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theatlantic: In Kazakhstan, A Beautiful, Futuristic New Subway System Just last month, Kazakhstan became home to the newest subway system in the world, and photos of the transit system 23 years in the making show that Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedic portrayal of the country could not be further from the truth. Read more. [Image: English Russia] Dear fucking God. Why is everyone mentioning this as a positive for the country? Massive onanistic infrastructure projects are the sign of something WRONG with a country! Particularly when this country is autocratic, largely poor and resource-fueled. (Remember Dubai?) Huge, it-gets-Deciders-dicks-hard infrastructure projects are the sign of an unaccountable polity, a terrible waste (is there no way those billions could have been better spent to improve the lives of ordinary Kazakhstani?) and I’m pretty sure you could rank countries by unfreedom based on numbers of vanity infrastructure projects. (Three Gorges Dam, anyone?) That the Western press is all “Oh, look, shiny!” when Kazakhstan opens a subway instead of asking Nazarbayev to stop masturbating on his citizens is a dereliction of duty. 

theatlantic:

In Kazakhstan, A Beautiful, Futuristic New Subway System

Just last month, Kazakhstan became home to the newest subway system in the world, and photos of the transit system 23 years in the making show that Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedic portrayal of the country could not be further from the truth. Read more.

[Image: English Russia]

Dear fucking God. Why is everyone mentioning this as a positive for the country? Massive onanistic infrastructure projects are the sign of something WRONG with a country! Particularly when this country is autocratic, largely poor and resource-fueled. (Remember Dubai?)

Huge, it-gets-Deciders-dicks-hard infrastructure projects are the sign of an unaccountable polity, a terrible waste (is there no way those billions could have been better spent to improve the lives of ordinary Kazakhstani?) and I’m pretty sure you could rank countries by unfreedom based on numbers of vanity infrastructure projects. (Three Gorges Dam, anyone?)

That the Western press is all “Oh, look, shiny!” when Kazakhstan opens a subway instead of asking Nazarbayev to stop masturbating on his citizens is a dereliction of duty. 

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    Just last month, Kazakhstan became home to the newest subway system in the world, and photos of the transit system 23...
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    Dear fucking God. Why is everyone mentioning this as a positive for the country? Massive onanistic infrastructure...