3 ms·

I don't think you fully understood the GPs analogy to Chernobyl, it's not because of the affect it had on the rest of the world... It's how soviet pride and 'm

I don't think you fully understood the GPs analogy to Chernobyl, it's not because of the affect it had on the rest of the world... It's how soviet pride and 'manliness' got in the way of public health and safety post disaster. Chernobyl happened, but the way it was handled and spun by those in charge as not so bad and "barely a concern, no need to evacuate" cost many lives. States like Russia and China are so concerned with optics and how events like these make them week they opt for extreme secrecy above all rational measures. Until the mindset shifts to acceptance and disaster mitigation you can never trust numbers coming out of these countries. If you disagree with what I'm saying here I strongly suggest you watch the recent Chernobyl mini-series on HBO.

dimitar 7y ago
Yes, this is what I meant. I'm don't know it is about manliness, but is definitely to show superiors and other stakeholders that you have things under control. This is very important in an extreme top-down organization of society like an absolute monarchy or a one-party state - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village I remember a funny story from my home town in Bulgaria during the socialist era - the party secretary is supposed to land in a helicopter near a green field in the town center, but (horror!) the grass is yellow, burnt from the summer sun. So local functionaries painted it green. The next day the grass was completely dead, but the important guest wasn't there. Imagine how the same people would react in an emergency with no instructions from the top, with no idea how their leadership will react or who will get the blame. A few years later, communist leadership in Bulgaria suppressed the news about Chernobyl and on the 1st of May huge crowds were gathered to participate in rallies, while radioactive rain was coming down.

dimitar 7y ago

Yes, this is what I meant. I'm don't know it is about manliness, but is definitely to show superiors and other stakeholders that you have things under control. This is very important in an extreme top-down organization of society like an absolute monarchy or a one-party state - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village I remember a funny story from my home town in Bulgaria during the socialist era - the party secretary is supposed to land in a helicopter near a green field in the town center, but (horror!) the grass is yellow, burnt from the summer sun. So local functionaries painted it green. The next day the grass was completely dead, but the important guest wasn't there. Imagine how the same people would react in an emergency with no instructions from the top, with no idea how their leadership will react or who will get the blame. A few years later, communist leadership in Bulgaria suppressed the news about Chernobyl and on the 1st of May huge crowds were gathered to participate in rallies, while radioactive rain was coming down.