College tuition and debt
Credit card interest
Insurances: home, auto, life
Taxes: federal, state, sales
Unsubsidized food costs
The point is that those and other charges obviated by Cuba's socialist system significantly raise the wages Cubans receive far above the level normally decried by Cuba's critics -- far above, I would say, most Third World countries.
None of this, however, is to say that Cuba (like our own country) does not have serious problems. Its wealth-gap though infinitely less severe than in the United States holds potential for social unrest. And hunger (as in the U.S.) is still a problem for many.
To address such challenges and to responsibly integrate itself into today's globalized economy, Cuba seems to be embracing:
A reduction of the government bureaucracy that my friend Guillermo Tell so despises.
Changing the state's role from that of owner of the means of production to manager of the same.
Increasing the role of cooperatives in all sectors of the economy.
Connecting wages with productivity.
Expanding the private sector in an economy based on the general principle, "As much market as possible, and as much planning as necessary" (to insure a dignified life for all Cubans).
Elimination of subsidies to those who don't actually need them.
Establishing income "floors" and "ceilings" rendering it impossible for Cubans to become excessively rich or poor.
Introducing an income tax system in a country that has no culture of taxation -- itself a tremendous challenge. (So tremendous, a friend told me, that a tax system is "impossible" for Cubans even to contemplate.)
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