Living with sanctions

 

I have been watching that people are going crazy with the news about sanctions. I won't say sanction to will hurt; they will hurt hard and we will feel them. I know  what I am talking about. My daughter says that as a Cuban I am trained to live under a climate of sanctions and shortages. Of course, nobody is trained for that. This is her euphemistic expression to put things.  However, I believe that this is a starting point for Russians to focus more on the economy and put aside the mentality of making  quick money and think more about the themselves as nation.  Many of the companies that have left the country made their products here. Probable some brought a part of their components. This is the case of Pepsi, Colgate, I believe. In any case, they cannot take the infrastructure away. The same happens with the car assembly plants. In both cases, production will only be limited to the Russians ingenuity. Russians cannot deprive themselves of the jobs and products they created. Perhaps, under different names and by reverse engineering they can put them to work again. The same is applicable to to the high end products in the electronics industry. Russians engineers are capable to do that and much more.   When the Americans left Cuba after the nationalization of the nickel plant in Moa in 1959, they took away the plans and mode of operations of the factory. A Cuban, Demetrio Presillas (1915-2006),who by chance had studied in the US put the plant t work. In Cuba at that time there was not the specialty of mine engineering.  At the same time, instead of planting potatoes just for consumption many village dwellers will plant for the market; the same can happen in terms of meat, poultry, and milk production. There should be no restrictions in that direction. I think many would agree with me in that it is more important to have a constant supply of, say, four or five brands of products than to have the shelves full of things that nobody buys. Each of the things that go into the market has a carbon footprint.