Lukashenko is glad that Belarusians are poor
Pavel Latushka on how Lukashenko has "tied himself" to Russia and what problems this creates for the country's future
It is 2026, and while the rest of Europe moves forward, Belarus under the regime has been thrown backwards, stuck in poverty, lawlessness and debt.
But this poverty is neither an accidental economic failure nor the result of external factors. In a sense, it is a deliberate, purposeful strategy of the Lukashenko regime to preserve its power and to achieve the total subjugation of society. To a large extent, an impoverished, financially exhausted population is the main guarantee of his dictatorship's survival.
Why the regime vitally needs to keep most people on the edge of survival:
An independent, financially self-sufficient middle class is the main enemy of autocracy. People who have savings and confidence in tomorrow inevitably begin to demand the rule of law, fair elections, lower taxes and the protection of property. Impoverishing the population guarantees that no class of citizens capable of claiming the right to govern their own state will emerge in the country.
When all of a person's energy goes, day after day, into basic physical survival and the search for cheaper food, they are simply left with no time, resources or psychological strength for self-education, critical reflection on reality and civic activity.
The poorer the population, the cheaper its loyalty. A small handout before the next political campaign, such as a symbolic pension increase or a one-off payment to public sector employees, is perceived by people driven to poverty not as the return of their own taxes, but as the ruler's personal care.
Turning Belarusians into people who work solely for food is not only an economic failure of the regime. It is also its deliberate political calculation: to turn citizens from independent subjects of law into powerless petitioners dependent on the state.
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