LET'S FIGHT BACK

LET'S FIGHT BACK
GOD BLESS AMERICA

Monday, July 29, 2024

Help Wanted for Hazardous Journey to Freedom

the AZEL

PERSPECTIVE

Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 367 B
 
José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon. 

Help Wanted for Hazardous Journey to Freedom (Previously published)

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In the early 1900’s, when he was about to embark in one of his expeditions, famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, published the following advertisement in a London newspaper: 

“Men wanted for hazardous journey to the South Pole. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.” 

Historians question its authenticity, but this advertisement is considered one of the most effective in history. Shackleton is said to have commented that the response was so overwhelming that it seemed as though all the men of Great Britain were determined to accompany him. 

I was traveling to Antarctica when Sir Shackleton’s ad came to mind as I reflected on how, writing in defense of individual freedoms has become an unrewarded, arduous, and dangerous journey. Defenders of individual freedoms, like Sisyphus in Greek Mythology, find themselves repeating the same task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. 

The aggressive socialist-collectivist mindset that permeates our contemporary society takes no prisoners. To illustrate, I will borrow and adapt from Professor Laurence Cahoone a simple typology of eight economic systems. Below, I have organized the economic systems according to our preferences for the ownership of the factors of production, and the corresponding level of government controls. That is, the sequence runs from more-to-less individual freedom. 

  1. A minimalist state limited primarily to protecting our life, liberty and property, in the tradition of classical liberalism. 

  2. A laissez faire, capitalist regime, which allows for some government functions such as public education, as well as some prohibitions on economic exchanges like prostitution. 

  3. Economic nationalism with state support and protection of domestic industries as practiced by some Latin American governments. 

  1. Progressivism, which promotes the government’s provision of a wide-ranging social safety net, and extensive regulation of businesses, but comes short of undertaking government ownership of large businesses. 

  2. A social democracy, with a cradle to grave welfare state, and private property and free markets, but subject to heavy government regulations. 

  3. State capitalism, where some major industries are owned by the state and others are privately owned, but subject to extensive government coordination and control. 

  4. Socialism where all major industries are owned or directed by the state, but with an underlying market for consumer goods. 

  5. Marxist-Leninist communism where all property is owned by the state. 

There are, of course, many variations of this list, but this version is adequate to help the reader identify his or her economic ideology. It is important to emphasize that this arrangement leaves out the political dimension. For example, state capitalism may, or may not, have fascist undertones. 

My regular readers will recognize my writings mostly in the first category of a libertarian minimalist state, or somewhere between positions one and two. What detractors fail to recognize is that, economic arrangements offering maximum personal liberty and minimum government controls protect our liberties from being diluted by what some call the Paradox of Freedom. 

The Paradox of Freedom is the proposition that the freedom of an unchecked government necessarily leads to a loss of freedom for the people. This is because an unrestrained government is free to impose overwhelming controls to enslave a compliant population. And yet, as shown by this classification, in most contemporary economic systems, government controls are believed to be good and necessary. 

This brings me back to Shackleton’s success in recruiting fellow travelers for a hazardous but honorable journey, and to Sisyphus, as he struggles with the hopeless task of pushing the boulder up the mountain. It seems that my similarly hazardous and hopeless journey is to push the boulder of individual freedoms up a mountain of misguided popular preference for more government controls. 

Yet, existentialist philosopher Albert Camus, in the last chapter of his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus,” tells us that Sisyphus comes to understand that the struggle itself is enough to fill a man’s heart. And that, free to realize the absurdity of his situation, “one must imagine Sisyphus happy.” 

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Abrazos,

Lily & José

(click on the name to email Lily or Jose)
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. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel 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.

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 and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon. 

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
José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes?

If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous,

Carlos Alberto Montaner

                                                                   BUY NOW
Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas?

Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo.

Carlos Alberto Montaner
                                                           
Compre Aqui
"Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous"

Carlos Alberto Montaner

"Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo."

Carlos Alberto Montaner

Compre Aqui

In Reflections on FreedomJosé Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles.
En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico.
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.
Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish.
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