Democracy in the Times of the Energy Crisis

Democracy in the Times of the Energy Crisis
April 10, 2014
Erasmo Calzadilla

HAVANA TIMES — In this post, I will assume two things:

1) No democracy exists in Cuba. Individuals, acting independently or as
groups, have absolutely no means of influencing or modifying the
decisions of those who hold the reins of the nation. It is not, to be
sure, a typical, bloody dictatorship, but rather one based on the
annihilation of civil society.

2) The depletion of natural resources and the destruction of the
environment spell the decline of industrial civilization. The growth and
progressive development to which the second half of the twentieth
century accustomed us are today a utopian dream.

The interesting part is that these are not isolated phenomena: democracy
and the crisis of civilization condition each other mutually. In this
post, I will try to work out what will happen with the former as the
latter begins to take root.

Democracy is one of the top achievements of humanity. Without it, we
would be reduced to cruel, power-hungry creatures. The limited democracy
that some peoples have enjoyed at certain points in history has been
made possible by the confluence of a number of factors I will try to
summarize: the fulfillment of certain basic needs, relative autonomy of
the micro and the local with respect to the macro, the flexibility of
religious dogma and, most importantly, the predominance of a culture
that upholds justice, fraternity, virtue and the dignity of individuals.

Democracy reached its highest expression during the second half of the
past century. However, as the Western world grew richer, thanks (among
other things) to the treasure that issued from the subsoil, nature and
tenets of democracy began to change radically.

Virtue, for instance, ceased to be an indispensable condition for
democracy. Today, a nation can be made up of a majority of alienated and
consumerist idiots (in the ancient sense of the word) who choose not to
participate in public affairs, and still be considered "free and
democratic." It suffices for this nation be prosperous, well-armed and
connected somehow to hegemonic culture. Let no one be deceived: it is
the decline of the original project of democracy.

Cuba

In keeping with the above, many of those who long and work for the
"restoration" of democracy in Cuba believe that this process is
necessarily conditioned by economic development and greater contact with
the outside world. The thinking goes that when individuals begin to
travel freely, connect to the Internet without restrictions and enjoy
the advantages and comforts of modern life, they will no longer put up
with a provincial-minded, petty tyrant that whips them into action when
he wishes.

New comforts will sway the hard-headed who still believe in the
generosity of the regime. Employment and decent salaries will help
contain the pernicious vulgarity that destroys Cuban culture and
alienates the young. The Internet will sweep away the foundations of the
dictatorship more resolutely and radically than all aggression by
imperialism and its lackeys.

The only tiny little problem is that all of the above is achieved by
making the GDP grow, and this is not possible in the times of the energy
crisis.

The Facts

It is already too late. The crisis is around the corner and the
possibility of overthrowing the regime using Facebook or showing people
the good life it is missing is decreasing minute after minute. But do
not despair, for the end of cheap oil could spell an opportunity for
democracy.

The dictatorship that began in 1959 has been able to survive thanks to
its monopoly over healthcare services, education, the media and the
means of production. Such tight control over things is possible only
when one has abundant oil at one's disposal – the day the oil pipeline
spits out mud, the party's over. One needn't be a prophet to see this
coming: we already experienced it during the Special Period.

The crash will be announced by the horsemen of the apocalypsis, but the
good news is that these same demons will break the chains that bind
individuals and communities to the totalitarian and paternalistic State.

As the Center weakens, the local, the communal, horizontal relationships
among people and a whole series of related virtues (without which a true
democracy cannot be built) will be favored. The problem is that vices
will come along with the virtues.

Conclusion

Democracy could well be within hand's reach in a future marked by the
energy crisis, the only "inconvenience" is that we will have to fight
for it old-school: wielding a machete, in exile or prison with a quill
and some ink, through guerrilla warfare up in the mountains or
clandestine cells in the city. Will we have what it takes?

Source: Democracy in the Times of the Energy Crisis - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=102927