Lifting the Blockade (embargo) A working plan for all parties

The following is an official quote of the statements made by the U.S.
State Department regarding the conditions needing to be met for a
lifting of the U.S. economic and trade blackade(embargo) on the Cuban
people and their nation. I do not represent or in anyway oficially
speak for the U.S. government. No such condition is to be inferred in
any way by this writing.

First, the conditional statements in whole as given.

Shannon repeated the U.S. offer to consider lifting its trade embargo
on

Havana if the Cuban regime fulfills a number of requirements, such as:

1.) Releasing political prisoners.

2.) Guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech and
association.

3.) Allowing the creation of organizations that are independent of the
state, including trade unions, neighborhood associations, and political
parties.

4.) Starting a "pathway" that leads to free and fair elections.

************************************************************************

Now that the criteria to move forward has been clearly defined we can
begin the process of negotiation and compromise. Such is the nature of
all adult behaviour in these situations.

Before we begin I need to make certain parties aware of the stakes
involved here. There is an old saying, "so you sow, so you reap". A
transition can be a time of great stress and the future U.S. transition
will undoubtedly be far more stessful in nature then Cuba's. The U.S.
is now defining the nature of its own transition. Rather then impose a
transition of others making they are being given the opportunity to
establish how such transitions will be handled going forward especially
their own. So you sow, so you reap. In advanced societies every person
or nation has the right to determine their own destiny. You are
determining yours now and it is by your own hand that the rules of
transition will be established. It doesn't get any more equal and fair
then that my friends. It is simple really. Do unto others as you would
have done unto you. Surely you've heard this before.

There are several points that need to be made before directly
addressing each condition. First and foremost is the use of the word,
"consider". This is a very arrogant statement as it basically says,
"you do what we want and maybe, if we feel like it we'll reciprocate".
This is far to nebulous and is not an acceptable manner of negotiation.
Let's make our first conditional correction.Here is what we would
prefer this to say, "The U.S. will lift its trade
embargo on the Cuban people and nation in stages as the Cuban goverment
reciprocates and fulfills the following desired requirements".

There, now doesn't that sound more proffesional and adult? Doesn't that
sound less arrogant and reasonable. It is a statement between equals
and demonstrates fairness toward all parties.Now let's look at the
requirements in detail and provide negotiable responces and propose
legitimate compromises in order to move forward. That is what everyone
wants isn't it? To end this senseless antagonism and set the conditions
for all our people to live together in a mutally beneficial, peaceful
and productive manner.

Let's begin.

Requirement 1: Releasing political prisoners.

This is without doubt the easiest condition to meet. There should be no
danger to Cuban national security if the U.S. will provide
transportation to the releasies nation of choice and those released
agree never to enter Cuba without applying for a visa and agreeing to a
government review of their request. There, see how simple that was.
Lets move on.

Requirement 2.) Guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of
speech and association.

Now we are getting into the more complex issues. Everyone needs to
acknowledge that the beginning of anything is usually a very critical
and delicate time. Extreme care must be given so that anarchy and chaos
do not develope. We all know what happened in the former Soviet Union
and none of us want to see that happen in Cuba. We are after all
intelligent adults that learn from our mistakes.

There are far greater fundamental freedoms and rights which every human
being is entititled to but these are a good place to start with and as
they are set as conditions we can address them now. Let's take each and
effort a solution. Freedom of speech: Words can be mightier then the
sword. Words are a powerful tool for good and bad. With freedom of
speech comes great power and even greater responcibility to use that
power wisely. The word, "transition" means to evolve from one form to
antother in a gradual and sustainable manner. It does not mean
catostophic extinction of one form instantly to another.

Freedom of speech is linked directly to the greatest of all higher
order concepts of human nature, that of creativity. Sentient beings are
set apart from all the lower order life forms in their ability to
create and determine their own destinies.

Creativity is what gives us purpose and defines our spiritual and
intellectual evolvement. All of mankinds greatest achievements have
been the result of creativity. There are great works of art, technology
and all manner of creative endevours that have improved the quality of
life for all. The ability and right to create as an individual and
collectively as a people is necessary to any evolving civilization. Key
to collective creation is the ability to communicate ideas and
impressions to others. Imagine trying to build a bridge without
blueprints or to create a great novel without the written word. Free
communication is not just a requirement for advancedment and social
evolution it is a fundamental right given to all people and defended by
all higher order civilizations.

Words can be used for good or bad as I have said. Freedom of speech
does not meen you can run into a movie theatre and yell, "Fire"! People
may get hurt and so there are rules which are designed to protect
others from misuse of this powerful tool.

Restrictions on the freedom of speech by a government usually results
out of fear. The government is afraid that subversive ideas will
propogate to the people and lead to loss of social control and order.
It is a legitamate fear. If in the U.S. a concerted movement were to
publish an article telling people to do things of a subversive nature,
to commit what is legally defined as a crime then that person or
persons would be restrained and punished by the law.

So there are legitimate limits and restrictions to freedom of speech,
the important thing is to know where the balance is between preserving
society by protective restrictions and stagnating and stifling
individual and national creativity.

If we stick to the principle that transition must be done in a
carefully planned and gradual manner this is the framework in which all
change must be introduced. Again, the goal is not catostrophic
extinction or anarchy. Words are powerful and must be used wisely and
for good intent. Those who would use words to spread creative concepts
and ideas to others must do so intelligently and with wisdom. A good
place to start in exploring this freedom is in the place where the most
educated people are, the schools. Not only is it a place of higher
education but it is the appropriate setting for the rights of freedom
of speech to be conducted and taught to others. Let's get specific now.

Cuban universities can establish courses in Free Speech and within this
controlled environment carefully and gradually learn how to use this
powerful tool without causing catostrophic damage to other vital social
systems. Once the sucess of this experiment has been proven and
protocols established it could then be extended to more public relms in
a controlled, gradual and non disruptive manner. Courses in Freedom of
Speech and and other liberal arts classes designed for discussion of
alternative views and beliefs should be established as the starting
point for this condition. This would also meet the requirement of free
association but within a controlled environment of well educated and
intentioned people. These forms of associations could benefit all
Cubans by bring together like minded individuals in focused and
collective creative activities. Its a start as they say.

Lets move on to the next condition.

3.) Allowing the creation of organizations that are independent of the
state, including trade unions, neighborhood associations, and political
parties.

This assumes that there is something wrong with the, "State". It is a
fairly well known concept that things working independantly or on
different protocols from the whole usually leads to disfunction and
anarchy. That said, there is nothing wrong with the above conditions
with the following minor correction.

"Allow the creation of organizational parties, including worker trade
guild parties, neighborhood association parties, and technocratic
legislative parties, within the larger State Party system framework".

This would meet the requirements nicely and still maintain a common
framework that the Cuban people are used to and at the same time allow
for higher order evolvement. There is much more detail regarding these
matters and not enough time to go into them here. Later discussions
with all parties is in order.

4.) Starting a "pathway" that leads to free and fair elections.

This requirement is actually directly related to No.3. It is also one
of the easiest to solve. First we need to clarify what the U.S. is
actually saying and what they and other interested parties would like
to see Cuba transition to. Yes, I am presuming much. I'm allowed. <warm
smile and a wink>

The U.S. has the finest example of representative democracy money can
buy. This was not the original intent but the the danger of eventual
corruption was noted. Why was representative democracy chosen? It was
essential to support capitalism which was essential to support rapid
growth of social, economic and technological systems. You see the U.S.
was created to verify that the people of Earth working together could
form a free, democratic society and evolve that society to higher order
levels by working together. Since the U.S. was only created a few
hundred years ago there needed to be a system put into place that would
allow for thousands of years of social, economic, technological and
political evolution to take place in as little time as possible. This
was the most viable solution given the state of technology at the time.
People in the sciences are familiar with such controlled enviroinment
excellerated system experiments.

Representative democracy is a less evolved form of true democracy which
is called "Participatory Democracy". In primitive societies that lack
the technology for all citizens to participate in the governing and
creative aspects of thier nation, representative democracy is a viable
solution. The problem with it is that when combined with excellerated
and uncontrolled capitalism it eventually corrupts as a result of its
limitations and its very nature. The wealthiest are able to buy
representation and thereby control the entire democratic process thus
removing true freedom from the masses. Its the old saying made
manifest, "you can't have your cake and eat it too" unfortunately.

Participatory Democracy is of a higher order form then representative
democracy. Unlike its lower order form representative democracy, it
ensures that each and every citizen is able to participate in the
governance and creative evolutionary endevours of their nation. This is
the fundamental meaning behind the great words, "We The People". It is
a great concept and primary framework from which to build. Do not
misunderstand me on this, the U.S. was at the time of her creation the
most advanced democratic and free nation ever concieved on this world
and it has proven the basic assumptions were sound, that working
together collectively anything is possible. Just as they were
introduced to higher order concepts of democracy so too is Cuba now
being offered and introduced to the next and final, higher order form
of democracy.

In combination with No3, and the establishment within the main State
Party of technocratic parties who represent the greatest intellectuals
of any given field such as science, health, economic, politics, etc.,
full participatory democracy can be achieved. Full and direct voting
capabilities can be granted not to the peoples representatives but to
the people themselves. The technology now exists to make this possible.
There are rules and protocols
that apply to this more advanced form of democracy as with any system.
While a full explanation is beyond the scope of this writing we can
touch upon some of the basics.

Consider the following scenario, you are in a hospital being diagnosed
for a disease and a treatment efforted by 4 people. Now, who would you
want these 4 people to be? Would you want a politician, a lawyer, a
carpenter and a baker deciding on the best medical treatment for you?
Of course not. You would want 4 of the best trained medical doctors to
decide what medical treatment is best to do for you. The same logic is
applied to participatory democracy where those in technocratic parties
are the best individuals in their fields. Citizens who are educated
enough to understand the criteria needed for that particular discipline
can then vote directly for who they want to lead that particular
technocratic party. Lets take an example.

The Medical Party: Led by the three greatest medical minds in Cuban
society. Voted into power by their peers and those citizens who prove
sufficient knowledge of the functional criteria to make an informed and
intelligent decision. Lets clarify the last statement. The medical
leadership being voted on by their peers is easy to understand but what
of ordinary citizens who wish to participate in the process?

What makes for an intelligent and informed vote? In deciding on a
leader should it be based on criteria such as their looks? "I voted for
her becuase she was really pretty" or "he had a real way with words and
I liked his jokes". These are not intelligent criteria for determining
those best qualified to lead an entire nation in their focused and
representative fields. How about this, "I voted for Dr. Smith because
he displayed superior knowledge on the ethics of advanced genetic
research". Isn't that a more intelligent and relavent criteria for
voting for say a medical leadership role?

All people of a nation under the rules of participatory democracy have
the right and privilage to directly participate in the voting process
provided they possess the required prerequisite knowledge to cast an
intelligent and informed opinion. Not only in chosing leadership but
directly in matters of legislation. This is a much higher order form of
Democracy then what exists in the U.S. or anywhere else on this Earth
for that matter. By its very nature it precludes the ability for one
wealthy interest to buy a leadership role and thereby control voting
and legislature procedures. It also ensure that matters will be
efforted not based on profitability and benefit to special interests
but on actual social and national priorities and objectives that
benefit all citizens equally and the nation as a whole.

Adopting higher order participatory democracy and establishing the
requisite technocratic parties would not only satisfy the above
requirements but exceed them far beyond what even the U.S. has at
present. The U.S. has only two parties which really matter, The
Republican and Democratic parties. There are a few other parties but
their relevance and power is insignificant. These two political parties
control the U.S. and again they are the finest parties money can buy.
Here is a little joke. How do you define and honest politician in the
U.S.? Answer, "One that stays bought". It would be funny if it wasn't
true.

Cuba does not need to limit itself to such a primitive and corruptable
system. It must go beyond this and adopt a higher order form of true
democracy and freedom. This is what is wished for them and this is what
they are entirely capable of achieving without loss of her current
power structures which can be upgraded and evolved into the most
advanced on the planet. Current party leaders can remain in power so
that they can administrate the creation and initial governance of the
expanded technocratic ministries and departments.

We have covered a lot of ground here and provided ways to meet the
designated requirements for lifting the embargo. More importantly
though we have introduced the principles of higher order forms of
governance and society by which Cuba may improve and elevate the
quality of life for all her citizens. The first step is for Cuba alone
to decide if the above course of action and initiatives is what they
want and is right for them. If so then the next step is to directly
engage the U.S. State Department and negotiate the lifting of the
embargo while the transitional intiatives outlined above are begun.

This can work my friends and all our peoples can benefit from the
actions taken now at this pivitol moment in history. This can be a
truly historic and Great Work that we undertake togehter, collectively.
Lets start working on solutions instead of arguing endlessly over what
the problems were. Right thoughts lead to right actions and that is the
right thing to do at this right moment in history.

All right my friends?

; )


Your friend,

Me

.

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