For those of us who worship at the altar of Free Enterprise, we were excited with the introduction of capitalism into Russia and China, confident that it cannot exist in the long-term without its connection to democracy.  Yes, we know that democracy was happily married to socialism in Israel for many years before moving on to capitalism, which only proves our belief that capitalism and democracy just naturally belong together.

In Russia, that marriage was never consummated, as democracy was stillborn and capitalism subverted into something else, i.e., “crony capitalism” or a “thugacracy.”  In China, capitalism successfully brought hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, while waiting impatiently for democracy to show up.  There have been sightings of democracy, such as in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and more recently in Hong Kong, but capitalism is still lonely in China, waiting to meet democracy.  Unfortunately, it looks like a very long wait.

Now, it appears that capitalism is a camel with its nose under the tent of Cuba.  Those of us who are still worshiping at the altar of Free Enterprise are still hopeful that democracy will eventually follow.  But, we have learned that the value of capitalism is more apparent to thugs and dictators than the value of democracy.