Consciousness Asleep

Consciousness Asleep / Fernando Damaso
Posted on June 25, 2013

One of the main sources of my posts is the newspaper Granma, not only
for what it says, but also how it says it and for what it doesn't say.
Although sometimes it publishes this or that interesting letter, the
Letters to the Editor section from last Friday was priceless: either
everyone who wrote supports the "Cuban model," or they only publish this
type of letter.

A reader, after pondering the existence of this section, and linking it
with objectives 70 and 71 of the guidelines (which couldn't be ignored),
and also with 16, without adding anything new, finished in slogan-style,
with the official sentiment: Our worst enemy is our own mistakes.

A fancier defends the breeding of carrier pigeons and ornamental pouter
pigeons by the members of the respective federation and association, and
denounces the so-called pigeon-raisers who profit off them, making it
clear that the Pigeon Fanciers Federation gives its unconditional
support to the Revolution. I think this assertion does not include the
opinion of the pigeons themselves.

Another reader complains that in a town he visited, there has been no
water for three months because the engine that supplies it is broken,
and explains that all the measures taken by the authorities to solve the
problem have been unsuccessful. He complains about the charge of 50
Cuban pesos for every water delivery and adds that he understands that
the blockade, the hard work of the leaders, etc. has prevented a
solution to the problem, and ends with the same slogan as the previous
writer, that this Revolution can only be destroyed by ourselves.

A hothead, shield raised high, states that each patient should be
informed about how much their treatment costs the State, forgetting that
the State, with what it doesn't pay citizens in their penurious wages,
has many more financial resources at its disposal to distribute to the
services of health and education.

Despite its small size, this sample demonstrates how low the level of
public awareness still is, and how much we have to advance to be able to
have a true civil society.

19 June 2013

Source: "Consciousness Asleep / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/consciousness-asleep-fernando-damaso/