Reading this week’s chapter reminded me of how biased education systems can be. While I will be talking mostly about the American education system, because that is the one I grew up in, I doubt that it is a purely American problem. Subjects such as math are fairly objective, as there are universal rules governing them, and they’re not related to politics or ideologies. Subjects such as literature and history are very subjective, the way that they are taught varies based on agendas and beliefs. Classes in American schools are very anti-communist. Communism, despite being a major economic system that has had a huge impact on history, is barely talked about. The few times it is mentioned, it is usually to enumerate its failures and the superiority of capitalism. Fidel Castro, in particular, is always depicted as nothing but a horrible dictator. That picture isn’t wrong, but it is incomplete. He silenced dissent through unfair laws, exile, or execution; he cruelly oppressed certain minority groups such as gay people; his mismanagement of the country led to economic chaos within years of his taking office. All of this seemed to fit the picture of him that I had always been given by my schools: a stupid violent brute who remained in power through fear and oppression. So I was surprised to see that in many ways, he was actually very intelligent and capable. Upon taking office, he had to navigate a complex web of conflicting demands from every group across the country. He wisely made the US a scapegoat as the enemy to be blamed for any problem or failure. He was able to summon extraordinary amounts of patriotism and loyalty, even after his policies stopped working and suffering became widespread. He was so popular that even after years of massive failures, people still wouldn’t let him resign because he had made them believe so much in him, his ideals, and his idea of Cuba. Even some of his programs that eventually failed had started out as very good ideas. His mass organizations were a very smart solution to his problem of keeping control while allowing his people political power. I may have found these organizations morally questionable, as they were mostly in place to ensure that true power stayed with him instead of the people, but I recognize that it was a very good political move at the time. I wondered why I was never taught about this side of him in school. After all, knowing that he was intelligent and politically savvy doesn’t lessen any of his evils. I suppose Americans generally don’t want to give him any type of credit; they don’t want to acknowledge any possible good that any of his programs might have done, and they don’t want to call him smart or capable in any way. It’s easier to view see things only in black and white; America is a prosperous capitalist country, Cuba was a mess under the terrible communist brute Castro. It’s also easier to downplay America’s role in hurting Cuba. I don’t think that all of Cuba’s problems were America’s fault, some of them were caused by inherently flawed policies, but I think America should get better at acknowledging the part that it played in the downfall of many communist countries.