"Lukashenko Is Again Treating His Complexes With Other People's Hands"
- 8.07.2025, 19:38
The dictator's "itch" has worsened.
In Belarus they want to introduce a single day of cleaning to "accustom" Belarusians to order. The new initiative of the authorities will cover not only state institutions, but also the private sector.
Why is Lukashenko's regime returning to the methods of coercion through "subbotniks," "clean Thursdays" and "accustoming to labor"? The site Charter97.org talked to Belarusian political scientist Anatoly Kotov about it:
- First of all, nobody canceled the subbotniks - they will be held one way or another. Most likely, the reason is the same: this is another "itch". It's not an initiative of the local administration - it's Lukashenko's personal idea. Something has caught his eye once again: somewhere, in his opinion, is not cleaned, ugly. Accordingly, citizens themselves are now responsible for certain areas, rather than public utilities (which seem to be practically non-functional).
The reason is that in Belarus there is no private ownership of land and real estate in the classical sense. In Western, civilized countries, where there is a clear distinction of property rights, a person knows that what is his is his. And there is no need to force anyone to take care of the property by decrees and decrees: people voluntarily clean, paint, tidy up - because they know that it is theirs. This is normal.
But if we are talking about communal or common property, the attitude is different: since it's not mine, let the state take care of it. Apparently, public utilities, which should monitor cleanliness, are also experiencing a crisis. This is not surprising: it is not the most prestigious and not the best paid job. The country already has a shortage of personnel for more attractive and in-demand positions. Nobody wants to work as a janitor.
Lukashenko is trying to fight the situation he himself created with his model of governance. Instead of giving people the opportunity to be full owners and then demand from them at least moral responsibility for their property, he forces them to service the state property, which should be the responsibility of the state services. But they cannot cope.
This is another attempt to solve the problem created by the regime itself. But in fact it creates a new problem: people are not interested in forced free labor. This causes irritation, tension and unwillingness to do absurd tasks. Unfortunately, we live in a system where every "brilliant idea" that comes into the ruler's head is immediately and thoughtlessly implemented.
We used to laugh at stories about Turkmenistan: one white car, one black car, one haircut, one haircut, one haircut. And now we have come to the same thing ourselves. Grass - no higher than 40 cm, everything must be cleaned up. If it's not cleaned, there's a fine. It is easier to impose fines, there are enough controllers.
- What does the fact that the regime is forced to resort to such petty forms of control over citizens say about the state of the regime? The first is simply what is called dope: a "brilliant" idea came to mind, and everyone immediately ran to implement it. This is the simplest and, perhaps, the most logical explanation.
If we dig deeper - into the psychology of building dictatorships - one of the methods of suppressing the will is to constantly load the population with meaningless, routine work. Such actions do not bring any result, but the main thing is that everyone should do them. You can march in formation, you can sweep the same street ten times - the point is not efficiency, but total control and manageability of society.
If no one resists these seemingly harmless practices, like sweeping the street, then there will be no resistance to more serious things. It's a classic: how to control society through petty coercion.