America’s Heart & Soul

The true heart and soul of American society is not visible in the official policy towards Cuba. The kind of transactions and interactions that take place among typical Americans on a daily basis is completely absent from this policy.

Just today I saw a woman give a homeless man a sandwich, a bus driver let someone get on who was short of change, a fruit vendor ran after a woman who forgot her glasses… In a tall building someone held the express elevator for more than a few seconds for someone else they didn’t know… American society at street level. Of course, not everyone is so conscientious, and I’m aware that numerous acts of cruelty and selfishness were taking place outside my notice (particularly in the tall building in the financial district).

But if you look at the way our policy towards Cuba has grown meaner since the fall of the Soviet Union 14 years ago, you could not guess that it came from a people such as we are. You might think that society had little heart.

The separatist approach that we apply to Cuba contradicts our stated American values, and has more in common with old and faded empires than with the self-image of typical Americans today.

Going over the history of the two countries, the heart and soul of America is missing from many vital encounters with the island. That’s a trend that we can change.

Peace