[whitemary]

"Communist" Cuba has 64 physicians per 10K population, which is 2nd in the entire world for physicians per capita.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_depend...

During the pandemic, they were sending droves of doctors to Europe. They offered to assist in NYC but Trump turned them away as our population dwindled. Famously, when a British cruise ship with ill passengers aboard was denied by ports in Florida, Cuba took them in and saved many lives.

[ch4s3]

I'm not sure how they could have assisted with anything, they basically have no medical supplies[1][2][3][4]. And before you bring it up, no medical supplies aren't covered by the embargo, they get a special exemption since the 90s.

[1] https://havanatimes.org/cuba/medicine-shortages-a-challenge-...

[2] https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuban-diaspora-sends-...

[3] https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/south-african-medical-stud...

[4] https://cuba.miami.edu/business-economy/a-close-look-at-cuba...

[codersfocus]

There's a US law that says any ship that docks with Cuba can't dock with the US. Considering that modern shipping relies on big ships making many port calls, this law restricts Cuba's access to stuff like medical supplies.

[toast0]

There was a time where supplies was the issue, and I doubt Cuba could help there. But there was also a time when medical labor was the issue, and Cuban doctors could have helped with that.

[badpun]

Some of those physicians (mostly young and female) take second jobs as prostitutes, because their baseline pay makes it hard to survive.

[gadflyinyoureye]

What? I would like some evidence of that.

[codersfocus]

The thing is, not all of those doctors work in Cuba. The government rents them to neighboring countries to make money.

[pessimizer]

This is definitely true, but enough work in Cuba to give them a higher life expectancy than the US.

[alehlopeh]

What’s with the scare quotes around communist? Sure they have a lot of doctors. And how many of those doctors are allowed to do business as a private practice? Or how many would be allowed to change careers if they wanted to? How many are allowed to spend their income at fancy places, where the currency they get paid in isn’t even accepted? Hate to break it to you, but “your” worldview is incredibly, laughably, misinformed.

[the_mar]

I’m not a fan of communism, but your worldview about it is also misinformed. People are allowed to change careers under communism: source I was born in USSR, my mother had many careers in the 70s and 80s.

I’d give you the inability to work for a private practice, that is true, but I am not entirely convinced it’s all that beneficial to society.

Lastly, Cuba can have some things better than the US, it doesn’t necessarily mean communism is a superior type of system. It just means that even a broken clock can show the right time

[bruce511]

Again, it's best not to align planning to political methodologies. Cuba has success stories. That isn't a vote for communism.

Equally, another "communist" state (China) is doing very well and while there is a lot of planning there, there is also a lot of free-market. Again, not a vote for communism.

I use communist in quotes here because Chinese communism is different to communism as practiced in the USSR. Just like capitalism is different in the US compared to say Switzerland.

There are (literally) hundreds of political systems, and we find it helpful to lump them together under broad names, but that can lead to a misunderstanding of the actual system.

Incidentally some planning is necessary- but it remains hard.

Cuba planned for, and got, a fantastic heath system built around primary health care. Cuban doctors are well respected, and are exported all over the world.

Cuba also got a lot wrong, and saying they got something right is not an endorsement of all ideas Cuban.

[whitemary]

According to a Marxist definition of communism (classless society) neither Cuba or the Soviet Union are or were communist.