The best way to find out about any place is to actually go there, but most of us are limited in funds and opportunities to do that.

As regards communism, it takes many different forms. It isn't just one monolithic "ism". There is nothing intrinsic in communism which denies having civil rights, freedom, or a democratic political system.

In practice, however, the originating communist system in Russia took power in a country which had always been ruled by autocrats (in the person of the Czar and the nobility). There had never been anything like real democracy in Russia. No sooner did that communist revolution succeed than it was attacked from outside by most of the major powers of the world at that time...through direct military intervention. Those attacks (around 1919 to 1920 approx.) failed to bring down the communists, but they did cause them to become very paranoid, militarist, and severely authoritarian in response.

When Stalin, one of the most paranoid dictators in history, took over the Soviet Union the situation was greatly worsened.

When the Nazis invaded Russia, the situation was worsened again.

When the Cold War started, it became even more dangerous than before.

These things have to be seen in their historical context.

There is nothing intrinsically authoritarian about either socialism or communism...or for that matter capitalism...but they can all become authoritarian under certain forms of leadership and certain conditions. Those conditions were endemic in Russia, and in China.

The socialism I have seen in Cuba is more benign than the fascism I have seen in Mexico. Far fewer police, far less poverty, less personal danger, and less fear.

That's why I admire what Cuba has accomplished, and in the face of far greater obstacles than Mexico, which has not been embargoed.

This does not mean that Cubans have the same freedoms as Canadians or Americans. They definitely do not.

On the other hand, they struck me as more mature and in touch with life than most North Americans...perhaps because they have not grown up on music videos and TV and Nintendo, but on dealing with actual reality...like cooking, farming, building your own bicycle out of parts, fixing your own car up, and all the hands-on realities of life.

All I can say is they impressed me a whole lot. And actually, so did the Mexicans, in their own way. They could teach North Americans quite a bit about self-reliance, and about community.

The fact about North America is that we have all been spoiled rotten by an excessive lifestyle, but we don't know it, because we simply take it for granted. You've got to go to a poorer place, and actually live with the local people, before you notice the difference.

- LH