Healthy, but poor and oppressed

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Nicholas Kristof’s column in The New York Times today is about infant mortality rates in the U.S. Sadly, it perpetuates the myth of ideal healthcare in Cuba. The piece is titled, “Health Care? Ask Cuba,” and it leads with the point that we should be ashamed that our healthcare system and infant mortality rate is not as good as “impoverished and autocratic Cuba.”

We should not be ashamed. If you centralize complete control of the economy in one man, as in Cuba, you can allocate all your resources to healthcare if you wish. More children may survive infancy in Cuba, but they will grow up to struggle for food, clothing, and not to mention personal freedom. In our country we individuals, through the market, decide how much is spent on healthcare and everything else. As a result, we get the efficient amount of healthcare, food, clothes, stereos, and everything else.

As “unfair” as it might seem, the price a nation must pay to have a zero percent infant mortality rate, or illiteracy rate, at the stroke of a pen is to become “impoverished and autocratic.” I don’t think it’s worth it.

Jan 12, 2005 | Comments

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One comment posted

  1. Posted by arquitect - 03/21/2005

    You are balancing the healthcare issue (apparently a plus) with definite deterrents, which obviously outweigh it. This is valid point; however, you are overlooking what is perhaps the most important factor: The initial premise—stating that the healthcare system in Cuba works—is WRONG. Since ALL other economic issues in Cuba (including the ones you mentioned) and healthcare are not on opposite ends of the scale, the argument is superfluous.
    A quick look at the facts should be more than enough to realize that the healthcare system is far from ideal. What is the point of free healthcare, if patients in need of emergency surgery have to ask relatives in “la yuma” (USA) to send sutures and anesthesia? After this, bringing your own towel, sheets, pillows, or even a mattress, is not that big a deal. As a young Cuban-American who lived in Cuba, I gladly pay for my healthcare.

    Checkout ideal healthcare: http://www.therealcuba.com/page3.htm

    I have to admit that perhaps even my argument is flawed. It is based on the premise that people look at the facts, that they are logical and rational. But as we have learned, not just with Cuba, but with other issues such as Racism, September 11, and even the Holocaust, there are still people who find it easier to keep the blindfold on, and live under a rock.

    By the way: Congrats on your website. Great topics, great writing. I Really enjoy it.

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