who seemed a bit drunk and some cops, who showed a lot more restraint and humanity than is common in these parts.