3) And yes, you are naive and idealistic. But it’s fine

I’d suggest you to actually invest yourself into some knowledge of politics, some of the very basic definitions in it, and then come back to talk with the naive, idealistic me.

2)
a) Latvia has no way to defend itself in case of full-scale conflict. We are simply waaay too small. And in case of war noone will defend this territory anyway. Ask any military expert.
b) And, please, for your own good, let go this paranoia already. Russia has better things to do, than capturing this small patch of land with no resources and no strategic assets whatsoever.
c) “Leaving it defenseless, cutting funding to defense … against the terms of both of these global organizations.”
Bingo! Again, let THEM pay us.
“We have to follow the global political rules whether we like it or not.”
No rules force us to enter NATO and pay them money.
What is “pants-on-head retarded” is not paying teachers and policemen, while sending soldiers on the other side of the world to enter conflicts we don’t have _any_ political or economical interests in.

3) Since you found some time to respond, please find some time to understand what I am actually saying. Which is: all pro-russian and/or pro-latvian rhetorics are harmful to this country. Both nationalists and anti-nationalists must go. We have much bigger issues at hand.
So you mention ‘Russian as a second language’… Personaly, if there was a referendum, I would vote against it. Taking current situation in Latvia in mind, it simply wouldnt work.
However, in theory, having russian as ‘official’ (not ‘state language’) could bring certain economic benefits.
Here I suggest you read about Malta. Its very similar to Latvia in many aspects. Small country, recently ceased to be a part of the large empire, part of the populace hates English They do want the money they get from english tourists though. Hence they have Maltese as state language, and English as official. Tonns of other examples I can name, but lets not start on this topic. In Latvia it just wont work. Language is a ‘sacred cow’ here.
And please, please, please, stop about “history not forgotten” crap already. Think about _current_ problems.

4) Harmful, you say. Do you honestly believe that people who didnt have money in the first place will be less inclined to corruption?
You mention ‘Democracy’ there. Let’s take the biggest one as example, shall we? They ARE rulled by the wealthy. You won’t get anywhere near the government in the US unless you are filthy rich.
Btw, do you honestly believe, that democracy is “all about giving power to the so-called uneducated, unwashed masses”. Because if you do, then I’m afraid we’ll have to continue this discussion when you will grow up

P.S:
And stop using the word “Soviet”. Its gone. Vanished. No more Soviets. Noone will send noone to Siberia or whatever. You might starve to death, or be forced to leave the country and work abroad though.

Cheers

Secondly, by all means, why does a country require an army? Why bother with defense? Quite simple, really. It’s the country’s duty to defend its people by definition and constitution. It is furthermore reinforced with the two simple facts – Latvia is the eastern border of both EU and NATO. Leaving it defenseless, cutting funding to defense is not only pants-on-head retarded, but also against the terms of both of these global organizations. Your idea is just sitting there and begging for welfare from the West? Sorry pal, Latvia needs THEM, rather than they need us. We’re not an international player in a seat of power. We have to follow the global political rules whether we like it or not.

Thirdly, national slogans always get votes. So do all slogans, including those that promise russian as the second official language. Sorry pal, but nobody’s that blind to the glaring hypocrisy that only the national slogans are bad, while glaringly anti-national slogans are completely fine. History must not be forgotten, and will not be forgotten, regardless how inconvenient it might be to you or someone else. Deal with it.

Fourth, while I do believe the term “oligarch” is a lovely phrase overused by our lovely, competent media (heavy sarcasm here), it doesn’t make their actions and influence any less harmful and corruption any more acceptable. Like it or not, but democracy is all about giving power to the so-called uneducated, unwashed masses, why? Otherwise said people “who actually know how to make money” will rip them all off into poverty and onward. Protection of such people is, guess what, is also in the definition of a country.

Of course, as long as those people aren’t the poor suffering soviet factory workers, it’s all cool, amirite? Your bias and agenda is glaringly obvious.

2) Another problem is that we spend money on stuff we do not need (or can afford, for that matter). Like army. Yes, we do need border guards, police, maybe special forces. But pay for NATO membership? Send soldiers somewhere? Why? Its them, not us, who needs Baltics as a buffer between Europe and Russia. Let THEM pay us. Not the other way around.

3) Every single political party in this country is populist. Working is hard. Shouting bullshit about scary russian occupants, or bad latvian nationalists is easy. Gets you votes.
Personaly, I would shoot on sight any politician who mentions crap like “language”, “citizenship”, “latvians/russians”, “Soviet time” again, instead of doing something useful.

4) Carefull with Ayn Rand, btw. She is a bit extreme.
But as for the ‘oligarchs’ crap. Yeah, sure, lets kick out people who know how to actually earn money from the government, and let the bunch of un-educated, un-skilled morons, with tonns of unpaid loans to lead us to the bright future.

P.S.:
Could someone please explain me, why, in the first place, did people vote for a guy who conveniently initiated re-elections just as his presidential term was about to end. And with such a lame excuse. He havent seen problems with “oligarchs” while he was a president? Sudden revelation? Seriously, I know that most voters are retards, but come on…

Mentality is better expressed as: a disposition towards certain actions/opinions, certain mental inclinations.

Values: Surely, they are different, but that doesn’t mean that some aren’t better than others. And, as far as I’ve seen, these “Soviet” values, which I do not share with my elders, have brought us to where we are now. Also, did you know that Soviet values have killed quite a lot of people during the reign of the Soviet Union?

And, last but not least, and I quote you here: “Who ever cares about all these retired persons, students, workers, children?” – I can answer you that. Normal people do. Not the government-supported pensioners (sorry got the term wrong in the blog post) who hadn’t even managed to learn our language while living here for 20+ years. Also, if they can’t afford a visit to the doctor, well then, tough luck for them. My grandfather still writes books and worked as a road engineer for most of his life, then, during the Soviet era, happened to get to the director’s post of the whole road industry, just because he was good at what he was doing – never joined the communist party, mind you, and after that, made a museum about roads in Latvia, and used to work for the Latvian Road Administration, when we regained independence. He’s well off. My grandmother – she went to med school and finished it with excellence. Worked as an Urologist for most of her life. And you know what? Her dad was a preacher. That means, she was in the repressed end of the people, during the Soviet era. She’s quite well off too. So, the people who worked hard during the Soviet era could achieve things, even if they never joined the party. That means, that all of this whining is useless – if you are a lazy freebooter why, it’s just natural that your pension will be low. It’s not anyone’s fault, and I don’t feel responsible for this. Actually, the Soviet Union should be responsible, because there you could live a normal life while not doing any real work – unlike now.

But, please, don’t think that I’m a terrible person. I do my share of charity, and tend to help people both when asked and when not. It’s just that I do that from a sense of duty, not because I’d feel any sense of pity towards those, who have made this country as it is, and are cramming debt upon debt on our heads – of which they will not pay a penny back. Now, understand that It’s not a particular age group that I’m bashing – it’s their lazy freebooter way of thinking. And that, dear reader, has to be stopped, if we are to achieve something. If we are to be good people, if we are to be strong enough to actually help anyone – even if only out of duty – we need, as a nation, to learn that only working+luck+intelligence can get you somewhere. I had made this mistake of freebooting earlier, but hell, that might be the only good thing I’ve learned from an ex-girlfriend of mine. If you want to achieve something, you have to work. And, while I do my duty as a proper neo-Kantian, I still have to admit that Ayn Rand had a point there somewhere as well.

I hope that this answer will help you to see my point better, hopefully you didn’t find it offensive, because it wasn’t supposed to be such. You know, so few people actually comment on my tries to make sense, that I have to cherish everyone who does so. So, have a good evening and, again, thank you for commenting.