Generation Gap – Cuban Style

The Minister of Education tried persuasion, tried reasoning with some of these youngsters, tried to advise them. Very well. But, of course, advice alone is not sufficient. If they don’t understand persuasion, then they will have to understand another kind of procedure. . . . Those youngsters will be educated or reeducated; those cases will be treated the way they should be treated, but we will reeducate them above all through work, which is the best method of education.

These words sound familiar. They might have been spoken by an American parent or politician, but they weren’t. They are the words of Fidel Castro.

He is referring to a recent phenomenon in Cuban culture, repugnant to most...