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Sociolismo
''Sociolismo'' ("partner-ism"), also known as ''amiguismo'' ("friend-ism"), is the informal term used in Cuba to describe the reciprocal exchange of favors by individuals, usually relating to circumventing bureaucratic restrictions or obtaining hard-to-find goods. Overview It comes from the Spanish word ''socio'' which means business partner or buddy, and is a pun on the official government policy of ''socialismo'' (socialism). It is analogous to the '' blat'' of the Soviet Union or the term '' combina'' in Israel. It is a form of corruption in Cuba. The term is particularly associated with the black market economy, and perceived cronyism in Cuba's state controlled command economy. ''Socios'' can be black market operators who "facilitate" (steal) goods that are officially reserved for the state. They can also get someone a job or obtain paperwork. The system is used by anyone who needs to send an e-mail or print a resume but does not have a computer, or needs paint or cement but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corruption In Cuba
Cuba has suffered from widespread and rampant corruption since the establishment of the Republic of Cuba (1902–1959), Republic of Cuba in 1902. The book ''Corruption in Cuba'' states that public ownership resulted in "a lack of identifiable ownership and widespread misuse and theft of state resources... when given opportunity, few citizens hesitate to steal from the government." Furthermore, the complex relationship between governmental and economic institutions makes them especially "prone to corruption." The question of what causes corruption in Cuba presently and historically continues to be discussed and debated by scholars. Jules R. Benjamin suggests that Cuba's corrupt politics were a product of the colonial heritage of Cuban politics and the financial aid provided by the United States that favoured international sugar prices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the Second World War, the level of corruption in Cuba, among many other Latin American and Caribbe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guanxi
''Guanxi'' () is a term used in Chinese culture to describe an individual's social network of mutually beneficial personal and business relationships. The character ''guan'', 关, means “closed” while the character ''xi'' 系 means “system” and together the term refers to a closed system of relationships that is somewhat analogous to the term old boy's network in the West. In Western media, the pinyin romanization ''guanxi'' is more widely used than common translations such as "connections" or "relationships" because those terms don't capture the significance of a person's ''guanxi'' to most personal and business dealings in China. Unlike in the West, ''guanxi'' relationships are almost never established purely through formal meetings but must also include spending time to get to know each other during tea sessions, dinner banquets, or other personal meetings. Essentially, ''guanxi'' requires a personal bond before any business relationship can develop. As a result, ''gua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola ( Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is (without the territorial waters) but a total of 350,730 km² (135,418 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants. The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney people from the 4th millennium BC with the Gua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blat (Russia)
In Russian, ''blat'' (russian: блат) is a form of corruption comprising a system of informal agreements, exchanges of services, connections, Party contacts, or black market deals to achieve results or get ahead. In the USSR, ''blat'' was widespread because of the permanent shortage of consumer goods and services. This was due to the price of consumer goods being dictated by the state rather than set by the free market. Networks of ''blat'' made it easier for the general public to gain access to much-coveted goods and services. ''Blat'' also took place at the enterprise-level in the form of '' tolkachs'', employees whose explicit role was to exploit their networks to secure positive outcomes for their employers. The system of ''blat'' can be seen as an example of a social network with some similarities to networking (especially "good ol' boy" networks) in the United States, old boy networks in the United Kingdom and the former British Empire, and ''guanxi'' in China. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blat (favors)
In Russian, ''blat'' (russian: блат) is a form of corruption comprising a system of informal agreements, exchanges of services, connections, Party contacts, or black market deals to achieve results or get ahead. In the USSR, ''blat'' was widespread because of the permanent shortage of consumer goods and services. This was due to the price of consumer goods being dictated by the state rather than set by the free market. Networks of ''blat'' made it easier for the general public to gain access to much-coveted goods and services. ''Blat'' also took place at the enterprise-level in the form of '' tolkachs'', employees whose explicit role was to exploit their networks to secure positive outcomes for their employers. The system of ''blat'' can be seen as an example of a social network with some similarities to networking (especially "good ol' boy" networks) in the United States, old boy networks in the United Kingdom and the former British Empire, and ''guanxi'' in China. In p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rationing In Cuba
Rationing in Cuba is organized by the government and implemented by means of a ''Libreta de Abastecimiento'' ("Supplies booklet") assigned to every individual. The system establishes the amounts of subsidized rations each person is allowed to receive through the system, and the frequency at which supplies can be obtained. While the food rations are not free, the ration fees are a small fraction of the actual price of the goods (on average, less than $2 USD for a month of rations, which is approximately 12% of their market value). Purchases of the goods can also be made outside of the system, but they are typically too expensive for most Cubans to afford. Despite past rumors of ending, the system still exists. As of 2012, a coupon book taken to a ration shop provided family minimums for rice, sugar, matches, and oil, above the average wage of $30/month. While most Cubans do not have to pay for rent, healthcare, or education, ration fees often take up a large percentage of their mon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Period
The Special Period ( es, Período especial, link=no), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by extension, the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early to mid-1990s, before slightly declining in severity towards the end of the decade once Hugo Chávez's Venezuela emerged as Cuba's primary trading partner and diplomatic ally, and especially after the year 2000 once Cuba–Russia relations improved under the presidency of Vladimir Putin. It was defined primarily by extreme reductions of rationed foods at state-subsidized prices, the severe shortages of hydrocarbon energy resources in the form of gasoline, diesel, and other petroleum derivatives that occurred upon the implosion of economic agreements between the petroleum-rich Soviet Union and Cuba, and the shrinking of an economy overdepen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Private Sector In Cuba
Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded by Ringo Sheena * "Private" (Vera Blue song), from the 2017 album ''Perennial'' Literature * ''Private'' (novel), 2010 novel by James Patterson * ''Private'' (novel series), young-adult book series launched in 2006 Film and television * ''Private'' (film), 2004 Italian film * ''Private'' (web series), 2009 web series based on the novel series * ''Privates'' (TV series), 2013 BBC One TV series * Private, a penguin character in ''Madagascar'' Other uses * Private (rank), a military rank * ''Privates'' (video game), 2010 video game * Private (rocket), American multistage rocket * Private Media Group, Swedish adult entertainment production and distribution company * ''Private (magazine)'', flagship magazine of the Private Media Group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both. The word itself came about in the 18th century and has been defined in multiple ways since its conception. Etymology of the word ''slang'' In its earliest attested use (1756), the word ''slang'' referred to the vocabulary of "low" or "disreputable" people. By the early nineteenth century, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputable people, but continued to be applied to usages below the level of standard educated speech. In Scots dialect it meant "talk, chat, gossip", as used by Aberdeen poet William Scott in 1832: "The slang gaed on aboot their war'ly care." In northern English dialect it meant "impertinence, abusive language". The origin of the word is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
System D
System D is a manner of responding to challenges that require one to have the ability to think quickly, to adapt, and to improvise when getting a job done. The term gained wider popularity in the United States after appearing in the 2006 publication of Anthony Bourdain's '' The Nasty Bits''. Bourdain references finding the term in Nicolas Freeling's memoir, ''The Kitchen'', about Freeling's years as a Grand Hotel cook in France. The term derives from the French term . The letter ''D'' refers to any one of the French nouns , or (French slang). The verbs and mean to ''make do'', to ''manage'', especially in an adverse situation. Basically, it refers to one's ability and need to be resourceful. In ''Down and Out in Paris and London'', George Orwell described the term as something the lowest-level kitchen workers, the ''s'', wanted to be called, indicating that they were people who would get the job done, no matter what. In recent literature on the informal economy, System D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compadrazgo
The compadre (, , , literally "co-father" or "co-parent") relationship between the parents and godparents of a child is an important bond that originates when a child is baptised in Iberian, Latin American, Filipino Christian and Indian Christian Brahmin families. The abstract noun compadrazgo (Spanish and Filipino), compadrio (in Portuguese), both meaning "co-parenthood," is sometimes used to refer to the institutional relationship between ''compadres''. From the moment of a baptism ceremony, the godparents (godfather and godmother, ''padrino'' and ''madrina'' in Spanish, ''padrinho'' and ''madrinha'' in Portuguese, and ''ninong'' and ''ninang'' in Filipino) share the parenting role of the baptised child with the natural parents. By Catholic doctrine, upon the child's baptism the godparents accept the responsibility to ensure that the child is raised according to the dictates of the Catholic faith and to ensure the child pursues a life of improvement and success (through educat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Informal Economy
An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countries, it is sometimes stigmatized as troublesome and unmanageable. However, the informal sector provides critical economic opportunities for the poor and has been expanding rapidly since the 1960s. Integrating the informal economy into the formal sector is an important policy challenge. In many cases, unlike the formal economy, activities of the informal economy are not included in a country's gross national product (GNP) or gross domestic product (GDP). However, Italy has included estimates of informal activity in their GDP calculations since 1987, which swells their GDP by an estimated 18% and in 2014, a number of European countries formally changed their GDP calculations to include prostitution and narcotics sales in their official GDP sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
