From cabbages to fireflies *

Evil powers

By La Saeta (The Arrow)

HAVANA – It is not hard to conclude that those who oppose changes in Cuba have power. I’m not saying a lot or a little power, but that explains the ongoing “mispurposes” that contradict the order and rationality that the government has prioritized.

When a company suffers losses because another company didn’t abide by the contract between them, and the injured company fails to file a rightful lawsuit, there is malpractice due to malice or naiveté, which is no less guilty.

We might blame inertia. The inertia that protects wrongdoing was born the same day that employers began to pay the same to the good worker as they did to the worker who enjoys permanent “vacations” with impunity.

“Falling upward” brought with it immune irresponsibility. The expression describes cadres at any level whose performance is mediocre or bad, yet remain unpunished.

Lack of purpose and ineptitude lack an honorable surname but spread as aggressively as the damned marabú bush.

When somebody said that “all men are created equal” (not before God, for sure), he violated a principle of gender by leaving women out of the equation, according to the feminist canon. Ah, if everything were limited to inappropriate language, which also exists, everything would be light and easy to withstand.

But the truth is that, starting from that rampant uniformity, transgressions and vices were created that at this moment cannot be eradicated with a flick of a feather or ten. Time brings more than just white hairs and wrinkles. It putrifies, oxidates or makes gangrenous what has deteriorated, even if was a mistake made with the best intentions. In any case, time hinders positive changes.

We were taught that everyone is entitled to everything, and many people assumed those advantages cheerfully and without a worry. But when the call came to demand performance or eliminate privileges, somebody slammed on the brakes. Because too many functionaries grew used to behave like feudal lords, now that the country is organizing, ridding itself of absurd bindings and engaging in new practices, they use their faculties to rule and/or implement – not always well or on time. Delays also serve to hinder.

Amid these censurable occurrences, some encouraging seeds are trying to grow.

Some worthwhile rumors say that because it is not possible to increase the current insufficient wages, the government will establish differences in wages, according to the quality and quantity of the work performed.

At the latest session of Parliament, Vice President Mariano Murillo said one of the objectives of the reforms in the industrial sector was to move toward increases in wages or profits, beginning with an overachievement of the plans. This issue is in its experimental phase and we’ll have to see the results in a not-too-distant future.

Another interesting reference made by Murillo should begin in a matter of weeks. September will mark the start of the wholesale cooperatives engaged in the commercialization of farm products. He said this type of organization would shelter half the existing farm markets. It seems to be the method to reduce or eliminate the spoilage or loss of the farm products, so that they may reach the consumer in the best possible condition, as it should be.

Other objectives should be enacted before the end of 2012. It remains to be seen if the goals are met or remain on the unpaved road to hell. Let’s hope that the willingness to transform brings results.

*From cabbages to fireflies is a blog under construction.

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