From his perspective, accepting the Belarusian dictator Lukashenko is the lesser of two evils, because it seems likely that his home country would just befall the same fate as Ukraine. He still has family there. Russia brought torture, people got deported. But as long as you are not talking too loudly, they can live in Belarus relatively safely, he says. And my liking democracy - like so many Europeans he has spoken to since - isn’t that just a result of my upbringing anyway?
Of course, I agree, you’re influenced by your surroundings and your political opinions are formed by what media you consume (and what is available to you), what other political beliefs you see and hear people hold. But. There is more to liking democracy than that, as rational discourse about these topics is possible and encouraged and can show that you’re freer to do things in e.g. a democratic country like Finland as opposed to what you can do or say in Belarus. I can see that he is so hungry to just be allowed to live, to be free of duty. To be free of having to justify simply wanting to be. I bring up degenerated democracies like the one in the USA and why it is so important to defend democratic institutions and values. In our own ways, we talk past each other and I think we both realize it, too.
This is a perfect blog post from my perspective. A short vignette of a normal life across the globe, a picture of two people contending with modern life as humans and neighbors. It doesn’t resolve neatly or make any specific point. It just is.