Having recently returned from several days in Cuba, I watched the Democrats debate last week and wondered why they don’t just hop on a plane and move to Havana, the Cuban capital that has been languishing in the 1950’s thanks to Fidel Castro’s revolution.

Sure, the old cars are pretty cool to drive around in but most of them are dirty, loud, and don’t come close to meeting Obama’s emissions standards. The reason why they remain on the roads is not so much because of the U.S. embargo (the newer automobiles are Russian for the most part) but because the people working under the Communist regime can’t make enough money to pay for a new car. In fact, the government owns many of the cars, including those used as taxis and for tours.

I can just picture Bernie and Pocahontas zipping around in their government-owned 1950’s Chevy convertible, the Caribbean air flying through their gray hair as they blow kisses to the pictures of Che Guevara that adorn buildings, billboards, restaurants, and artwork across the country. (We were told that Fidel did not want his face to be the face of the country/revolution so we did not see a lot of him, but for an occasional photo and a commissary named Viva Fidel!)

Like the slate of Democrats standing on the stage last week (and all good Communists for that matter), the Cuban government claims to exist for the people. The revolution was a revolution of the people (wink, wink) and ever since, generations of Cubans have been indoctrinated to believe that nonsense. The Che photos around every bend are only part of it – and given the one-party system (how happy would Democrats be!), dissenting opinions are few and far between.

The indoctrination is very evident in much of the artwork we saw at the studios we visited. Obama is pictured very positively while Trump, not so much. Cubans don’t particularly care for Americans these days given Trump’s reversal of Obama’s policies that opened up the country. (Contrast that with the Iranian people who recognize that their government is to blame for destroying the economy and their lives.)

And as we walked through the famous Hotel Nacional de Cuba, we came across a massive painting of the beloved Hugo Chavez in full military dress.

Bernie, a “democratic socialist” in his own league having honeymooned in the Soviet Union, would feel right at home staying there while conveniently ignoring that the Cubans live under a military enforcing the Communism thrust upon them.

Our guide, completely brainwashed, was very much on board with the ideology governing the populace even as she showed us the local commissary – a dirty, hole-in-the-wall with shelves behind a counter barely filled with items - at which citizens use government-provided coupons to “purchase” their monthly allotment of cooking oil, eggs, juice and similar products. Of course, as a tour guide, she presumably makes a lot of money in tips that the government never sees, so like the Democrats, doesn’t seem to worry about the impact of Communism on the little people who are forced into jobs in which they have little interest or desire, relying on government handouts to survive.

In Cuba, the candidates wouldn’t have to worry about imposing a wealth tax because the only people with any wealth are those in high level government positions. And forget about a $15 minimum wage. We spoke to a waiter who makes $600 a month to only work 14 days; he was thrilled since the rest of the month he can go to the beach and spend time with his family. His brother who is a doctor works full-time and only makes $30 a month.  Given the way these Democrats think, the waiter is a working stiff who should be highly compensated through redistribution of wealth from those greedy doctors anyway.

We enjoyed lobster lunches and dinners but were told that lobster is only available to tourists, although a black market for Cubans exists (there are two types of Cuban money – one for the tourists and one for the locals and locals are not permitted to use tourist dollars, so tipping in the correct money is important). Of course, Bernie, Liz and Joe, who have made millions as politicians wouldn’t have to worry about affording food items any more than Fidel and Raul did. That’s how Communism works and one need only read Animal Farm to understand how it corrupts and leaves the common man behind in the dust.

I was surprised to walk by a mosque and Arab cultural center in the heart of Havana’s old city. We were told there is a growing Muslim population. Given Democrats’ penchant for bringing Muslim immigrants into the U.S., the candidates would feel right at home with the hijabs and burkas that will soon appear on Havana’s streets. Presumably the Cuban immigrants get all of that “free stuff” the Democrats are promising to moronic Americans who believe them that socialism is good for the country.

It occurred to me that perhaps a Cuban “birthright” type trip would be appropriate for all of the democratic socialists, or whatever they call themselves, with the hope that they would see what a disaster this ideology has been for that country. But then I realized that like all socialists, they would just claim it was implemented improperly and that they know how to do it the right way. It simply doesn’t occur to them that even across Europe there has been a backlash to the failed socialist policies experimented with there.

Most of the candidates other than Mayor Pete came out of the 60’s radical years when all of this nonsense started. These 60’s militants took over academia and are now indoctrinating Americans to believe that capitalism is bad and socialism is the only way to go.  Just look at Sanders’s supporters, many of whom are young, idealistic, and yes, indoctrinated.

The Ocasio-Cortezs of the world got their crazy notions from somewhere and it was likely the academy. Years ago, I wrote a column that mentioned that Karl Marx’s A Communist Manifesto was the third most read book in college economics classes. As I was working on the column, my 12th grade daughter asked me to help her understand something she had to read for her economics class. It was a several page excerpt from none other than A Communist Manifesto.

Imagine if one of these crazy people make it to the White House – or if they take the presidency, House and Senate – and begin to implement their version of the Revolucion Cubana. As it is, they constantly attempt to brainwash the American people through the rewriting of history (tearing down statues, painting over murals, and implementing biased and distorted K-12 curricula like The New York Times 1619 Project) or just simply lying and making up facts as each and every candidate did in this last debate when claiming that “the people” are being left behind by millionaires who don’t deserve the money they make. And make no mistake, Bernie supporters are brainwashed just like the Cuban people.

Havana’s architecture was once beautiful, exemplifying the rich European history of Cuba. It’s quite sad to think what the country could have been today were it not for Castro’s revolution. But reforms are slowly coming and perhaps one day that beauty will return. One young tour guide shared that younger people are starting to want change (ironic given young Americans’ attraction to socialism) and perhaps as the internet opens up, demands for modernization – and democracy and capitalism - will become greater. (We were told that college students get 90 minutes of internet per month for their studies but most use it to surf the web and check social media.) But one thing is clear: as long as the one-party Communist regime is in power, Cuba will remain a third world island which is known for cigars and rum rather than intellectual, technical, medical, and other contributions to the world.

All photographs by the author