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This Happened

This Happened—January 1: The Cuban Revolution Ends

On January 1, 1959, Cuba’s military dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country and the rebels, led by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, celebrated in Havana, ending the Cuban Revolution.

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Why did the Cuban Revolution take place?

The U.S. had been a major force in Cuba since the early 1900s. Much of the country’s business was owned by the U.S., including its main export, sugar. The Batista regime was unpopular with the Cuban people. However, he supported U.S. interests, so Washington in turn supported him.

Castro wanted to remove the chokehold the U.S. had over the Cuban economy and launch a Communist Revolution in the process.

How did the Cuban Revolution happen?

In November 1956, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara gathered 80 guerrilla fighters and sailed from Mexico on a small yacht. Batista learned of the attack and ambushed the group, but 20 men escaped, including Fidel and Raul Castro and Guevara. The group found refuge in the mountains, attracted new members, and started guerrilla warfare against Batista’s better-armed regime.

For the next two years, Cuba experienced civil war. In December 1958, Guevara’s forces defeated a larger army in the Battle of Santa Clara, where they captured a train full of arms and ammunition. By January 1, 1959, the rebels had reached the capital, Havana, and Batista fled.

What was the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution?

Batista lived in exile in Portugal until his death in 1973. Fidel Castro reached Havana on January 9 to take charge. Many Batista supporters were tried and executed. Although Castro had promised elections, he postponed them once he came to power.

The U.S. initially recognized the Castro government, but relations quickly broke down when Castro implemented a Communist regime. The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Havana in 1961. Tensions further increased in the following years, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Fidel Castro remained in power until 2008, when he chose his brother Raul as successor.

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Ideas

Look At This Crap! The "Enshittification" Theory Of Why The Internet Is Broken

The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.

A person holding their smartphone

Gilles Lambert/ ZUMA
Manuel Ligero

-Analysis-

The universe tends toward chaos. Ultimately, everything degenerates. These immutable laws are even more true of the Internet .

In the case of media platforms, everything you once thought was a good service will, sooner or later, disgust you. This trend has been given a name: enshittification . The term was coined by Canadian blogger and journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the inevitable drift of technological giants toward... well.

The explanation is in line with the most basic tenets of Marxism. All digital companies have investors (essentially the bourgeoisie, people who don't perform any work and take the lion's share of the profits), and these investors want to see the percentage of their gains grow year after year. This pushes companies to make decisions that affect the service they provide to their customers. Although they don't do it unwillingly, quite the opposite.

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Annoying customers is just another part of the business plan. Look at Netflix , for example. The streaming giant has long been riddling how to monetize shared Netflix accounts. Option 1: adding a premium option to its regular price. Next, it asked for verification through text messages. After that, it considered raising the total subscription price. It also mulled adding advertising to the mix, and so on. These endless maneuvers irritated its audience, even as the company has been unable to decide which way it wants to go. So, slowly but surely, we see it drifting toward enshittification.

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