3 ms·

I don't want to sound like a Negative Nelly but you all in this thread are swooning over a dictatorship with pretty awful human rights abuses.

jbay808 7y ago
I find it valuable to learn things that go against my preconceptions about what life in Belarus is like. It's surprising to learn that it has a tech scene and capacitor-charged busses. We could also focus on their poverty and repression, but would any of that be surprising to you?
eugene-d 7y ago
People working in gov sector risk their jobs for expressing political views. IT and other private sector workers are much more liberal. Supporting private companies helps democracy
gdy 7y ago
How awful exactly is that dictatorship? And besides, the swooning is about Belorussian people, not Lukashenko
grecy 7y ago
You make the very common mistake of assuming a country with a dictator and human rights abuses is automatically a horrible place to be. Earlier this year I was in Sudan for a few weeks. Hands down the friendliest and kindest people I've ever met on earth. Much, much friendlier than Australians or Canadians. Open your mind, accept there are other ways to do things, and we can learn to improve our way of doing things. It's not to say these countries are perfect, just better in different ways. PS I'm Australian/Canadian.
- teh_klev 7y ago
  >Hands down the friendliest and kindest people I've ever met on earth Anecdotally, Iranian people fall into the same category despite living under a despotic regime and severe sanctions imposed by the US.
  - grecy 7y ago
    I agree. I've never met a single person that has travelled to Iran that doesn't list it as their all-time favourite country, and number 1 they want to return to. I've met at least a few hundred people that have driven across, spending 2-4 weeks. (Note: I've never been)
    - Grue3 7y ago
      Were any of them women, or gay?

jbay808 7y ago

I find it valuable to learn things that go against my preconceptions about what life in Belarus is like. It's surprising to learn that it has a tech scene and capacitor-charged busses. We could also focus on their poverty and repression, but would any of that be surprising to you?

eugene-d 7y ago

People working in gov sector risk their jobs for expressing political views. IT and other private sector workers are much more liberal. Supporting private companies helps democracy

gdy 7y ago

How awful exactly is that dictatorship? And besides, the swooning is about Belorussian people, not Lukashenko

grecy 7y ago

You make the very common mistake of assuming a country with a dictator and human rights abuses is automatically a horrible place to be. Earlier this year I was in Sudan for a few weeks. Hands down the friendliest and kindest people I've ever met on earth. Much, much friendlier than Australians or Canadians. Open your mind, accept there are other ways to do things, and we can learn to improve our way of doing things. It's not to say these countries are perfect, just better in different ways. PS I'm Australian/Canadian.

teh_klev 7y ago
>Hands down the friendliest and kindest people I've ever met on earth Anecdotally, Iranian people fall into the same category despite living under a despotic regime and severe sanctions imposed by the US.
- grecy 7y ago
  I agree. I've never met a single person that has travelled to Iran that doesn't list it as their all-time favourite country, and number 1 they want to return to. I've met at least a few hundred people that have driven across, spending 2-4 weeks. (Note: I've never been)
  - Grue3 7y ago
    Were any of them women, or gay?