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Monday, October 31, 2016

Cuba and the Angst of Freedom

the AZEL

PERSPECTIVE

Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 46
 

Cuba and the Angst of Freedom

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No, it is not a misprint. I did not mean for the title to be The Angst “for” Freedom.  A pioneering 1941 work in social psychology by social scientist Erich Fromm “Escape from Freedom” (also known as The Fear of Freedom), explores our relationship with freedom, and in particular the personal consequences of its absence under authoritarian rule. Fromm examines how, when freed from authority, we are often left with feelings of confusion.
 
The insights offered by social scientists in this field are relevant to our understanding of the adaptation challenges of those that have been deprived of individual liberties for decades, and to the challenges faced by post-totalitarian societies.

Post-totalitarianism does not imply democracy. In academic jargon, post-totalitarianism refers not just to a historical period of time after totalitarian rule. Post-totalitarianism is a specific political category for regimes that still seek control over its citizenry after having lost the legitimacy accruing from its official ideology or charismatic leadership. In this sense Cuba, with a discredited ideology and elderly historic leadership, may soon enter a post-totalitarian stage.

By definition, totalitarianism pursues total control of political, economic and social domains. Choice is eliminated. For those not used to exercising freedoms, and inexperienced in the know-how of choosing, an overload of options often leads to poor decisions when suddenly confronted with the extreme stimuli of the plethora of choices available in free societies. Studies in economics and marketing corroborate the idea of the paralyzing and anxiety producing effects of having too many choices.

For many recent Cuban immigrants, the initial exposure to the many choices and decisions required by a free society results in increased levels of anxiety and hopelessness.  These conditions are also observed in post-totalitarian societies.  Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, numerous studies have documented this phenomenon of the fear of freedom. When memories of Communist repression faded in former Soviet bloc countries, some longed for the perceived simplicity of Communist rule.

Fromm’s early work differentiated between “freedom from” (negative freedom) and “freedom to” (positive freedom). In the political context, negative freedom refers to freedom from institutional oppression. Positive freedom refers to freedom to develop one’s potential. Once free from oppression, we must learn to make responsible choices in the pursuit of our dreams. It is by choosing that we demonstrate who we are, and what we care about. Cuban immigration attests that without choice life is nearly unbearable. This is what I call the angst of freedom.

Fromm’s work suggests that when nations escape from institutional totalitarian rule (when they experience negative freedom) they have a propensity to submit to authoritarian rule; to replace one tyranny for another.  He argues that such societies are predisposed to replace the old totalitarian order with an authoritarian regime as a way of coping with the overwhelming choices of positive freedom (“freedom to”).

Post-totalitarian nations often choose a new authoritarian regime that will have a different external appearance but will perform the same function of eliminating the anxiety and uncertainty of having to choose freely. On this basis, some argue that democracy is not so desirable for Cuba and propose governance of enlightened or benevolent despotism. The legitimization of the Castro regime under the new U.S.-Cuba policy offers a subtle example of this view.

As a political category, post-totalitarianism is incompatible with civil and political rights. And these rights are fundamental because without political rights the citizenry cannot assert any rights. Without political rights, economic rights lack foundation and are not rights but permits that can be revoked.  Thus support for a post-totalitarian, non-democratic regime implies allowing the regime to impose an illegitimate order.

The remedy for the anxiety effects of being free to choose is not some form of choice limiting Castro-light governance. The antidote is a citizenry fully cognizant of, and free to exercise its political and economic rights.

Democratic governance and free markets are the only systems designed to ensure citizen participation in political and economic affairs. And it is that participation that teaches us to appreciate diversity, to welcome the challenges of our choices, and to transform the angst of freedom into the love of freedom.

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This article was originally published in English in the PanAm Post and in Spanish in El Nuevo Herald.
 
José Azel, Ph.D.
José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.  

He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies as a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami and has published extensively on Cuba related topics.

In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. 

Dr. Azel is author of Mañana in Cuba: The Legacy of Castroism and Transitional Challenges for Cuba, published in March 2010 and of Pedazos y Vacios, a collection of poems he wrote as a young exile in the 1960's.

José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp.

They cycled St. James Way (
El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary. They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast. 

Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them. 
Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro.

Books by Dr. José Azel
Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future.
Buy now

 
Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish.
Buy now
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