These are the kinds of firsthand accounts that are worth sharing with anyone promoting socialism as that term is commonly used. Focusing only on present human needs Results in the accumulation of technical debt. Here we have a country that traded its future for the present, and once the future becomes the present they have collectively have a lower quality of life.
One Could argue that capitalism in contrast is just longitudinal socialism in the sense that the needs of the people in the future are far better addressed. For example a system that provides healthcare for all today equally loses the longitudinal benefits of market competition over time. Market competition produces a far greater diversity of goods and services that are faster, cheaper and better. This means that human lives in the future receive far better healthcare in future for less with a market driven system.
Author here. Curious how many on HN knew anything about the various hacks Cubans use to get online: the 'paquete' (a giant sneakernet), or SNET (a respectably large adhoc mesh network covering a good chunk of the island).
One Could argue that capitalism in contrast is just longitudinal socialism in the sense that the needs of the people in the future are far better addressed. For example a system that provides healthcare for all today equally loses the longitudinal benefits of market competition over time. Market competition produces a far greater diversity of goods and services that are faster, cheaper and better. This means that human lives in the future receive far better healthcare in future for less with a market driven system.
Cuba traded its future for the present.