In The Nation, whose basic reigning philosophy is–to the best of our knowledge–rigid dialectical materialism, we find a fine example of how smoothly this allegedly scientific and empirical ideology turns into mystical fideism. One Sidney Lens, an intrepid apologist for any Sovietized thing on earth, writes:

Cubans have the highest standard of living in Latin America, with the possible exception of urban areas in Argentina and Uruguay.

How easily blind faith in miracles presaged by doctrine wins out over empiricism, data, reason, and research. Anyone without Marxian blinders knows that the Cuban quality of life may be higher than that of the Samoyeds in northern Siberia, but that’s about it.