“I am not afraid of communism, because in practice, it is unfeasible for that type of system to be implemented on the island. I do fear that we continue tolerating and consenting to the design of light socialism that prevails on the island, which after the government's bankruptcy in 2017, ceased to be viable.”, opina Gustavo Vélez.
The economist expressed concern that a punishment vote for the traditional parties would be carried out in view of the deterioration of the quality of life of the Puerto Rican people and the generalized malaise. (Carlos Giusti/Staff)
In the past few weeks, the political discussion has revolved around the possibility of a hypothetical communist system being installed on the island, as a result of a possible victory of the candidate for the alliance between the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC), headed by Juan Dalmau. Four decades after the fall of communism and the end of the “cold war”, as a result of the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), I find it surreal and implausible that the political-electoral discourse is dominated by the fear of a failed and discredited ideology globally.
In our neighborhood, the regimes that still operate under some kind of “communist” system are Cuba and Venezuela, and far from operating under orthodox communism, as devised by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in the 19th century, they are hybrid systems in which private enterprises exist and their governments are led by elites who control the political apparatus with authoritarianism. In both Cuba and Venezuela, we can categorize those bureaucracies in charge of the state as kleptocracies that profit from their control of government in the name of socialism. Even China, decades ago, took a turn towards capitalism by allowing private initiative under the control of a single party, the Chinese Communist Party.
Meanwhile, the other case is North Korea, which is possibly the last pure communist state that exists under the hegemony initiated by Kim Il Sung in the 1950s and continued today by his grandson, Kim Jong Un.
Puerto Rico and its socialist design
Even during the golden age of communist expansion around the world between the 1940s and 1980s, led by the former Soviet Union (USSR), Puerto Rico did not succumb to that political model. As a result of the Cold War, the U.S. government decided to convert Puerto Rico into a large military base and at the same time, implemented a social and economic experiment to curb the advance of communism in the region. Thus was born in 1948, the “Operation Hands to Work” as the industrialization strategy devised by an American economist, Rexford Tugwell, in which the state would be in charge of promoting the economic development of the island. At that time, this model was known as state capitalism, in which the government developed the institutional framework to promote economic initiatives, investment and employment generation.
Thus, were born the main public corporations that led Puerto Rico's economic development program. Between 1950 and 1975, the government conceptualized, planned, financed and executed the transcendental projects to pave the way for the island's economic takeoff. At the same time, the government itself was building industrial parks to locate the factories it invited from the north under the efforts of Fomento Económico. Tugwell's institutional and economic design made the government the epicenter of the country's economic life, and the modern history of Puerto Rico has been characterized by the prominence of the state, the government and politicians in the lives of all of us.
Basically, from the mid-20th century to the present, we have consented to and tolerated an economic, governmental and social model, anchored on the government as the leader and main actor in the collective life of the country. In essence, Puerto Rico has been under a kind of light socialism for almost seven decades. The problem is that this overheated socialism in Puerto Rico is subsidized by federal funds and high personal and corporate contributions.
That omnipresent state and government in the lives of all of us is the main employer, until recently was the main investor in the economy, controls the permit system, administers incentive programs, taxes businesses and individuals excessively, controls billions in social benefits for 60% of the dependent population, and daily interferes with the economic life of citizens and businesses.
That same light socialist government tends to favor exclusively those of the party of the day, not unlike the socialist regimes of Venezuela and Cuba that provide privileges to those who align with their interests. Those who are not aligned with the cliques of the socialist regimes in the region, not only do not play in the economy, but are in unequal competitive conditions. Many Cuban and Venezuelan businessmen have fled and found refuge in Puerto Rico.
I am not afraid of communism, because in practice, it is unfeasible for that type of system to be implemented on the island. However, I do fear that we continue to tolerate and consent to the design of light socialism that prevails on the island, which after the government's bankruptcy in 2017, ceased to be viable.
From light socialism to free markets and an enabling government
Clearly, I am concerned that in the face of the deterioration of the quality of life of the Puerto Rican people and the generalized malaise, a punishment vote for the traditional parties will take place. The question is what we can begin to do differently so that ordinary citizens begin to have faith and hope in their economy, their politicians and their businessmen. Well, we can start by rethinking the historical role of the state and replace the government's protagonism with a system of true free markets, economic freedom and meritocracy, in which the government is a better facilitator of private initiative.
The government and political parties should not and cannot continue to be the main rectors of collective life on the island. Let us move from fear to a pragmatism that will allow us to build that new Puerto Rico.
This article was originally published in Spanish in El Nuevo Dia.
