THE GIFT
MARCEL
MAUSS AND HIS LESSONS FOR CURRENT DAY CUBA
Marcel
Mauss, considered the Father of Modern Ethnology was the nephew of Emile
Durkheim, considered the Father of Modern and French Sociology. His book, The
Gift, published in 1925 remains one of standard texts in Social Anthropology
and the theories have had a long standing impact.
I had been
impressed with the idea of his, the archaic forms of exchange and I see that on
everyday life of American Indians, despite their Americanization and
incorporation into the modern market economy. But their ancient forms of
prestations, still direct their lives, incorporating rituals and social
connections.
While
living in Paris, I noticed the way they give gifts to each other, in an almost
elaborate ritualistic fashion and suddenly occurred to me that, as Marcel Mauss
had mentioned nearly a hundred years earlier: it is a diluted form of the
archaic form of exchange in which the gift giver obligates the recipient to an
equal form of reciprocity. Unlike in the archaic societies no status
declaration is involved. It is slightly different in the USA where gifts do
carry a status, and puts the gift giver in a superior position in relation to
the recipient.
From the
concept of obligation and social coherence in the archaic societies without a
market economy, the concept of Networking in the modern societies may have
risen.
With a
gift, in the modern societies, the question asked is; what can you do for me?
In archaic
societies, the question asked is: What can I do for you?
Here is an
example of Solidarity, Archaic Exchange and reciprocacity shown in a Gift,
among the INUIT of Alaska.
Cuba is a
society which has gone an experiment in Socialism in the past 50 plus years
after the triumph of the Revolution led by Jefe Comandante Fidel Castro. It was
a classical revolution in the sense of overthrowing an unjust, illegal, oppressive,
tyrannical regime by an uprising of the people. Che Guevara, a Doctor turned
Revolutionary, had outlined some of the ideas for a future society in his book:
Socialism and Man
It is very
often heard, in a derogatory sense, that Cubans make only very little as paid
out as salaries. It is an individualistic concept in that Cuba takes care of so
much for each and every man in the society, does not leave any one out. Why is
that no one in Miami ever mentions the fact that Cuba does not have homeless
people or people sleeping under bridges? You don’t see children or adolescents
wandering around streets during the day because they are in school! (as Fidel
explained to Rigoberto Menchu, when she asked the Comandante why there were no
children on the streets) And that there is medical attention to everyone and anyone
at any time of the day or night, within reach ? The idea is that Cuba tries to
make sure that every one is looked after in society, not just certain members
of the society ( as Republicans in the USA proclaim in their actions, taking
care of just the rich of the society)
The
capitalistic, oppressive, manipulative, fraudulent elements of the society who
thought more about themselves than the value of the society or the people in
general did migrate to Miami (where they continue to commit these crimes. The
Economist recently named Miami as the Capital of Fraud in America! Thanks to
these Cuban Immigrants and their descendants)
While the
loss of a class of skilled people was a blow to Cuba, they soon recuperated
from it, by educating the population and within a few years reached the status
of the most educated society in the Americas including USA.
But the economic
realities of a socialist state confronted by an enemy in the North, people had
to make do with a system of communal good put before individual gain. This to
me, this solidarity, is one of the principle strong characteristic of the Cuban
society today.
And it fits
well with the Concept of The Gift and the archaic form of exchange as outlined
by Marcel Mauss.
People
familiar with Cuba would know that it is rare that a person goes hungry in
Cuba, thanks to the forms of sharing, at the governmental and social levels.
Instead of
griping that Cuban professionals are paid only limited amounts of Cash, it
might be good to look at what they do with that cash.
Here is an
example:
A doctor in
training at a hospital gets 1200 Cuban Peso (think of it as 1200 dollars, as
the official exchange rate is 1 to 1)
She gives
500 to her mother, so that her retired mother who lives with her grandparents,
both of whom are alive, can live in comfort in the village where she was born
in the eastern part of the island. She gives another 300 to a caretaker who
looks after the sister of her grandfather, as a token of appreciation.
Yes she is
left with very little money for herself but what about the satisfaction? Even
though she is young, the years of education in the socialist society of Cuba
has left her with deep ideals of GIFT. She makes herself member of the greater
society of Cubans, not by thinking of migrating to Miami, but thinking of
becoming a member of an International Team of Cuban Doctors who go to all parts
of the world to offer humanitarian medical missions. She wishes to serve her
country by being part of its future, not serve herself by migrating thus
becoming part of its past
Some
ignorant people in Miami talk about Democracy (of their definition) as a
precondition for lifting of the Economic Blockade of Cuba. What if Cuba
insisted that they would have relationship with USA only if USA adopted a more
human approach to the population as current in Cuba? What if the Cubans
demanded that there be no people sleeping under the bridges in Miami? That everyone
in America can have access to good health care and education without facing
financial ruin?
The words
of Prof Jose Altshuler ring in my ears:
If you are
interested in the welfare of yourself over the welfare of others, I recommend you
go to the USA, where you would be amply rewarded. If you are concerned about
others, and willing to give and take, you have come to paradise, it is Cuba.
It was Paris
for Hemingway, the moveable feast.
For me, the
moveable feast of emotions and affections remains La Habana and Cuba.
