The New York Times drags the income inequality crusade down to self-parody: "As Cuba Shifts Toward Capitalism, Inequality Grows More Visible":
As Cuba opens the door wider to private enterprise, the gap between the haves and have-nots — and between whites and blacks — that the revolution sought to diminish is growing more evident.
[. . .]
Raising the [U.S.] remittance cap, along with allowing more Americans to visit Cuba and other steps toward normal diplomatic relations, will help "support the Cuban people," the Obama administration contends.
But some will enjoy that support more than others. Cuban economists say that whites are 2.5 times more likely than blacks to receive remittances, leaving many in crumbling neighborhoods like Little Swamp nearly invisible in the rise of commerce, especially the restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts that tourists tend to favor.
"Remittances have produced new forms of inequality, particularly racial inequality," said Alejandro de la Fuente, director of the AfroLatin American Research Institute at Harvard University.
"But some will enjoy that support more than others. Oh, the horror. Income inequality is such an evil that we must lament the passing of a ruthless dictatorship to drive the point home.
They just don't get it and probably never will. Yes, there is much less inequality in a place like Cuba because totalitarianism makes everybody poor. It's the kind of equality that has everyone driving around in '57 Fords held together with duct tape. If you give people the freedom to strive, all income levels will rise, but, alas, they will rise faster and further for some than for others.
Damn that freedom!
