Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, 1992 [Excerpts]
Preamble: We, Cuban citizens … guided by … the political and social ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.
Principles of the State:Article 1. Cuba is an independent and sovereign socialist state….
Article 9: The state … directs in a planned way the national economy… assures the educational, scientific, technical and cultural progress of the country … guarantees that every man or woman, who is able to work, have the opportunity to have a job with which to contribute to the good of society and to the satisfaction of individual needs, that no disabled person be left without adequate mean of subsistence, that no sick person be left without medical care, that no child be left without schooling, food and clothing, that no young person be left without the opportunity to study, that no one be left without access to studies, culture and sports, works to achieve that no family be left without a comfortable place to live.
Now, ask yourself: What American liberal or conservative doesn’t share, in principle, the core principles of Cuba’s socialist system, as reflected by their joint commitment to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public (i.e., government) schooling, education grants, public housing, food stamps, agricultural subsidies, subsides to the arts, and other welfare-state programs?
So, the next time someone accuses Barack Obama of being a socialist, you might respond, “Well, that’s true, but doesn’t the same label apply to all American liberals and conservatives?”
