Evolution Shift: Cuba - David Houle - MediaBizBlogger

In the second half of the 20th century at least until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s Americans were raised and educated that the bad guys were communists and that these communists threatened the way of life of the country and all that wanted freedom Well for several decades that might have been true but those times are long gone When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed in the four years that followed the eastern bloc collapsed and the global economy began The number of potential consumers of the capitalistic way of life basically doubled This led to economic upheavals that transformed China Russia Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe It was generally accepted that the US and the West had wonThe world is getting ever more interrelated in all areas economic It is getting ever more connected electronically It is starting to realize that there are global problems that face us all In such a new world the idea that Cuba is a threat to the US that Cuba is subversive is ridiculous What could Cuba possibly do to the US Let39s see provide the world39s best cigars some fantastic culture a new market great athletic talent and of course a wonderful place to visit The US can offer Cuba so much Take a look at a map of the Caribbean Cuba sits there right in the middle dominating the region To pretend it is not there or a threat shows how entrenched thinking can obstruct seeing clearlyMarshall McLuhan famously said that quotMost people drive down the freeway of life looking in the rear view mirrorquot Everyone can tell you their story Everyone can tell you the history of their lives What he meant was that few people really look straight ahead and face the future This can easily describe the mindset of the federal government as it pertains to Cuba during the last 15 years Politicians always need bogeymen for the citizens to be scared of and we have let them do so with great success But to look at Cuba as a threat a stance continued and amplified by the Bush administration shows nothing more than holding on to the past at the cost of seeing the future clearlyCuba is a prime example of the dynamic still prevalent in both governmental policy and the perceptions of the populace at large to continue to look through the lens of 20th century constructs and filters when looking at the present As I wrote months ago in a column about the bailout of the Big Three auto companies the Big Three define the 20th century auto industry one predicated solely on the ICE Internal Combustion Engine and if we wanted to invest in last century39s auto industry we should do the same for what will be the 21st century39s auto industry The 20th century is history it is no longer the time in which we liveWe are now almost a decade into the 21st Century so it is time to shed the filters of that century that block us from seeing the present clearly and face the future that is rushing toward us Complete normalization of relations with Cuba is just one of the many actions we must take to do so Tentative first steps can feel risky but they are the essential beginnings we must take to face the new age we are now entering

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Evolution Shift: Cuba - David Houle - MediaBizBlogger

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