The Salvation of Cuba
By James Quillian, Economist, Political Analyst, Teacher of Natural Law
In natural law, I make it a habit to judge people and institutions by how they actually function, not by the labels they pin on themselves. A thing is what it does. That rule clears away a lot of fog.
The United States is defined as a republic. Officially it is, but it hasn’t functioned like one in a long time. The public gets a steady diet of surface‑level information, while anything meaningful or controversial is tucked out of sight. And truth be told, most citizens don’t seem eager to oversee their government anyway. Human beings have a long history of trading freedom for comfort. Once comfort settles in, the appetite for reform dries up.
The official story was polished and patriotic, the kind of thing they roll out when they want folks calm and compliant. “Necessary action.” “Protecting American interests.” “Stopping a threat.” You’ve heard those lines before. They’re the same lines they used in every conflict from Vietnam to Iraq, and they always sound like they were written before the first shot was fired.