How Airbnb Launched in Cuba (opens in new tab)

It's because as much as we want to believe that we don't, largely because we are fed a constant barrage of self-congratulatory propaganda ourselves, we live under a similar type of regime as those we chastise all over the world. The only difference really is that we are far more sophisticated in our propaganda methods and can largely leverage our size and resources to defer challenge and realization that we live under such a regime. Essentially it's a matter of the best way to convince someone of something is to get them to believe it was their idea.

As you have pointed out, Cuba has been a great vacation destination for such inclined for decades and essentially in an unimpeded manner for basically everyone else in the world besides the USA.

What's kind of sad is that I have a really bad feeling about how this will go for Cuba. No, I don't think they should remain stuck in the past and play the role of a quaint, impoverished Caribbean island, but I also hope they can stave off the immense pressure that will come down to bear on Cuba that will attempt to sabotage, undermine, corrupt, and exploit every little opportunity that represents itself to dominate the island and its residents. I would not be surprised if within 20 years the whole island is essentially a replica of something like the USVI or Bahamas, where the vast majority of native residents are essentially nothing more than live-in local service staff in grotesque resorts and harbors of cruise ship tourist shipments.