Or, why did so many Cubans march?

The secret of an authoritarian state, like a successful religion, is benign paternalism. In an authoritarian state citizens surrender their freedom in return for a promise that the government will satisfy all needs and provide the loving care we all crave. The result is a microcosm – a self-contained world – which has its own workplaces, shops, health and education services, and leisure facilities which satisfy all needs from within the state.

The greatest victory of this religion is to increase the pressure to conform whilst removing any awareness of conformity. On Saturday 1st May, hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched through the Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana. Some of the marchers sang, waved cardboard signs declaring ‘We are the people of Fidel and Raul’, or screamed ‘Long Live Fidel!’ Solidarity merges into conformity. Conformity with the state equals conformity with the messages of that state. The means have become the ends. The May Day rally becomes a ratification of the status quo in the name of defense of the nation against US oppression and a ‘world-wide media campaign against Cuba’.

In the Age of Absurdity Michael Foley argues that the pressure to conform in the modern workplace is maintained by team-building breaks and away days. The idea of some kind of physical separation from the workplace is designed to emphasize that even outside the ‘office’ the happy ethos continues and must therefore be authentic. May Day, like the many marches regularly called in Cuba, are designed as a kind of ‘away day’. That attendance might be mandated is beside the point. It’s the pressure to conform which drives those hundreds of thousands. They are not all the righteous faithful. Only those screaming with the placards can claim that role. But they are all part of the congregation of the faithful bound together by a common God.

Surviving life in such a congregation is not easy. The high priests demand sacrifice. Everyone else knows that survival requires hypocrisy. Honesty is a dangerous luxury in Cuba. One of the reasons for the popularity of Yoani Sanchez’ blog is the way in which it documents such hypocrisy – not from a position of righteousness but from one of understanding. She, and now we, understand and empathize with those whose very survival depends on being hypocritical. There’s no point in revealing your true feelings, no point in getting involved in disputes, feuds and simmering animosities in Cuba. No point. And dangerous if you do because it makes you vulnerable to the machinations of others.

In the same way that the ‘corporate water cooler conversations’ are as tepid as the water sipped, many Cubans avoid conflict, avoid quarreling, avoid those relationships that might demand being genuine and honest. Instead they detach: remove themselves from the possibility of any genuine relationships within the context of Cuban (political) life. Genuine relationships demand honesty and authenticity. When the ambition is to understand others while preventing others from understanding you, such relationships are not only impossible but actually impossibly dangerous.

Better to march and mutter.