Democracy: who needs it?

[favorov]

Turkmenistan may not be a free country, says Katie Grant, but there is no trash culture, no graffiti, and the people are happy.

Ñîâåðøåííî áåçóìíàÿ äëÿ íàøèõ äîëãîò ñòàòüÿ, ðåêîìåíäîâàííîå ÷òåíèå äëÿ åâðàçèéöåâ. Êàê è â ïîçàïðîøëîì âåêå, òîðè - ëó÷øèé äðóã ñëàâÿíîôèëà. Âñåì ïðèâåò îò Àëåêñåé Ñòåïàíû÷à.

Comments

[agfoxx.livejournal.com]

А статья ведь классная. И, кажется, автор - один из немногих наконец-то понявших, что они - это они, а мы - это мы. Вне зависимости от того, кого считать "ими", а кого - "нами".
Это напоминает мне о том, как я недавно объяснял людям из одной правозащитной организации, почему никто не ходит на их пресс-конференции об ужасах зачисток в Чечне. "А зачем ходить? - задал я тогда риторический вопрос. - Во-первых, все и так давно знают, что в Чечне убивают, во-вторых, Чечня - это далеко, за МКАД, в-третьих, зачистки - это уже лежалый и не продающийся товар (если только зачистили не Березовского, например). Вот лет восемь назад - это да".

[favorov.livejournal.com]

Statja mne tozhe nravitsja.
Vot tol'ko schastlivy li turkmeny?

Re:

[agfoxx.livejournal.com]

Наверняка счастливы. Ведь для рядового человека - того, который работает-спит-ест-работает, а не размышляет о смысле жизни - важнее не демократия, а колбаса.

[(Anonymous)]

Is one happier living in the Zoo? For Ms. Grant the answer is "Yes", as long as there's no graffiti and American pop-culture.

But Ms. Grant's choice between the real Big Brother and the show-business one is a pose, of course. This isn't the real choice. Her real choice is to live in Scotland, vote for the right, and make her living by writing provocative comments about the relative merits of the Western Civilization.

I wish both her and you, Pyotr Olegovich, good luck. :)

[favorov.livejournal.com]

Hey, hey!
I'm not an Olegovich in any way.
The only Olegovich (son of Dr.Oleg Favorov of Bethesda and Orlando) in LJ is herohigh, his son and heir.
I belong to another, though somehow related, branch of our illustrious family. We like to believe that their is a cadet one. :)
Thanks for your warm wishes.

As for Ms. Grant, you've quite rightly described her life choices for herself, while the point of the article is to pose a question, whether democracy is better for Turkmens, not for righ-wing Scot perverts (there are so few conservatives up there recently, that it probably amounts to perversion, sympathetic as it is). I do have some reservations about her answer (which you could've been aware of, if you could read russian comments in this thread), but I think the question itself is a vital one.
Finally, I'm afraid that for rural Turkmens living in a western-type democracy, rather than in a nomadic autarchy would strikingly resemble a zoo.