i was openly mocked on our listserv today for my failure to produce some 15,000 word magnum opus on the transition of power in cuba.  i struggled mightily to describe my sentiments: not a lack of interest or concern, certainly not, but more a resignation to what is occuring there.  i set odds for a likely transition to some sort of hybrid system, less control oriented but not really free market.  not at all like what russia has evolved into or the various stans, but more like what china has ended up with (the second stumble forward if you will) but with more emphasis on person freedom and less central control over the economy.  but then there's this...

Perhaps, deep down, our leader fears a similar fate and cannot acknowledge the possibility—the reality—of the transicion Cubano?  Magical realism has run its course.  One can no longer with integrity practice one’s art as if there were no political consequences.

you know, ben and i were out on bikes this afternoon and i had a funny experience.  we had left the house while the weather was still glorious.  we put some baseballs and gloves and bats in a backpack and rode to a local field and hit balls and ran the bases.  it was a hoot.  on the way back, we were riding one of those little connector trails in reston where it transitions uphill quickly.  ben was close behind me and i heard him slow down, and then fall over.  i stopped and looked back.  he has the funny habit where he jumps up quickly and says "i'm okay" really loud which he learned from a friend who can be sort of clumsy.  anyhow, it went something like this:

me: ben, you okay?

ben: yeah, my bike fell over.  (picks up bike and hits the saddle, two to three times, really hard with his hand)

me: whoa, don't hit your bike.  it's like a machine, it only does what you tell it to

ben: i didn't tell it to fall over

i was floored and couldn't think of anything to say.  there's a depth of sentiment there that i wasn't prepared for.  but it also sort of describes my resignation about the initial topic.  the ship of state is generally thought to be steered with the best intentions.  no one who is sane wants to hit the shoals.  no one who is sane wants to run the economy aground or turn the hopes of an entire generation into nothing but arid dust, like sand that runs endlessly through your fingers.  but the head of state is hardly a passenger.  there was a funny quote from one of the drivers at the fontana race this weekend.  his car was handling poorly and he was on the radio with his crew chief, and said something along the lines of "i'm just riding in it, i'm not driving it."  fidel castro was a driver.  history will probably have a lot to say about his decisions.  when you compare his approach to other local "westernized" countries like haiti or the dominican republic, my personal opinion is that he certainly did no worse, and with added obstacles such as a pointlessly belligerent trade embargo.  but i will wait for some sort of censensus to evolve.  in the meantime, in my house, we will teach his history as one who had a vision and truly sought to produce a tide that floated all boats.

-scott

p.s. possible topics for discussion depending on your proclivities:

1) did cuba accomplish anything over the last 50 years?  reasonable people can disagree, but everything evolves and does this next stage flow from the principles castro espoused or could a country conceivably go straight to this?

2) kyle busch can drive him some car.  he is very close to leading all three of the nascar series: sprint, nationwide and trucks.  you put him in the seat and he just drives the wheels off anything.  can anyone think of someone who had that kind of technical talent?  there was some footage of him from this past weekend, literally running from the victory lane celebration in the truck series to his pits and without even changing the firesuit, jumping in and qualifying his cup car.  amazing.