{"id":321199,"date":"2025-04-14T18:27:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T22:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=321199"},"modified":"2025-04-14T18:27:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T22:27:13","slug":"dignity-and-the-last-card-in-the-deck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/opinion\/columns\/in-plain-words\/dignity-and-the-last-card-in-the-deck\/","title":{"rendered":"Dignity and the last card in the deck"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFrom Friday to Sunday, this week, H\u00e9ctor Quintero\u2019s play, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">La \u00faltima carta de la baraja<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (The Last Card in the Deck), will be presented at the Hubert de Blanck Theater, with Edwin Fern\u00e1ndez, Alicia Bustamante, Silvia Planas, and other artists. This play has already been seen by more than 22,000 spectators in 68 performances.\u201d This is how <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Granma<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reported, almost half a century ago, on the staging of a play whose central theme was the plight of the elderly; that is, the marginalization and helplessness that many people suffer when they reach old age.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/inequality-and-reforms-a-local-syllogism-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>that remote Cuba<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when not only was the \u201ceconomy\u201d (the macro economy) growing relentlessly, but also the standard of living and well-being of people \u2014 not just one group, but all Cubans \u2014, theater, once again, stepped forward to put the icing on the cake: the elderly were being left behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"xNV1Onrc8Q\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/inequality-and-reforms-a-local-syllogism-2\/\">Inequality and reforms: a local syllogism?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Inequality and reforms: a local syllogism?&#8221; &#8212; OnCubaNews English\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/inequality-and-reforms-a-local-syllogism-2\/embed\/#?secret=UNN3hBO3Mk#?secret=xNV1Onrc8Q\" data-secret=\"xNV1Onrc8Q\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the issues and debates that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Temas<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> magazine has dedicated to poverty, inequality, aging, gender, racism, the impacts of the multiple crises affecting Cuban society (the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">poly-crises<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/author\/mayraespina\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Mayra Espina<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> dixit), aggravated by catalysts like the pandemic, as well as in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revistatemascuba\/videos\/1329606824943076\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>a recent debate on the situation of people with disabilities<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, social and cultural problems manifested in new social relations emerge with greater intensity than before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we examine this network of connotations and cultures, we will see that, in the common ground shared by all of them, the question of human dignity \u201cshines with its own light\u201d \u2014 as that song by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/tag\/pablo-milanes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Pablito Milan\u00e9s<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To put forward the idea I want to argue in this brief space, I would say that finding the (other) path to socialism depends more on recovering the fundamental question of human dignity as a cardinal point than on pulling the golden thread to escape the circular labyrinth of the economic crisis itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By human dignity, I understand the human self-awareness, not only as a psychological, moral, or ideological condition, but also linked to all its social relations. And it manifests itself in very specific attitudes, such as the sense of belonging to a society where one sees oneself reflected (or not); where one feels recognized as an active presence, and not just with access to the protection or care of others; where people can experience a certain prosperity, which they manage themselves, and which is an inseparable part of their status as citizens, not just in the form of compensation for belonging to a vulnerable group. This self-awareness is an inseparable part of their social conscience, their civic status; just as their self-esteem is linked to the esteem that society projects upon itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, it might be illusory to attribute growth and a higher standard of living to the restoration of the dignity damaged by successive crises; to associate its restoration with an expectation of greater material wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this shared prosperity was a key part of the original call that sparked the socialist consensus in Cuba, at its mobilizing core was the sense of autonomy and individual freedom that permeated the majority of Cubans. Having decent employment, access to healthcare and education, etc., had a direct effect on how people saw themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was this vision of themselves, as people who counted in the transformation of society, that changed their behavior and motivated them to participate. And although many did not yet have the income level and living conditions that would lift them suddenly out of relative poverty, their sense of dignity as recognized individuals and the ability to exercise their rights as citizens made them protagonists of the social change called the Revolution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This recovery of human dignity was at the heart of identification with the revolutionary process not only among those at the bottom, but also in the participation of sectors of the middle class, whose social mobility was not as significant in terms of increased material living standards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-319-1140x797-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-321202\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-319-1140x797-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1140\" height=\"797\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-319-1140x797-1.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-319-1140x797-1-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-319-1140x797-1-1024x716.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-319-1140x797-1-768x537.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-319-1140x797-1-750x524.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we think of the social groups that have seen the capacities that build their sense of dignity diminished, we see the elderly and people with disabilities, the poor in the city and the countryside, residents of marginalized neighborhoods, immigrants from the eastern provinces in \u201cthe capital of all Cubans,\u201d but also blacks, homosexuals and other LGBT people, informal workers, and other disadvantaged groups, those in subsistence situations, or those facing discrimination.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we were to add them all together, we would see that the minority is not them, but everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, beyond their relative majority status, what I want to argue is that their common denominator, in terms of human dignity, concerns their ability to represent themselves, make decisions, and reflect themselves as such in the mirror of society as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And while social policies and legislation can compensate for their disadvantages and ensure their protection, while necessary and essential, they do not allow them to restore that fundamental dignity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The problem of poverty, as well as racism, homophobia, contempt for people from eastern Cuba (pejoratively called \u201cPalestinians\u201d), and the rejection of people from marginalized neighborhoods called \u201crepas,\u201d have struggled to emerge into the collective consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Politics has not done enough to foster this awareness in most cases. The words <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">poverty, marginalized neighborhoods, informal workers, marginalized people, people with disabilities<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as well as disadvantages associated with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">skin color<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gender<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, were not in the vocabulary of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Economic and Social Guidelines<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (2011), the basic platform that supposedly guided the reform process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m not saying they were absent from the approved and implemented social policies; rather, they were not placed in the spotlight of politics-policy. Let\u2019s say they appeared on that radar during the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/tag\/july-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>July 11 protests<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; that is, when they took the form of \u201cthreats\u201d to national security. However, that light does not necessarily clarify or understand the problems, and it hardly allows them to be eradicated or addressed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The growing disadvantages that have marked the global dynamics of inequality, the structural poverty of certain groups, and the impoverishment of other segments of society who have lost the standard of living they once enjoyed, have been documented by research, social science publications, and academic debates, at least since the Special Period. While this has been the main contribution to understanding them, it has certainly not been enough to make them visible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, a cursory review of the Cuban press, including official and informal media, reveals all kinds of chronicles, reports, and even investigative works (<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cubadebate.cu\/especiales\/2019\/08\/15\/habitar-la-calle\/#.XVV0R5NKg_N\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>Cubadebate<\/i><\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 2019) about some manifestations of this poverty. For example, homeless people and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/canaldigital\/galerias\/flashazo\/flashazo-los-buzos-de-la-basura-en-la-habana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>\u201cdivers\u201d<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (scavengers in garbage dumpsters).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, seeing someone rummaging through garbage dumpsters or sleeping on the threshold of an abandoned building provokes a mixture of feelings, the best of which is commiseration. This vision stays with us because, although it is not a recent phenomenon, we still do not accept it as part of a \u201cnew normal.\u201d And we think that, while the number of people in vulnerable situations has increased, extreme poverty has been rare.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This view, on the other hand, reinforces a long-standing image of poverty as something dirty and degraded. See the photos accompanying the texts about these practices and the characterizations of the individuals who practice them to verify this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But even if these descriptions were respectful of the dignity of these people, and if the analysis of their cases were not limited to simply blaming the government for their causes, our understanding of the problem of poverty would remain superficial. Not only because most of the poor don\u2019t sleep in parks or rummage through garbage bins looking for recyclable materials. As research shows, the underlying factors that reproduce it are embedded in Cuban society and have continued to manifest themselves since the Special Period.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_321203\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-321203\" style=\"width: 1140px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-161-1140x780-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-321203\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-161-1140x780-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1140\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-161-1140x780-1.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-161-1140x780-1-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-161-1140x780-1-1024x701.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-161-1140x780-1-768x525.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Cuba-2024-Fotos-Kaloian-161-1140x780-1-750x513.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-321203\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although we know more than ever, in terms of research and the accumulation of institutional knowledge, we know less than we think about what is happening to us as a society. At the same time, the cloud of socially shared perceptions is what builds common sense; and that is what prevails. These perceptions reflect a time of profound ideological confusion, where clarity is a rare commodity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without further ado to discuss this myriad of problems, I want to simply mention that this issue of human dignity is not a utopian vision, a doctrine, or an ideological atavism that makes no sense in the real world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two years ago, a congress on the elderly and people with disabilities focused on the issue of the right to personal autonomy (2nd State Conference on the Right to Personal Autonomy, Spain 2023), understood as the attainment of true emancipation, self-determination of one\u2019s own life project, and participation in society on the same terms as other people. Furthermore, it proposed \u201cestablishing a new culture of social transformation and improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in their aging process,\u201d transforming longevity into a period of \u201cemancipation, activism, and well-being,\u201d and making it \u201can opportunity for the country\u2019s social and economic progress.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although what was said there about older people and people with disabilities does not cover all so-called vulnerable groups, it is worth considering for all. Beyond their obvious differences, the restoration of human dignity is the lens through which we can view ourselves as a society, understand one another, and rediscover the foundational mark of a different and more just society.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether we are in time (or not) to play this card so that no one is irrevocably the last card depends on all of us being able to play it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cFrom Friday to Sunday, this week, H\u00e9ctor Quintero\u2019s play, La \u00faltima carta de la baraja (The Last Card in the Deck), will be presented at the Hubert de Blanck Theater, with Edwin Fern\u00e1ndez, Alicia Bustamante, Silvia Planas, and other artists. This play has already been seen by more than 22,000 spectators in 68 performances.\u201d This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3343,"featured_media":321201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34473],"tags":[8863,19256],"ppma_author":[34051],"class_list":["post-321199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-plain-words","tag-cuban-society","tag-featured"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dignity and the last card in the deck | OnCubaNews English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The restoration of human dignity is the lens through which we can view ourselves as a society, understand each other, and rediscover the foundational mark of a different and more just society.\" 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