The Rest of the Iceberg will help you understand the world. It answers questions and explains the backstories so you can make sense of what you see on the surface. That understanding will help you engage the world’s challenges better.
All tagged Communism
For more than fifty years now, the US and Cuba have snarled at each other across the Florida Straits. Havana is one of the few airports in the world won’t come up on expedia. American credit cards don’t work there. US law prohibits all trade with the island—the United Nations has regularly said this is illegal, but the American government doesn’t care. The bad blood is thick and old. Why?
In 1991, this question seemed like an easy one to answer. The Soviet Union had just come to an end, the other Communist states in Eastern Europe were no more. Since then, the remarkable growth of China has made the question more complicated. In 1991, the average person in China lived on US $360 a year. Now, the figure is US $8,500. When America’s capitalist economy dived into recession in 2008 and China’s didn’t, Chinese officials were quick to argue that their system was superior. So can Communism work?
Go into a school and ask children to draw a picture of a famine victim, and the colour of crayons they'll grab is easy to predict. The stereotype of a person suffering from famine is African. And it’s accurate. In the 1800’s famines took place on every continent. In the past 40 years, by contrast, all famines except one have been in Africa. Why? There are several possible explanations. I’ll give you the best four.
