The Current Discussion: In the future, global prosperity will present more of a threat than poverty, according to a recent Post op-ed. Is this just rich-American rhetoric, or is the world really getting too prosperous for its own good?

I do agree with Michael Gerson's concluding remarks that learning to live with challenges posed by growing world prosperity is better than the alternative of challenges posed by rising poverty.
However, I do not agree that the world has reached a point of a crisis of rising prosperity.

The rising billions -- if they are indeed billions -- of prosperous populations around the world do not automatically mean decreased poverty. Advanced technology and a globalized market place had allowed millions to join the ranks of the affluent classes, but it is also pushing a bigger number toward abject poverty.

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The U.S. decision to lift travel restrictions on Cuba is a welcome step. But it does not go far enough.

It is high time to get rid of one of the last legacies of the cold era. It is time to go all the way and lift the embargo on Cuba. The embargo is not only a form of collective punishment against the Cuban people, but is remnant of the imperious notion that the U.S.-led world capitalist economy is better or the only way to progress and prosperity. The global recession, and the collapse of many institutions in the U.S. and beyond, have made the claim of the ultimate and irreversible victory of capitalism both outdated and ridiculous.

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The U.S. decision to lift travel restrictions on Cuba is a welcome step. But it does not go far enough. It is high time to get rid of one of the last legacies of the Cold War era. It is time to go all the way and lift the Cuban embargo.

The embargo is not only a form of collective punishment against the Cuban people, it is a remnant of the imperious notion that the U.S.-led world capitalist economy is the only way to progress and prosperity. The global recession, and the collapse of many institutions in the U.S. and beyond, have made laughable the claim that capitalism is destined for an ultimate and irreversible victory. The previous administration got drunk on that idea, and it dragged America and the world into what seems to be a bottomless economic crisis. In other words, the ideological basis for the embargo no longer holds. The embargo neither brought about regime change nor consolidated the victory of a world capitalist view.

Obama tries to project a humane world view that respects other nations paths and their individual struggles for change and development. This vision will lack credibility as long as America continues its self-entitlement to punish other nations who do not adhere to its world view. Washington has to learn how to be humble; it should start by being humbled by its own economic crisis.

Lifting the embargo on Cuba is one step toward a better international atmosphere. It's time to boost collaboration with -- and not subjugation of -- other nations.