Acting According to One’s Conscience

Life is increasingly more complex, thanks to the ultra-right leaning administration of Donald Trump, with the restoration of the Yankee blockade against Cuba. The country is facing complicated problems such as energy shortages which disrupt daily life.

The Trump administration is trying to prevent fuel from entering Cuba at all costs, which has forced us to modify our lives as a result of changes to development projects.

It is true that the measures adopted change daily, and what has been already been planned so far is no longer intact. Nevertheless, we cannot give up on fulfilling new plans, nor ignore developments that negatively impact everyday life. These problems deserve solutions.

One of those encumbered situations is the care and maintenance of pedestrian walkways, as described by musician Iran Arencibia, who recounts the path he must take from Martí Street to the theater or shopping centers in the city of Holguín on his way to rehearsal.

Those who travel along that road inevitably see among the obstacles a collapsing house, corroded electrical outlet covers, large light poles placed on narrow sidewalks or public restrooms with clogged drains. All these inconveniences force pedestrians to walk in the roadway, which is dangerous. Children and seniors who pass through there face the same inconveniences.

When the island government calls for creativity, it means creativity, not sitting on our hands to wait for something better, and it means making an effort to find answers. The Cuban socialist system is characterized by the principle of thinking about others, because we cannot give up being human or stop valuing love for our neighbors as a defining feature, and because we must be measured by how we help the neediest.

We must act with great concern to prevent the continued deterioration of sidewalks in the so-called City of Parks, as well as the poor placement of sewer covers and the other impediments that endanger pedestrians. The call to remove the problem, step by step, must be constant and involve all sectors.

We can all reflect, with the Ukrainian writer Joseph Conrad: “Facing it, always facing it, that’s the way to get through, to face it.”* In other words, facing the problem is a good solution, both for what we are dealing with here and in other situations. We must always be aware that the problem does exist and act accordingly.

*Editor’s note: Joseph Conrad was born in Poland.