BrianGarst.com

An article on Cuba has the interesting headline, “Cuba’s leaders see private farmers as key to saving socialism.”

Had the author (or editor) thought this through a bit, he might have found the irony in declaring that capitalism was the key to saving socialism.  Certainly we agree that the best way to save socialism is to end it.

Some other gems from the article:

“There is too much control and bureaucracy that hinders everything,” Espinosa Chepe said. “It’s impregnated with a 50-year-old operating method that is built on taking orders and is not used to decentralization.

“There need to be more incentives,” he said.

…

“The more independent you are, the more you push yourself,” he said. “Why work harder if you don’t get any benefit?”

…

“If the worker is not content in his job and you don’t pay him for his results, you don’t achieve anything,” cooperative president Lázaro Hernández told the paper, saying he paid his 20 employees 780 pesos a month ($32.50), more than twice the average national wage. Their wages, and share of produce, increase if they exceed production targets.

“If the salary is fixed, the worker will just show up and do his day’s work, but he won’t be interested in getting the most out of it. If he has a percentage, it all changes,” he said.

Incentives? Motivation in ownership? By George, I think they’ve got it!

Hat-tip: John Stossel’s Take

Cuba