I have been thinking that change is a path one learns by walking.
It is often thought, said , and written, that Cubans on the island are not prepared for change because over two generations have grown under the brainwashing of Communism. In reality, we will not know this until that change arrives. What is certain is that change will be harsh, it will be difficult, because for decades we have lived without freedom, conditioned by consistent indoctrination. We are accustomed to not thinking for ourselves. We are marked by dependence on the State—a “Daddy State” that gives, or that takes away, that decides over us. It has been too long since we experienced the responsibility of freedom.
For decades we have been made to believe that paying for services such as education or health care is a capitalist aberration, that the free market is a grave sin, that private property is synonymous with injustice and exclusion, what communism teaches.
For decades we have grown up in a type of simulation, in a deception, in a set of double standards. There is the famous word “resolver” ( how can we solve our needs) —which is nothing more than “ finding what we need at any price and by any means” , without stopping to think whether those means are right or wrong, because, we know that if we choose correct methods, it is very possible that we will not obtain what we need. So we “resolver” in order to survive. For decades we were taught uniformity as a supreme value, leading us to develop intolerance and even violence toward positions different from our own. Respect for differences, for opposing opinions, for dialogue as a search for truth was not possible… those ideas of individual thoughts and values were always considered “weaknesses” that led to making “concessions” to the enemy.
Yes, perhaps we are not fully prepared to live in freedom, to build a plural society, to uproot lies and mistaken ideas from within ourselves but I believe we are also not prepared to keep suffering, to keep dying slowly. We are not ready to continue to watch our children suffer as they grow up without a future or to see our parents die in indigence without adequate medicines. We are certainly not prepared to accept the miserable life impossed on us by our current government. We are not prepared to continue being hostages of an island-prison; we are not prepared to keep lowering our heads, to renounce having a decent present or a better future. We will not give up the potential of having a choice to plan a better life.
We understand life has to be pushed forward. What is good and new can always find a welcome in the human heart. When the definitive change arrives and we are free ( change is already moving among us), we will stumble, we will make mistakes, and perhaps at some point we will confusedly curse it, but we will learn, we will get back up. Yes little by little we will move forward and achieve freedom and success —just as the thousands of Cubans who have emigrated. They managed to grow and prosper, often without knowledge or resources; as thousands upon thousands of entrepreneurs have managed to create new realities. There are those who are doing important things even within the island, within the siege of difficulties, they work to teach, to educate, and to succeed in nurturing in the hearts of new generations the values that one day will save their lives.
Yes, it will not be easy, but we will achieve it.
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