Yep, that’s the problem with making such a structure the focus of the economy, and not just another element subservient to the Public Sector and government in general. Easy to take advantage of individualists in a cooperative based economy than a collectivized one.
Easy to take advantage of individualists in a cooperative based economy than a collectivized one.
Idk about that on it’s face. The Cuban people have endured a hellish onslaught of violence and oppression from abroad. They wouldn’t have endured without a high degree of cooperation and comraderie.
By contrast, the Eastern European economy underwent full collectivization without a strong fraternal foundation. Their residents were ripe for divide-and-conqueror when the Iron Curtain fell.
This isn’t an either-or issue. You need both enthusiastic participation AND organized collective ownership to achieve a lasting Socialist state.
I was not aware the Cuban economy had a significant fraction of cooperatives, outside of the more recent growth in the last decade or so.
There’s been quite a few instances of organizations which are progressive under capitalism being used by forces of reaction against a socialist government. The trucker’s strike under Allende and the actions the trade unions took against Burkina Faso under Sankara leading to their banning come to mind.
I was not aware the Cuban economy had a significant fraction of cooperatives, outside of the more recent growth in the last decade or so.
Hard to get information in or out of a country under siege. You’ve just got to talk to people who lived there.
It’s incredibly hard. And lots of people just want to get out. But the degree to which anything still works in Cuba is mutualism. It’s always been mutualism.
