Signs You Live in a Dictatorship
- There are random police checks everywhere you go that require you presenting your passport to prove your citizenship, on the road, on the street, on the metro. Everywhere.
- There is police everywhere, every 2 blocks patrolling the streets, on the roads, and at every metro stop. The reasoning is that they are there to assure your saftey (against popular democratic upris... err terrorism) but at 1 police officer for every 3 citizens its definately overkill.
- The highest currency denomination is 1000, while prices are in the hundreds of thousands, inflation by the government is reported at a healthy 6% while in reality it closer to 20%, higher denomination currenicies are not printed creating huge transaction costs. Prices are rising. Typical salaries for Phd holders hover at around $100, which translates into 100,000.
- There are propaganda posters all over the city, saying how great out leadership is, how tomorrow is bringing a better day. All color faded giving the impression that its nothing but Dorian picture portraits.
- There are only 3 state produced cars you can legally buy within the state, unless you have connections which allow you to import from abroad but even then at high import costs. Car costs are inflated way over cost of production.
- There is high red tape and high corruption within the government and state services, if anything needs to be done it requires bribery or connections.
- Basic infrastructure like roads, communications, heating, water and electrical power are in desperate need of repair and maintence, occasionally failing outright, most of these services do not extend beyond the reach of the capital cities.
- Private firms can be wholly ceased by the government for a variety of reasons, for tax evasion, for improper conduct or simply for no other reason then its making a high profit without most of it falling into the hands of interested parties within the state.
- There is an illusion of freedom of press, dissenting voices are silenced via ceasure of press offices, murder, torture and intimidation. Almost all news services are controlled and influenced by the government merely there to provide a platform for state propaganda. Dissenting reporters outside the nation are assasinated through state secret services especially in the run up to presidential elections.
- Internet services are heavily censored against dissenting voices, websites are blocked, at times of election even more so to prevent people getting any hint of the reality of the situation.
- The government sees no problem in shooting at peaceful protestors against the government, then lying that its was attacking islamic militants, then presenting a casulty figure far below estimates by citizens who wher there. Calls for an international investigation into the events are blocked.
- The BBC World News service is blocked on radio and internet ever since it started presenting stories critical of the state.
- The president sees no problem in running for a third term even though its not allowed by the consitiution he himself penned. Opponents of the president are only there to create an illusion of choice, none of them present any dissent or even ask to be voted for, all of them come from within the government itself which is merely there to rubber stamp decress of the president. The word government accountability does not exist. For the last 16 years he has been in power he has touted nothing but democracy, prosperity and the aim of developing the nation for its people. All lies.
- The richest most prosperous person in the nation is the president's own daughter, owning a wide range of companies, night clubs, saloons, magazines, and contracts for various goods coming into the nation. Recently she has also taken to recording albums.
- Elections are always rigged, results are preobtained and molded to fit the requirements of those in power, intimidation is rife. In some districts the results are basically created out of thin air. The president always wins by a landslide vote, with participation figures that are simply fantastic given how most of the population struggles to make a living day to day, yet on election day 80% of them turn out. International election observers are barred and or heavily restriced. There are no political alternatives to vote for.
- Any state or government positon/employment is only possible through military service which acts as filter to streamline thought processes, mostly to identify and suppress dissenting voices, whose who express them are reprimanded and left out in the cold or worse imprisoned in the any number of new high tech prisons.
- The nations largest money earner, cotton production is wholly controlled by the government, employing child labour, students and any able bodied man. The fields are rife with toxic agricultural fertilzer that is slowly killing the ability of the land to provide high yeilds in the future. Mechanization of this industry is impossible. The nation is the 2nd largest producer of cotton in the world, your shirt might be made in China but its this nations cotton from which it was probably made.
- Assasination, torture, arbitary arrest, prolonged detention are all tools employed by the state police services.
- Things were better under the USSR then under 'managed' democracy through a boot stamping on your face...forever.
10 Comments
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
Jeez, that sounds awful- when did you migrate to Texas?
Just kidding - it really does sound terrible. Time to get out I think.
Farhad2000The War on terror is complicit in this as well, US military assets were allowed to field an airbase, as well as send POWs to be tortured for information by state authorities here, before Addington and Yoo carried out their spectacular re-working of what is actually torture they would use proxy nations to divulge information, my nation basically captured political dissenters and claimed they were Islamic terrorists from AlQ for the US, vicious cycle.
However the State Department starting pushing for democratic reforms and were subsequently banned. The only diplomat to question the countries human rights record in any way is former British Ambassador Craig Murray. He got fired for that by the FO in the UK.
The funniest thing is that they even blocked the LOLcats website I can haz a cheezeburger, nows thats just harsh.
Freedom House reports that one in five nations around the world have seen a decline in freedom. A PDF map of freedom can be found here.
ravenWell, clearly LOLcats are a threat to the democracy and freedoms of the people of ___________ (I shall fill in the blank once you are safely abroad- or we can leave it and it will be like Mad Libs!).
Anyway, do your best to hang in there, I'll see to it that you get a daily LOLcat fix in your email, as I'm sure lack of them is gnawing away at your soul by now.
Farhad2000LOLcats provide infinity solace to a tormented soul.
gorgonheapLOLcats are propaganda set up by covert members of a secret society bent on world domination. Deep in the jungles on Cobra island a new era of terrorism is being headed by a sinister revolutionary know only to us as Cobra Commander. From with in the circular fortress they create LOLcats and spread them over the internet. And silently the entire human race is subjugated by a kitten proclaiming "I'm hungry". Ughhhh, makes me shudder.
ravenSo, Kuwait and Turkey are considered 'not free', but ____________ is 'partly free'... wtf? How does that work? In Turkey's case is it the problems with the PKK and the crackdowns in the Eastern areas that are factoring this in? And in the case of Kuwait is it due to the social restrictions, media censorship and the 'guest worker' human rights issues? Or is it something else? Because those issues seem to pale in comparison to the overall brutality of the _________ regime, yet ____________ ranks above both other countries as 'partly free'.
Farhad2000I think you misread the map a bit, have a look at the legend.
Yellow - Partly Free is Kuwait and Turkey.
Purple - Not Free is _________ and Russia.
Both Turkey and Kuwait are considered partly free mainly because of the fact that both nations have legitimate election processes.
ravenWell I'll be... I did, uhg, I must've been having an off day yesterday, rare that I misread a map though, eeek... but it makes so much more sense now, although it is much more alarming, because now its quite apparent that there are more 'not free' countries, than there are 'partly free' ones.
jwrayFarhad for president of Uzbekistan in 2012. Seriously!
But make sure you're broadcasting live video feed to the internet 24/7 so that if there's trouble the world will see.
The best bet for changing the system from within is persuading the heir (maybe banging her too).
If neither of those works, it's going to be violent.
ZonbieLOLCATS will be allowed back into "free nations" once the 'New' LOLCAT is unveiled
"I IZ ENJOIING UR FREDUMS"
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