Monday, July 15, 2013

Pyramids in Cuba, Pyramids in Egypt

Pyramids in Cuba, Pyramids in Egypt
July 15, 2013
Graham Sowa

HAVANA TIMES — Within 24 hours of arriving to Cuba almost three years
ago I made the following conclusions about the society at large: smoking
is allowed anywhere, even the airport and public transport; yelling long
distances is an accepted form of social interaction; and it is never
acceptable to snitch on someone stealing something from their work, no
matter how obvious it is.

This week President Raul Castro, in a moment of sincere cultural
introspection, alerted Cubans all over the country that his government
was ready to make a go at restoring honesty, decency, decorum, and
sensibility to Cuban society.

His plan to do so rests on the solitary pillar of economic policy; to
redistribute wealth from the swindling class to the working class.

When Cubans talk about the "inverted pyramid" this is what they are
referring to.

People who take on jobs with a lot of responsibility neither have free
time to work in another sector that pays in hard currency (usually
tourism) nor does their job give them access to some commodity which
they can take home (out the back door) and sell.

The fact that the pyramid got inverted in the first place is a grand
architectural metaphor to the absolute failure of state planning.

Since the beginning of the Special Period, and the subsequent promotion
of tourism as a solution to the post-Soviet economy, the most handsomely
rewarded workers are those who either have very little responsibility or
those who break the law.
During the previous twenty or so years, Cuban society, acting in a
manner well outside the official "Party line", has taken the
socioeconomic pyramid apart, block by block, and reassembled it upside
down. Everyone participates, rather they like it or not.

To illustrate: last month I was buying eggs near Cuatro Caminos, a large
market in Havana. Since there were no eggs at the government store I had
to buy them on the street, from a person illegally reselling eggs she
had acquired, somehow, earlier. At one point during the transaction we
had to duck into a dark stairwell because the person was being watched
by plainclothes police.

I don't want to buy eggs like I'm buying cocaine; especially from
someone who is taking advantage of others by upping the price of a
commodity relied on my millions of people here as a source of protein.
But I'm obliged to participate, otherwise no eggs for me.

Now President Castro wants to right the wrongs by righting the pyramid.

The first moves, over the past few years, have been to bring economic
activity that had previously been illegal into the scopes of government
regulation. This includes the list of approved private economic
activities ranging from opening lemonade stands to selling cars and
houses; to the more recent overture of allowing workers to form collectives.

But if the goal is really to do away with the inverted pyramid the
government will have to go after those who flaunt the law and continue
undermining the popular economy.

If even eggs are an item on the illegal market it is obvious that the
state has lost control of a sizeable chunk of the economy, no matter how
thorough and brilliant the centralized planning is.
The good cop routine of making more space in the economy for different
types of activities will need to be tempered with the bad cop routine of
punishing people who refuse to play by the new rules.

The process will be a long slog.

The pyramid will need to be taken apart and rebuilt block by block. Some
especially heavy lifting will be needed when it comes to the phenomenon
of dual currency.

Even if everything with the economy works out this is no guarantee that
the Cuban social practices of lighting up a cigarette anywhere,
conversing by shouting, and getting the five finger discount at work
will change for the better.

In my opinion this upside pyramid, as awkward as it may appear, has a
deep foundation that won't be broken up by only changing the economy.

Of course with all this talk of pyramids it seems logical to consult
with Egypt on how to advance. But looking at the recent news from that
North African country I doubt that many in the Cuban government would be
eager to follow its lead.

Source: "Cuba's inverted pyramid economic system" -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=96428

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