I have a Turkmen friend. We were in university together (not in Turkmenistan). He graduated, decided not to go back, obtained citizenship, opened his own business, was (and still is) relatively successful at that. He met a girl, couple of years later decided to marry her. Before that he said it was necessary for her to meet his parents. He went there in advance to prepare his parents (his girlfriend wasn’t Turkmen and he was very concerned about that). As soon as he landed, he was conscripted in the army and sent to a remote mountain outpost near the Iranian border. He came back two years later and swore he will never again go back to Turkmenistan
@@edwardvalivonis23 yeah, they have two daughters now but she divorced him later because he cheated on her. Standard story, doesn’t matter Turkmen or not I guess.
Wow how fucked up!! Did the girl wait,,?? No one to take care of the business while gone either huh?? Man what a bad draw if it he cards I had a similar deal with su ty the authorities here in in the US and Washington and when I asked for judge why she did this all she did was look at me smile n shrug I did not know
@@breft3416 ... You just watched an entire video about a ludicrous _actual_ dictatorship... where the government owns all means of production and thus can arbitrarily force the populace to harvest cotton for nothing while they starve... and you want to compare _that_ to the U.S. minimum wage?? Unlike most people in human history, you were born with the right to do so, so I say check your American privilege and throw it away if you hate it so much. If you don't like it, then go away.
@@breft3416 You just watched an entire video about an actually horrible place to live. Check your privilege and either make the most of your life or go somewhere else to build your utopia. People in America have no idea how good they've got it compared to most of the world today, and 99.999999999% of humans throughout history.
I met a woman from Turkmenistan, and she told me a story that confirms all of this. She was a school teacher, who did some faring in the land that she had access to, to get enough food. She was used to riding horses, camels, and sometimes motorcycles. But then, the leader changed everything. He cut the school days in half, with the rest of the day being used to working the farms. This turned a twelve-year education into, effectively, a six year education. Everybody there was bilingual, with all the textbooks being in Russian. But then, the leader banned all Russian textbooks, which meant, in effect, all text books. So she wrote the leader a letter in opposition to all of this. Soon, she found herself in jail. Somehow, and underground got her out, and onto a plane. Only after she was on the plane did she get her passport. And that is how she ended up in the USA. Now, she lives in a city, with no horses and no camels, and she can't afford a motorcycle. But she is alive and free.
@@chrisporter9397 dude, people share stories about there life online, when will you realise that not everyone creates random elaborate lies all the time.
@Castrate-yeah.. not that the whole fucking world needs specialized workers aswell as lower educatuon jobs equally. I mean it's not that the video has shown exactly what happens if you lower standards of education, but apparently you know better.
Stumbled upon this video, my parents are political refugees. We left Turkmenistan in 2002, and have not returned since. For years Turkmenistan has been unheard of, really happy to see the situation getting more widespread recognition. I just hope the situation will improve someday, and allow us to visit again! Edit: with political refugees I refer to the fact that my father was the very first to represent Turkmenistan as an human rights activist, which the government didn’t appreciate at all. Our whole family got hunted for it, because of this we had to flee the country.
It looks like a beautiful country, would be nice to see it run by a sane person who would allow a reasonable number of tourists. Currently I’d be fairly apprehensive whether I’d be allowed to leave, could have bogus charges made by authorities and jailed. Power hungry narcissists ruin everything!
I hope someday you can visit too! I always find it so heartbreaking when people are chased from their homeland by terrible governments or insane dictators. It’s so unfair. People need to remember that a country’s government is NOT its people!!!
@@lifesyphon1 thank you for your humble and sweet comment, you’re absolutely right some refugees really do have a reason to flee their countries… we too didn’t plan on leaving behind our homes, families and the life as we knew it. It took us over a decade to reunite with some family members, who too fled the country.
I met a guy from Turkmenistan a couple months ago in Japan. We were both very surprised that he was there. He told me some very sad stories about his life there.
I was born and grew up in Turkmenistan. It was during Soviet reign. Left the country in 1986, went back several times during Soviet collapse, last time in 2000. It was getting worse and worse every time I went there. My sister and some old friends still live there but we have no contact. Watching this video made me so sad... pathetic "leaders" ruined the country and its people' lives. 😢😢😢
They say monarchies are the best and worst forms of government for a nation, depending on its ruler. Sure, a great monarch might usher in decades of prosperity by bypassing bureaucratic hurdles entirely but a bad one could bring a nation to its knees. A dictatorship is no different. Sure, the dictator may initially improve a nation's standing, maybe the regime of one or more dictators may be considered wholly good. But eventually someone bad will step into power and, when the nation morphs into a despotic dystopia, just hope you have a way out. It happened to North Korea, it happened to Rome and it will most definitively happen again.
@regularname1825 Exactly, a dictatorship is just a monarchy without royalty. And a benevolent dictator who has a level head and actually cares about the country and its people's quality of life might be a good thing. But the problems with both - A wise monarch or dictator who wants whats actually best for the people and country keeps a bunch of intelligent people around with different ideas and perceptions, including people they disagree with or dont like just to bounce ideas off of them - and those people are allowed to disagree, criticize or point out flaws in the monarch/dictators plan. Basically to keep them from going off the deep end. But most humans arent wise. When you have unlimited power, its really easy to surround yourself with yes men who agree with any idea you have no matter how bizarre and "get rid" of people who criticize you, no matter how politely and benignly. So, it doesnt work.
That chewing on bones thing reminded me of a joke my granddad used to make. "Carrots are good for your eyes." Why? "Have you ever seen a rabbit with glasses?"
If you chew on tough things through childhood and adolescence it does build up your jaw muscles. Chewing tough foods early on makes it easier to chew harder or tougher food throughout the lifespan. Doggies have nothing to do with it though. 🦴 🐶 Edited to add I got told that about carrots, too! We get that from the British Royal Air Force. They fed their pilots a lot of carrots during the war for the vitamin A, as well as gave them A/beta carotine supplements. Don't know how much it helped their vision but it did turn some pilots oompa-loompa orange.
Yeah, it's also crazy how sooo many ppl use the word "loose" for "lose" & vice-versa. I rarely see ppl using them correctly anymore. Correct examples would be... -"My daughter's first tooth is loose!" -"Be careful not to lose your passport while traveling!" *Sorry, it's just that I've seen it so much for so long now, it's bugging the crap out of me.
@@maryelmslie889 My guess is people expect this from the imagination of a 10-year old. It also doesn’t help that some cartoons depict this comedically sometimes (The FairlyOdd Parent, The Amazing World of Gumball, etc). Regardless, this being a actual reality is no laughing matter.
My mom is from Turkmenistan and I've been there for nearly a month. Went from Ashgabat to Tejen to other small towns, I agree with what you have said throughout the video.
@@bredemeijer9648 I do not know how she went out of Turkmenistan, however I do have Turkmen citizenship with my mom however if we go there it will be taken away since it is banned to have more than 1 citizenships
You know, that is a good question. My hypothesis is, given that: - census and tracking of such people in dictatorships is basically non existent besides political suppression (the dictator doesn´t care if such people starve) - at one point it is said that many unemployed are opioid addicted - propaganda needs to be enforced through the absolute control of your life, and if you work you may feel like you have at least a minimum control on it That this is done on purpose to make sure even people with an ounce of economical power feel helpless and continuously under the thumb of the ruler, no matter if they already have a job or not. But that may just be my reading of this nightmare.
Because then they would have to *admit* that 70% unemployment rate. No dictatory will ever admit they have any unemployed. Because they live in a paradise.
@thatJackBidenTalksAbout you mean the federal government right, because people waving flags and breaking a few windows is hardly an armed insurrection. Weird how the most heavily armed citizens in the world still didn't use them even though they have a 2nd amendment right to do so.
@@Watchdog_McCoy_5.7x28 if they had, of course, we would have seen the actual totalitarianism behind the thin veneer of democracy. their contention isn't that totalitarianism is bad (as Trump is a tyrant) - only that *their* tyrant was illegitimately denied the throne they believe he deserves.
@@Watchdog_McCoy_5.7x28they shut down your bank and know all your locations and communications as u can see what happened during January 6 Justin Trudeau did same thing to those in trucker protest And that’s without even using Those ammendments imagine if we did
The sad thing is, because of the silly headlines that makes it out on the world news about Turkmenistan and its dictators, like the clothes he wears, or the emptiest capital, or banning dogs for personal reasons, people mostly think 'wow, what crazy leaders' and not 'wow, what a scumbag.' when they think of Turkmenistan.
@@BuddyIsGarbage That would be best, but those aren't most of the notable headlines that come out of Turkmenistan. It's the crazy ones that trend more.
This true. Though this video talks about it being a totalitarian dictatorship. It's important the message on other channels isn't just "oh such silly man!" Rather that is the hook , then to educate about they are dystopian oppression.
*_"...The worst dictators are those whose incentives are aligned with the fewest citizens, those who have the fewest keys to power. This explains why the worst dictatorships have something in common: Gold, or oil, or diamonds, or similar._* *_If the wealth of a nation is mostly dug out of the ground, it’s a terrible place to live because a gold mine can run with dying slaves, and still produce great treasure. Oil is harder, but luckily foreign companies can extract and refine it without any citizen involvement. With citizens outside this cycle, they can be ignored, while the ruler is rewarded and the keys to power kept loyal._* *_Thus, we live in a world where the best, smartest democracies are stable, the worst, richest dictatorships are stable, and in between is a valley of revolution. The resource-rich dictators build roads only from their ports to their resources, and from their palace to the airport, and the people stay quiet not because "this is fine" or even because they’re scared, but because the cold truth is starving, disconnected, illiterates don't make good revolutionaries..."_* - CGP Grey, *_The Rules For Rulers_*
@RichardHandler-vq6vl The problem with extraction economies is that they will eventually run out of the things that they are extracting. Economies that manufacture, are better, but not great, because they too, will eventually run out of things to manufacture unless they find new things to manufacture. Not the worst situation, but still not great. The best economies are the producer and innovator economies: the economies that create new products, tech, ideas, concepts, because these generate great wealth and the nations that have these economies, attract the best and brightest to them for prosperity.
@@marcusaurelius4777 I totally agree with what you said. But sadly, I would also add, that those very same manufacturing economies are also the ones that created planned obsolescence, and utilize it to ensure that they never run out of products to manufacture.
@@marcusaurelius4777 by attracting, or rather by headhunting, the best and brightest - these innovative economies also very conveniently create a situation where no "economy of extraction" can evolve into an economy of innovation - because all talent that could instrument such transformation is gone to the greener pastures of an already transformed economy.
@@marcusaurelius4777 The problem with the entire world/humanity as a whole is we seek infinite growth by pillaging the finite resources from earth until nothing is left but global omnicide. We are all literally going straight to extinction before 2030. There are no sustainable energy's or resources. Everything we do. All forms of human activity lead to the same fate. That is our paradigm.
I have a friend from there, she uses vpn to communicate. Their internet connection is so horrible it can’t carry our calls so we usually just message each other. Pretty sure the internet sucks on purpose too so no one tries vpn. I live in Kazakhstan and we usually just laugh at each other’s new absurd laws but sometimes the situation just sinks in and I get extremely depressed about how she lives. She can’t even leave the country to study unless her mother stays semi hostage inside just in case my friend says something unnecessary so they have some kind of leverage to keep her quiet. She studies at an elite school but she’s still pretty confident she won’t find a job, especially considering the state is sexist too so she REALLY needs to leave. There’s no warranty she will though. I wish I could just bail her out of this huge jail myself. But I can’t. No one can. It’s only up to a sick megalomaniac who hates women. And his buddies and family I guess
how da hell u can believe such nonsese like 1 person in power, such thing is impossible, its whole gang of bunch of people who run the scheme and have this one public face as dictator, but he is just public face nothing else.
I hate how the common man has no idea how politics and power structures are supposed to work, it's not about them and they can't change history or how the game is structured, get over yourselves
We just missed the opportunity to host an exchange student from Turkmenistan last year. Had I seen this documentary first, I'd have fought harder to have her placed in our school and tried to be a lifeline for her to seek asylum after!
Chances are, if a Turkmen even had the money to study abroad, she was more than likely the daughter of one of the elites that strangle the country instead of its wider population, and only studied abroad in order to take up the mantle as part of the next generation of apparatchiks
My friend was in the Peace Corps stationed in Turkmenistan in the mid 2000s. They had some "interesting" experiences while over there. I remember the Turkmenistan government having some weird shipping restrictions. They would open all of my friends outgoing and incoming mail. One particular rule was a ban on professionally printed/published media (think books). They called it propaganda. My friend wanted to teach the local kids how to play soccer as I I sent them a bunch of instructions I printed off the Internet and I think even a few deflated soccer balls with needles for inflating. I might be mistaken on the deflated soccer balls. In the same box I sent a miniature Christmas tree and ornaments. I thought for sure they would confiscate the Christmas tree as a pagan symbol. In the next letter my friend mentioned the tree. I thought in the end they let the whole package through. Asking them a year or two later about how the instructions worked out they informed me they never got them and thought I never sent them! The Turkmenistan government had confiscated the instructions for soccer but let a mini Christmas tree go through.
@@johngill2232 Hmm, I agree with you in broad strokes, though I'll say that, if a country has become authoritarian or autocratic to the extreme, then it is ultimately not a Marxist state at all - indeed I believe many of these states merely invoke the name of Marxism without ultimately utilizing it at all. Collective control is the name of the game for Marx, not centralized control. However, there is a fair argument here that the concentration of central power that is necessary to make such sweeping changes to an economy is inherently at odds with the concept of a worker-controlled state. In other words Marxism only has even a slight chance to work from a democratic approach, not a fascistic one. As always with any philosopher's view of an ideal government, the powerful take the concept and distort it to meet their own ends. Mind you, I do NOT wholesale agree with Marx, and I'm not accusing you of this, but I see many people who cannot tell the difference between a state claiming to be Marxist, and an actual Marxist state - and I must remind people, that a state's claimed position often poorly reflects its true position. A good example is "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea," which is not democratic, nor ruled by the people, nor a republic, nor does it even constitute all of Korea. Food for thought. Cheers!
I travelled to Turkmenistan a few years ago. Everyone was happy, the economy was thriving, everyone was wealthy and no-one was suffering. I reported these findings to the British Embassy, and Berdimuhamedov gave me a medal himself. And then I woke up
I was in Turkmenistan a few weeks ago. The white vehicle rule is indeed a thing, however it only applies in the capital city, Ashgabad. Even then, there are some other light colours allowed, such as very light blue and green buses, and some beige cars. Outside Ashgabad, however, anything goes, and you can expect to see a normal range of colours and conditions of vehicles as you would anywhere else. Indeed I rode in a dark beige 4x4 in the desert.
I wonder how many more lies have been accumulated in this smear( I wonder if most of the comments were written with the same pen 😮)... Every bow will break if you over stretch...
Wow! This was your response? To minimize the absurdity, “Just in the Capital and some colors are allowed,” then u provide examples of colors as if anyone gives a FCUK and then using “Anything Goes” to describe what the situation outside the capital is regarding vehicle color and type, “Beige 4x4” Yikes! It’s quite clear that a phrase like Anything Goes is pretty offensive and obviously in poor taste when discussing anything about this country. It seems to be quite the opposite. Congrats on sounding really really dumb. Gross
I knew Turkmenistan was pretty bad, but this video truly highlights just how repressive it is. I hope the people rise up one day like in Romania in 1989.
Unfortunately it's extremely hard to topple a dictatorship like this. Turkmenistan government sits on practically endless pile of cash which it uses to buy loyalty of elites and enforcement agencies. That's why low population petrocracies are so stable. The global community might be able to do something about it but they'd rather close their eyes on that issue because unlike North Korea Turkmenistan sells oil & gas and is explicitly neutral so they don't really pissed off any major regional power yet.
I think the reason so many (Western) people don't know how bad it is is because the leaders of Turkmenistan don't make loud, foolish threats to the West. Turkmenistan dictators may be as insane with power as Kim Jong Un, but because they don't fire rockets toward their neighbors, try to develop nuclear weapons and technology, and don't threaten war or world domination, they fly under the radar, unnoticed, and untouched.
Almost as if these dictators are starting to get more sadistic than intelligent. Even ignoring morality, forcing orphans to pay for school renovations seems absurd. Orphans are not the type of people you’d expect to have lots of money.
Well i remember a funny incident that happened like few years back my school wanted to celebrate Women's Day & so they asked all the girls to participate in a dance event where we all get to sit & watch. For which they were charged a fees to participate. It was the idea of someone in top management no one participated tho...it just became a funny incident for me to remember😅😅
I'll give you an idea for a video about the king of Thailand, talking about crazy rulers, he's given military honors to his pets, arrested a guy for criticizing him on the internet, has extravagant expenses and doesn't mind showing them off
@@mayuri4184 Also on his 4th or 5th wife by now and at least a dozen extramarital kids (probably many dozens since many of them are married and not willing to divorce and be single and likely end up no child support), showing up in tank tops, having a literal p* wife (well one of em at least) and a lot more. His father was much much better.
Imagine if all the endless conversations about slavery in US history is channeled into highlighting child slaves picking cotton, there could be some change in the world today
@@Dude-pb5ftTrump Derangement Syndrome much? If Trump was even close to a dictator he would have made the call to arms on Jan 6 and taken control of the United States completely, but those indoctrinated to the narrative can't see the truth.
They have all those white marble facades on all the government buildings there. It’s ridiculous. Rumor has it though that the Italian marble brokers sold them low quality marble. I guess it looks nice but will deteriorate quickly.
It is beautiful. But there's a very long list of "so sad" things the average citizen suffers from that enjoying a pretty capital city is wholly irrelevant.
Between 2001 and 2012 I have been several times in Tükmenistan. In that time I worked as a flight attendant for Lufthansa. We always had a few days off and I did some very interesting trips to places out of Ashkabad. It was interesting, but I was also happy to leave that country.
Why on earth 137 people would like your comment? Not the one word that would suggest that you ever cared about these poor people. Interesting? Interesting? Yeah, interesting.
@@GoranJovanovic-fr1ig you are right... there's no reason to "like" my comment. I haven't met anybody there. It were just a few interesting days. But on the other hand, why deny the good stuff and only concentrate on the bad side? I would never change place with the people living there. Under that regime it is not good to live. That's why I was glad to leave it. I live in Thailand, where people live free.
@@GoranJovanovic-fr1ig You seem to suggest that every flight attendant should severely pity the people of every country they visit and wish to overthrow their governments, that sounds exhausting. Also, I don't assume you've visited the country, as such, I would trust the original commenter on formulating an emotion towards the country more than you.
@@SjaakSchulteisit was 100% for you to post your experience while there. I enjoyed reading both your post. And your post was related to this article, adding that you would not want to be there. Thank you
It's common for plant breeders/cultivators to name new cultivars after themselves/their family but don't think I've seen a random person claim one as their own for vanity reasons 😅 He could have chosen a more flattering type because now I'm just imagining a guy with a giant watermelon head. (Same with the eggplant emoji symbolism lol. Whoever thought that's a good representation I have concerns...)
The beard thing is really only enforced on young Turkmen guys. Old men and white and black guys can have beards without anyone minding. Not sure if that makes it more or less bizarre.
I think this guy is just the world’s most elite and ambitious super troll.. literally just fucking with an entire nation coming up with the most bizarre things he can think of for his own amusement in awe wondering just how far and batshit he can go before they finally snap
I worked with a teacher that worked there as a teacher for children of diplomats. Without going into detail, it's all the insanity this video cracks it up to be.
Alright that's horrible, insane and batshit crazy, but that whole staircase thing is hilarious. That should 100% be implemented here in America. Once a year every member of the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the President and Vice President all have to climb the staircase. If they can't finish it in a set amount of time, they're fired.
We would lose 80% of the government because we have a jerentocracy, most of our politicians are so old they can't do much with out assistance and don't understand the modern world from their fortresses of wealth and privilege they have built with our tax money. There is no incentive to change anything. No way govt would approve that.
@@diane9247answer me this, Who did the FBI go after, antifa, or the J6 protestors? I think it’s pretty clear we live in a leftist liberal regime. Which candidate are they currently literally trying to take off your ballot and say you can’t vote for him, in a country where anyone is allowed to run for president? If you can’t see that you’re willingly covering your eyes.
i had a friend in high school who was a refugee from turkmenistan, he barely remembers it bc he was a kid but he became the most american frat boy and it was such an interesting pipeline
@b-k-m-c I had heard of it, just didn't realise it was that bad. You'd think in 2024 everyone would be on the same page. But it's so strange some people are living in the middle ages, take Afghanistan they just banned all pics of living things! They are going back to the middle ages. Surely someone with a brain there is like "this is just getting fucking stupid now" not to mention the poor fucking women over there. All they are now are sex slaves for the men, the next change in their law will be FGM as standard from birth. Anyway, thanks for replying.
Thank you so much for this video! Finally someone made a great video about Turkmenistan! My mother is from Turkmenistan and she told me exact the same things as in your video! There are a lot more stuff but you did it so great. I want to visit the country, but I'm afraid that I can't leave Turkmenistan because of my dual citizenship, which I can't give up.
good god, even the states is a risky visit these days, you do not want to go there. especially with the tales of other people visiting their family in turkmenistan and never leaving.
The construction of a lavish Vegas like city with zero intentions of allowing anyone to visit blow my mind. So obnoxious. Wonder what the vibe is like in this city?
@@tsm688 China has actually done the same with these massive city’s that stay uninhabited. They did this heavily through Covid to make their economy appear to be doing well.
@@Toneloke-3000 Not necessarily. Revolution will only happen if the people grow out of their sheep mentality that is ingrained to them by their tradition/culture/environment/etc.. Just look at China; Mao and CCP slaughtered dozens of millions of their own people, commit war crimes daily and have nearly Orwellian level of monitoring and Chinese people are still praising them and thinking that's the best for them.
Capitalism is self determinism...When this ideology is corrupted by monopoly and Crony rule of oligarchs, it becomes what you young Commies think of as Fascism... Communism is the absolute worst type of rule, because it allows No One but the specially anointed or the politically aligned to benefit while the 99.99% live lives of emptiness and futility...
As soon as I heard "he banned black cars because they're bad luck" I knew we were dealing with a psychotic megalomaniac. (edit) WHY DO I HAVE SO MANY LIKES
I watched a TH-cam video recently of a guy who visited Turkmenistan. He reported that the streets were empty of people, often only he would would be present.
@@918Mitchell were you paying attention? Russia literally conquered the place. Why would you give guns to anyone you conquered, that's almost Russia-stupid....oh.
what is so "surprising" ? Romania was like this until '89. We were being literally dragged from schools ( 1st grade ) to pick vegetables or fruit. We weren't allowed to eat it btw
@@noco7243 oh ya. 6 hours of electricity per day. 2h TV per day from the only TV station at the time. All 2 hours were the "Dear Leader" telling us we are "sticking it to the rotten west". There was no heating in winter. We would turn on the cooking stove, boil water and fill these rubber pouches. Hide under thicks blankets and keep warm. "Fun" times.
I was like "Oh at least the second dictator returned some necessities." Then "2.4 billion dollar airport in the shape of a falcon" and had 97 percent of the vote. Hahaha, right. Still a dictator.
@@MissLippy-fy6bj they’re like the fabricated Chinese populations. They’re mean’t to be there to serve as a way to say “No we’ree free it’s just the people love me!”
Turkmenistan makes East-Turkmenistan look like the SouthKorea of NorthKorea, Time to rename Turkmenistan into WestTurkmenistan, just like Macedonia to NorthMacedonia
This has nothing to do with Soviet Union. They had better life and economic policy under Union, none of the Turkmen government can do what Soviets did.
Classic LSAT question: "Dogs chew bones. There are few dogs found in dental offices. Therefore, people should chew bones to improve their dental health." Explain the flaw in Niyazov's reasoning.
What makes me the saddest is that the people of Turkmenistan have no way to change the course of their country because of the relentless opression done by their own leaders. They are locked into a totalitarian hell-hole. I hope that this will change one day in the future and we will hear voices that we couldn't hear before.
based on what? Your imagination? Americans are so desensitized to violence that they have not even the slightest clue that the US is a vastly more violent society than any of the random places they can't find on a map yet don't hesitate to imagine the worst things about. It's all rather hilarious. Lets come back to reality for a moment and look at world bank data. you know, actual empirical evidence, that thing most Americans seem to be allergic to. Burglaries. US has 476 times more than Tajikistan. Drug use. US has 4 times more. Incarceration rate. About the same, tie for #1, congrats you're #1!! woo. Capital punishment. Tie. Congrats you are #1! Rape. The US has 55 times more. Violent crime. The US has 89 times more. Murder rate. The has 91 times more. prisoners per capita, The US has 4x more.
In 2019 I was reminded to close my hotel room curtains each afternoon to ensure privacy for the daily presidential commute. We all figured our rooms were also bugged.
I'm gonna say this, and I'm not trying to be mean but I would never go to such a place, I don't care what they are offering. It's like y'all do no research on these places, go anyway and are surprised by the treatment you get.
i was there in 2016 and 2017 for 9 days each and many of my colleagues too. I have to admit its a weird place but not dangerous, people are nice food is great and yeah they watch every step but it was a nice experience and i have no bad memories. This video depicts a lot of historic ifacts but nowaday it has changed. There are strict rules and limited travel fredom but all the basic necessities are free or cheap. No opressive military regime like in North Korea
@@luxchris4629 I don't think you can say that it doesn't have an oppressive military regime when they have a secret police. Kind of classic military regime move there.
I have been working a few times in Turkmenistan between 2016-2019 and had no problem at all ,even in restricted areas. Did some trip at night alone with a local guy after curfew without any trouble.Have been to discotheque, to restaurant, to black market....no problem. Just to mention that I was not american, allways with a local collegue and talking with some basic russian language when asked to answer some questions.
@@rileygladue3979 It's not that hard actually to leave North Korea. There was a story of a man who crossed the border river unnoticed and got to South Korea, lived there for a few days and then got back to NK because he didn't like it to live in South Korea.
@@Kshahdoo67 Link me to an article talking about it and then I'll believe you, cause as it sits the DMZ and all border crossings across it are the most heavily monitored and militarized places in the world, so the chances of someone making not once but TWICE unnoticed is pretty much impossible
I really like your videos. They're very informative and well-researched, I'm glad to see another video on a topic I knew nothing about. Thank you for making them!
@@CasualScholar You should make one about Venezuela; they are about to become a country just like that, if they’re not already, in the American Continent. It’s worse than Cuba, and in a third of the time. Your reaserch is extremely complete, and relatable. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Imagine the mental gymnastics you have to go through to build such a beautiful capital, with 20+ luxury hotels and an airport designed for 14 million annual travelers, and then you keep an arbitrary visitor cap of 10000 a year. Maybe he just forgot and someone needs to remind him? Because I cant fathom another reason to just squander everything they built.
Tucker Carlson would go there and say "Wow, what a beautiful and clean place, I would want this for the U.S... 🤦♂️ I like Tucker Carlson, but man that was dumb as hell... Lol
@snaz27 I think he just wants the best of both worlds. Dictators can do great things terrible as they might be. If that means clean roads AND I can vote for whoever I want AND have modern luxuries and other things, then I agree with Tucker. Note: I hate dictators and dictatorships.
@@tonysisemore958 - It's not really the point though bro, we're not talking about going to Denmark here and seeing a nice area and saying you would love that in the U.S. he's in a country that's in the process of attempting a genocide. A country that has attacked yet another neighbour, wiped entire cities off the map! Kidnapped thousands of children and taken them to Russia, killed hundreds of thousands of people. Not to mention what they do to their own! Locking up political rivals, arresting people for protesting, even some that held up an empty piece of paper, I kid you not! The vast majority of Russia is a hell hole where many people don't even have inside toilets or gas... It's just in incredibly bad taste, verging on blatant propaganda to be honest. It's very disappointing. Imagine you are kidnapped or something, forced into sex slavery, beaten and abused for years, starved and just had the most heinous things happen to you, then a reporter comes along and says "well the garden was very nice though, I'd love my garden to be like that", it's gross and tone deaf.
@snaz27 That's a blatant misunderstanding of what I said. I said dictatorships can do good things just as much as a fairly elected leader could. I would prefer a fairly elected leader to an extreme degree, but we have to understand that the bad outweighs the good by a mile, and that has to be recognized and fized. Thank you for allowing me to elaborate.
I know, and if Trump is elected here in America, a dictatoship/Republic, will be a big possibility. Even Maga Republicans seem perfectly satisfied if he rules the nation for life. They even have this Utopian idea of his son, Barron, taking over after him. Biden maybe old, and sometimes senile, but at least he tries to be reasonable.
@@adolfhipsteryolocaust3443 if you think America is a dictatorship you've either never been to America or have never been to a country that is an actual dictatorship
Well I mean, one of the sources is the literal CIA propaganda outlet Radio Free Europe, if it sounds too ridiculous to be true and the sources are that bad then it's very likely not true.
Despots are indeed insane. They are tragically also very real. The disbelief and/or denial of that fact from otherwise reasonable people helps to keep them in power, btw..
The tooth fairy and Santa Claus don't exist, yet people claim they do. Same for the reptilians or that God doesn't exist. The mexican drug lords don't exist either.
Imagine you were the Monarch of such a country, imagine you basically had creative mode on, you got so many great options, but all dictators waste their money on absurd projects instead of things the people and the world actually want...
north america is not without its share of this. in the great depression many governments undertook strange projects just to ease unemployment a little bit. My home city possesses the guiness record for longest bridge over the shortest length of water. It's all art decoed up, but they didn't put anyone's damned face on it. For this guy its probably win-win - they're "grateful" to have any work at all, and he gets more trophies.
They really aren't worse than North Korea. My sister is an ethnic Turkmen, she moved to Turkey to escape (real) racism. While the dictators have been unhinged, and freedom is incredibly scarce, nobody is being imprisoned for multiple generations, and they aren't starving on such an incredible scale. The racism is pretty bad, though. Multitudes of Russian transplants from the USSR era have decided the native Turkmen are lesser because they aren't white. When Ismira came to America, she went wild for Mexican boys 😂 "Gasolina" was the big song at the time and I will never hear that without grinning. She played it all the time and stumbled through her own version of Spanish. She moved back in 2014 to connect with her birth mother and sister and never was able to get back here.
What a sad situation. It’s horrible what the people of this country have been put through. Nobody asked them if they wanted to live in a dictatorship!!
Fun fact there are no sanctions on Turkemenistan, the country is part of many multilateral treaties with the EU and USA and receives grant money from USAID and US intiatives. So much for freedom
I just looked it up, there are tons of trade restrictions on turkemenistian. Not that it matters much for a one-export country with 100% unfriendly neighbors.
When the world stands up and holds China accountable for covid, I'll be willing to hear an argument on sanctions for Turkmenistan. Until then, dont want to hear it.
When I was in highschool in 2018 we had a girl who was from turkministan stay in our town for the year. She would talk about the place like it was paradise. She was also kinda rude but i didnt know if it was a culture difference or something.
I'm going to guess that only the super rich and well-connected are sending their kids to high school exchange programs outside the country so wealth and privilege might explain both why she loved Turkmenistan so much and why she was not very nice.
Actually the quote is "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority."
Completely agree. I feel nothing but sad (ok, angry too) for the people. It is only by miracle of birth that we aren't citizens of a place like this, and we have a duty to protect our freedoms and help in any way we can these people. Anyone finding this funny is SO ignorant. These people are no different from us except how much they're suffering and what they've been taught to believe. 😢
Yes …I find it scary as hell…..the fact that many of the people in this country are functioning as useful ideas …..reminds how bad it could get …..this goes downhill slowly …until it goes really fast….we may just now be entering the fast phase….and things will happen so fast it will be difficult stop or even slow this hulking Marxist machine ….the long slow march through the institutions has happened …..we are moving to stage 2…..you don’t want to know stage 3….hope we don’t find out…..stay strong
@@marigauthier3475 its what the left AND rightwing are trying to do. Not just Trump. You would have to be a dumb boomer to think either side isnt trying. You can see plainly with whistle blower assasinations and all other proof… like companies being allowed to profit off peoples health… how dupont got away with exposing pregnant women to chemicals that caused birth defects. The list or corporations allowed to do these things with little to no consequences is held up by both sides. Current leading american political parties are both malevolent corporatists.
The opposite, actually. You've been lied to about him and decided to fear monger, when it's actually the far left we're dealing with that are showing how power hungry and control hungry they are. @marigauthier3475
@@Nickel_Eye There is one thing you have to remember when looking at this, and that's that the country's position on the list does NOT take into account the (unmeasurable and unquantifiable) real power of the government. Sure, Turkmenistan and Syria might be able to legislate/decree all this crazy shit, but their ability to enforce it is a lot weaker than you'd imagine. It's easy enough policing the streets of a populated capital city, but how do you enforce the law of the land upon a nomad? How do you prosecute a nomadic herder for breaking the law? Does a nomad give a fuck whether or not you need to ask permission to assemble? Whose going to stop him and his buddies? And of course with regards to Syria, as with a lot of these places it is RIDDLED with organised crime which undermines the power of the state, the most prevalent of these by far is the Albanian mafia who are responsible for a lot of the refugee flood into Europe. It's one of the reasons that calling Taliban controlled Afghanistan a super authoritarian country is fucking dumb as hell. Most of Afghanistan is in total anarchy with no functional government at all. Tribal elders govern according to religious law and tribal customs with no one above them. The Taliban basically just control the major cities and a couple of the places they hid in while the US held those cities. Not that they're nice, of course they're not, and it's also true that the tribal customs that are sporadically enforced by elders in different valleys tend to be far more draconian than Western civil customs for example, but y'know, that's basically just the country's culture manifesting as a substitute for a government. We know North Korea as the worst because they don't have this. Organised crime, although still present is nowhere near as debilitating in North Korea as it is in Turkmenistan. Likewise, North Koreas population is not nomadic, and the North Korean state is MUCH more easily able to project power and enforce it's will upon the territory it controls in a way that Syria, Turkmenistan and ESPECIALLY Afghanistan just cannot do. There are lots of places to hide from the state in Turkmenistan, in fact you probably wouldn't even realise you're in such a wacky country with such an absurd leader in most places that you go since it's so rural. In North Korea though, everywhere you go, you'd know EXACTLY what country you are in.
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Just found your channel, starting to love it. Good job
I just realised this channel must be exclusively for the US? mentioning Fahrenheit and just leaving it there? Breh.
The 37km staircase is the best thing I've heard of in a while do a separate video on that
No surprise that they're a authoritarian country. Considering they were part of the Soviet Union.
How much did the feds pay you to make this video?
I have a Turkmen friend. We were in university together (not in Turkmenistan). He graduated, decided not to go back, obtained citizenship, opened his own business, was (and still is) relatively successful at that. He met a girl, couple of years later decided to marry her. Before that he said it was necessary for her to meet his parents. He went there in advance to prepare his parents (his girlfriend wasn’t Turkmen and he was very concerned about that). As soon as he landed, he was conscripted in the army and sent to a remote mountain outpost near the Iranian border. He came back two years later and swore he will never again go back to Turkmenistan
Jesus Christ this one is sick as sick no one knows name! Horor 🖕🦈🇪🇺🇪🇺🇭🇷🇭🇷🇪🇺🇺🇲🇵🇸🇯🇵🆘
🤯🤯🤯
And the girl passionately waited for him for 2 years😂
@@edwardvalivonis23 yeah, they have two daughters now but she divorced him later because he cheated on her. Standard story, doesn’t matter Turkmen or not I guess.
Wow how fucked up!! Did the girl wait,,?? No one to take care of the business while gone either huh?? Man what a bad draw if it he cards I had a similar deal with su ty the authorities here in in the US and Washington and when I asked for judge why she did this all she did was look at me smile n shrug I did not know
"unpaid cotton harvesting"
Y'know, in some parts of the world, we used to call that _slavery._
In the USA it's called working for minimum wage.
“Used to..”? We still do.
@@breft3416 ... You just watched an entire video about a ludicrous _actual_ dictatorship... where the government owns all means of production and thus can arbitrarily force the populace to harvest cotton for nothing while they starve... and you want to compare _that_ to the U.S. minimum wage??
Unlike most people in human history, you were born with the right to do so, so I say check your American privilege and throw it away if you hate it so much. If you don't like it, then go away.
@@breft3416 You just watched an entire video about an actually horrible place to live. Check your privilege and either make the most of your life or go somewhere else to build your utopia.
People in America have no idea how good they've got it compared to most of the world today, and 99.999999999% of humans throughout history.
@@breft3416 You're obsessed
I met a woman from Turkmenistan, and she told me a story that confirms all of this.
She was a school teacher, who did some faring in the land that she had access to, to get enough food. She was used to riding horses, camels, and sometimes motorcycles.
But then, the leader changed everything. He cut the school days in half, with the rest of the day being used to working the farms. This turned a twelve-year education into, effectively, a six year education.
Everybody there was bilingual, with all the textbooks being in Russian. But then, the leader banned all Russian textbooks, which meant, in effect, all text books.
So she wrote the leader a letter in opposition to all of this.
Soon, she found herself in jail.
Somehow, and underground got her out, and onto a plane. Only after she was on the plane did she get her passport.
And that is how she ended up in the USA.
Now, she lives in a city, with no horses and no camels, and she can't afford a motorcycle. But she is alive and free.
Didn't u mean that a six year education became twelve?
@@David-tt1rbthe school day was cut in half. 12 years becomes six
BS
@@chrisporter9397 dude, people share stories about there life online, when will you realise that not everyone creates random elaborate lies all the time.
@Castrate-yeah.. not that the whole fucking world needs specialized workers aswell as lower educatuon jobs equally.
I mean it's not that the video has shown exactly what happens if you lower standards of education, but apparently you know better.
Stumbled upon this video, my parents are political refugees. We left Turkmenistan in 2002, and have not returned since. For years Turkmenistan has been unheard of, really happy to see the situation getting more widespread recognition. I just hope the situation will improve someday, and allow us to visit again!
Edit: with political refugees I refer to the fact that my father was the very first to represent Turkmenistan as an human rights activist, which the government didn’t appreciate at all. Our whole family got hunted for it, because of this we had to flee the country.
Don't chance going back. You'll regret it. Unless they get a human dictator
I learned about it from John Oliver's episode on it a few years back. I'm glad to see it continuing to get attention.
It looks like a beautiful country, would be nice to see it run by a sane person who would allow a reasonable number of tourists. Currently I’d be fairly apprehensive whether I’d be allowed to leave, could have bogus charges made by authorities and jailed. Power hungry narcissists ruin everything!
I hope someday you can visit too! I always find it so heartbreaking when people are chased from their homeland by terrible governments or insane dictators. It’s so unfair. People need to remember that a country’s government is NOT its people!!!
@@lifesyphon1 thank you for your humble and sweet comment, you’re absolutely right some refugees really do have a reason to flee their countries… we too didn’t plan on leaving behind our homes, families and the life as we knew it. It took us over a decade to reunite with some family members, who too fled the country.
This sounds like what a 10 year old would do if they became president of a nation
Anti-social personalities emotionally often are like 10 year olds, especially when it comes to lack of empathy and oversimplification.
Nah. It is teenages not 10 years old@@hanswoast7
Reading about the guy's ventures is like reading through some of Calvin's fantasies in Calvin & Hobbes.
😂 factz
Or the modern democrat party.
I met a guy from Turkmenistan a couple months ago in Japan. We were both very surprised that he was there. He told me some very sad stories about his life there.
Do you remember any of his stories in particular? I'm very curious about what the average citizen's perspective is like.
Tell us!!! 😮were listening 🫡🙃
tell us more !!!!!!!!!!
Do tell!!
Why won’t you tell us, man?!?
As soon as I heard "he banned black cars because they're bad luck" I knew we were dealing with a psychotic megalomaniac.
You also have to be an idiot to have a black car in Turkmenistan desert!
If someone even has the power to do that, he's probably already a psychotic megalomaniac
No. Its true.
Black color is just absorb more sunlight and creating more greenhouse effect.
Sounds like trump
I was born and grew up in Turkmenistan. It was during Soviet reign. Left the country in 1986, went back several times during Soviet collapse, last time in 2000. It was getting worse and worse every time I went there. My sister and some old friends still live there but we have no contact. Watching this video made me so sad... pathetic "leaders" ruined the country and its people' lives. 😢😢😢
This state was in their name like the Arab dictatorship. The world will explode because
Blaming your dead predecessor for the country's failure might just be the greatest dictatorial invention ever.
Exactly like usa demorats.
Same tactic the left uses in the US, except Trump isn't dead.
It happens on democracies too, the only difference is the predecessor is still alive.
Yuck Foutube for constantly deleting my comments.
Scumbags
Well it's happening in India, everyday our good for nothing PM blames the predecessors
It's like he's playing a real life game of Tropico
El presidente!
OMG REAL
"The official language of Turmenistan is now... Swedish"
U can’t be this ridiculous on tropico 😂
@@SublimeSoundwaves yeah the game really needs more insanity options.
Being both successful and sane is just too appealing and easy.
Just another example of why power should never be concentrated into the hands of one person.
They say monarchies are the best and worst forms of government for a nation, depending on its ruler.
Sure, a great monarch might usher in decades of prosperity by bypassing bureaucratic hurdles entirely but a bad one could bring a nation to its knees.
A dictatorship is no different. Sure, the dictator may initially improve a nation's standing, maybe the regime of one or more dictators may be considered wholly good.
But eventually someone bad will step into power and, when the nation morphs into a despotic dystopia, just hope you have a way out. It happened to North Korea, it happened to Rome and it will most definitively happen again.
@regularname1825
Exactly, a dictatorship is just a monarchy without royalty.
And a benevolent dictator who has a level head and actually cares about the country and its people's quality of life might be a good thing.
But the problems with both - A wise monarch or dictator who wants whats actually best for the people and country keeps a bunch of intelligent people around with different ideas and perceptions, including people they disagree with or dont like just to bounce ideas off of them - and those people are allowed to disagree, criticize or point out flaws in the monarch/dictators plan. Basically to keep them from going off the deep end.
But most humans arent wise. When you have unlimited power, its really easy to surround yourself with yes men who agree with any idea you have no matter how bizarre and "get rid" of people who criticize you, no matter how politely and benignly. So, it doesnt work.
Is everyone like those immoral & crazy dictators?
There were kings of countries who governed great.
@@childofcascadiaabsolute power corrupts absolutely or sum like that lol
@@kinguchiha6212power does not corrupt, it enables
That chewing on bones thing reminded me of a joke my granddad used to make.
"Carrots are good for your eyes."
Why?
"Have you ever seen a rabbit with glasses?"
Did he have a huge bush?
my aunt said that too lol
If you chew on tough things through childhood and adolescence it does build up your jaw muscles. Chewing tough foods early on makes it easier to chew harder or tougher food throughout the lifespan. Doggies have nothing to do with it though. 🦴 🐶
Edited to add I got told that about carrots, too! We get that from the British Royal Air Force. They fed their pilots a lot of carrots during the war for the vitamin A, as well as gave them A/beta carotine supplements. Don't know how much it helped their vision but it did turn some pilots oompa-loompa orange.
It's crazy how power can make a person have loose touch with reality.
Yep. So many billionaires do that, with or without a political seat.
Trump comes to mind, he is definitely not in his right mind.
@abacab87 So true.
Looks up to leaders, like we've seen in this video and wants to have the same power.🤢
Yeah, it's also crazy how sooo many ppl use the word "loose" for "lose" & vice-versa. I rarely see ppl using them correctly anymore. Correct examples would be...
-"My daughter's first tooth is loose!"
-"Be careful not to lose your passport while traveling!"
*Sorry, it's just that I've seen it so much for so long now, it's bugging the crap out of me.
@ashleyw6160
Back in school my teacher taught us a good sentence about choose and lose:
Choose, chooses an 'O'
Lose, loses an 'O'
And here I thought "the dictator" was a comedy movie, turns out it was a documentary.
as someone from Turkmenistan: how in the world would that be a comedy in the first place
@@maryelmslie889 My guess is people expect this from the imagination of a 10-year old. It also doesn’t help that some cartoons depict this comedically sometimes (The FairlyOdd Parent, The Amazing World of Gumball, etc). Regardless, this being a actual reality is no laughing matter.
@@maryelmslie889 because ppl in modern world cant believe it
@@maryelmslie889 the same reason why people laugh when they are nervous
They was talking the movie "The Dictator" and it's similarity to Turkmenistan. I guess idk much and I've never seen the movie but I think I will now
My mom is from Turkmenistan and I've been there for nearly a month. Went from Ashgabat to Tejen to other small towns, I agree with what you have said throughout the video.
Your mom was allowed to leave?
@@bredemeijer9648 I do not know how she went out of Turkmenistan, however I do have Turkmen citizenship with my mom however if we go there it will be taken away since it is banned to have more than 1 citizenships
@@eurotec_ Make your life somewhere else. Why should you live on the same level as a dog?
Maybe ask her?
Your mom went through very interesting experiences.. she must have a lot of stories to tell... Ask her before its too late..
Why in the world would they need their doctors and flight attendants to do that when SEVENTY PERCENT OF THEIR POPULATION IS UNEMPLOYED !
You know, that is a good question. My hypothesis is, given that:
- census and tracking of such people in dictatorships is basically non existent besides political suppression (the dictator doesn´t care if such people starve)
- at one point it is said that many unemployed are opioid addicted
- propaganda needs to be enforced through the absolute control of your life, and if you work you may feel like you have at least a minimum control on it
That this is done on purpose to make sure even people with an ounce of economical power feel helpless and continuously under the thumb of the ruler, no matter if they already have a job or not.
But that may just be my reading of this nightmare.
Because then they would have to *admit* that 70% unemployment rate.
No dictatory will ever admit they have any unemployed. Because they live in a paradise.
@@ChiaraVet you may be on to something (some things) there
Ha wants almost every one to suffer
Because they would have to pay them?
I do not know what is more impressive.
The level of oppression, the lack of resistance or the detailed research for the video.
Was the population armed?
@@nengyang1895see also: January 6th 2021, Trump. sometimes the people who are armed are the ones pushing for totalitarianism.
@thatJackBidenTalksAbout you mean the federal government right, because people waving flags and breaking a few windows is hardly an armed insurrection. Weird how the most heavily armed citizens in the world still didn't use them even though they have a 2nd amendment right to do so.
@@Watchdog_McCoy_5.7x28 if they had, of course, we would have seen the actual totalitarianism behind the thin veneer of democracy. their contention isn't that totalitarianism is bad (as Trump is a tyrant) - only that *their* tyrant was illegitimately denied the throne they believe he deserves.
@@Watchdog_McCoy_5.7x28they shut down your bank and know all your locations and communications as u can see what happened during January 6
Justin Trudeau did same thing to those in trucker protest
And that’s without even using
Those ammendments imagine if we did
The sad thing is, because of the silly headlines that makes it out on the world news about Turkmenistan and its dictators, like the clothes he wears, or the emptiest capital, or banning dogs for personal reasons, people mostly think 'wow, what crazy leaders' and not 'wow, what a scumbag.' when they think of Turkmenistan.
Why can’t we think both?
careful, your keyboard might explode
@@BuddyIsGarbage That would be best, but those aren't most of the notable headlines that come out of Turkmenistan. It's the crazy ones that trend more.
This true. Though this video talks about it being a totalitarian dictatorship. It's important the message on other channels isn't just "oh such silly man!" Rather that is the hook , then to educate about they are dystopian oppression.
Their leaders are just crazy scumbags.
*_"...The worst dictators are those whose incentives are aligned with the fewest citizens, those who have the fewest keys to power. This explains why the worst dictatorships have something in common: Gold, or oil, or diamonds, or similar._*
*_If the wealth of a nation is mostly dug out of the ground, it’s a terrible place to live because a gold mine can run with dying slaves, and still produce great treasure. Oil is harder, but luckily foreign companies can extract and refine it without any citizen involvement. With citizens outside this cycle, they can be ignored, while the ruler is rewarded and the keys to power kept loyal._*
*_Thus, we live in a world where the best, smartest democracies are stable, the worst, richest dictatorships are stable, and in between is a valley of revolution. The resource-rich dictators build roads only from their ports to their resources, and from their palace to the airport, and the people stay quiet not because "this is fine" or even because they’re scared, but because the cold truth is starving, disconnected, illiterates don't make good revolutionaries..."_*
- CGP Grey, *_The Rules For Rulers_*
a man of culture i see
and one of correctness
@RichardHandler-vq6vl The problem with extraction economies is that they will eventually run out of the things that they are extracting. Economies that manufacture, are better, but not great, because they too, will eventually run out of things to manufacture unless they find new things to manufacture. Not the worst situation, but still not great. The best economies are the producer and innovator economies: the economies that create new products, tech, ideas, concepts, because these generate great wealth and the nations that have these economies, attract the best and brightest to them for prosperity.
@@marcusaurelius4777 I totally agree with what you said. But sadly, I would also add, that those very same manufacturing economies are also the ones that created planned obsolescence, and utilize it to ensure that they never run out of products to manufacture.
@@marcusaurelius4777 by attracting, or rather by headhunting, the best and brightest - these innovative economies also very conveniently create a situation where no "economy of extraction" can evolve into an economy of innovation - because all talent that could instrument such transformation is gone to the greener pastures of an already transformed economy.
@@marcusaurelius4777 The problem with the entire world/humanity as a whole is we seek infinite growth by pillaging the finite resources from earth until nothing is left but global omnicide. We are all literally going straight to extinction before 2030. There are no sustainable energy's or resources. Everything we do. All forms of human activity lead to the same fate. That is our paradigm.
I have a friend from there, she uses vpn to communicate. Their internet connection is so horrible it can’t carry our calls so we usually just message each other. Pretty sure the internet sucks on purpose too so no one tries vpn. I live in Kazakhstan and we usually just laugh at each other’s new absurd laws but sometimes the situation just sinks in and I get extremely depressed about how she lives. She can’t even leave the country to study unless her mother stays semi hostage inside just in case my friend says something unnecessary so they have some kind of leverage to keep her quiet. She studies at an elite school but she’s still pretty confident she won’t find a job, especially considering the state is sexist too so she REALLY needs to leave. There’s no warranty she will though. I wish I could just bail her out of this huge jail myself. But I can’t. No one can. It’s only up to a sick megalomaniac who hates women. And his buddies and family I guess
Guarantee*
Not warranty.
Womp womp
@@stoddcrew Thank you! Isn’t my first language, I’ll keep that in mind
@@myronbourne6937 ?
Is Borat Accurate?
Crazy how 1 person in power can change the lives of so many people in such a horrible manner.
how da hell u can believe such nonsese like 1 person in power, such thing is impossible, its whole gang of bunch of people who run the scheme and have this one public face as dictator, but he is just public face nothing else.
I hate how the common man has no idea how politics and power structures are supposed to work, it's not about them and they can't change history or how the game is structured, get over yourselves
this is never about 1 exact person, politics is not so simple
@@Star_Breezebecause in history 1 person never did ruled many, he or she had help from someone else in political party's structures.
And it's about to happen in the US if Trump "loses."
We just missed the opportunity to host an exchange student from Turkmenistan last year. Had I seen this documentary first, I'd have fought harder to have her placed in our school and tried to be a lifeline for her to seek asylum after!
Chances are, if a Turkmen even had the money to study abroad, she was more than likely the daughter of one of the elites that strangle the country instead of its wider population, and only studied abroad in order to take up the mantle as part of the next generation of apparatchiks
@@IndigoAwareness what about the kid who got sent to Turkmenistan....talk about losing xD
rest in peace.
Just out of curiosity, what country are you from? Because in my part of the world this is quite well known 😅 I’m pretty surprised
@@IndigoAwarenessPeople who get approved for asylum are often then able to bring immediate relatives.
My friend was in the Peace Corps stationed in Turkmenistan in the mid 2000s. They had some "interesting" experiences while over there. I remember the Turkmenistan government having some weird shipping restrictions. They would open all of my friends outgoing and incoming mail. One particular rule was a ban on professionally printed/published media (think books). They called it propaganda. My friend wanted to teach the local kids how to play soccer as I I sent them a bunch of instructions I printed off the Internet and I think even a few deflated soccer balls with needles for inflating. I might be mistaken on the deflated soccer balls. In the same box I sent a miniature Christmas tree and ornaments. I thought for sure they would confiscate the Christmas tree as a pagan symbol. In the next letter my friend mentioned the tree. I thought in the end they let the whole package through. Asking them a year or two later about how the instructions worked out they informed me they never got them and thought I never sent them! The Turkmenistan government had confiscated the instructions for soccer but let a mini Christmas tree go through.
Teamwork (sports) are not liked by totalitarian governments. Also a reason why most asian countries suck at football and other sports like that.
Probably had too confiscate something on the daily. Other than that, his supervisor would think he wasn't doing his job.
@@johngill2232 Hmm, I agree with you in broad strokes, though I'll say that, if a country has become authoritarian or autocratic to the extreme, then it is ultimately not a Marxist state at all - indeed I believe many of these states merely invoke the name of Marxism without ultimately utilizing it at all. Collective control is the name of the game for Marx, not centralized control.
However, there is a fair argument here that the concentration of central power that is necessary to make such sweeping changes to an economy is inherently at odds with the concept of a worker-controlled state. In other words Marxism only has even a slight chance to work from a democratic approach, not a fascistic one.
As always with any philosopher's view of an ideal government, the powerful take the concept and distort it to meet their own ends. Mind you, I do NOT wholesale agree with Marx, and I'm not accusing you of this, but I see many people who cannot tell the difference between a state claiming to be Marxist, and an actual Marxist state - and I must remind people, that a state's claimed position often poorly reflects its true position. A good example is "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea," which is not democratic, nor ruled by the people, nor a republic, nor does it even constitute all of Korea. Food for thought. Cheers!
@@pingu6028 That's actually not true.
@@pingu6028 this is just simply not true, you realise India is like a leader in world cricket, and they also enjoy playing soccer.
I travelled to Turkmenistan a few years ago. Everyone was happy, the economy was thriving, everyone was wealthy and no-one was suffering. I reported these findings to the British Embassy, and Berdimuhamedov gave me a medal himself.
And then I woke up
I was in Turkmenistan a few weeks ago. The white vehicle rule is indeed a thing, however it only applies in the capital city, Ashgabad. Even then, there are some other light colours allowed, such as very light blue and green buses, and some beige cars. Outside Ashgabad, however, anything goes, and you can expect to see a normal range of colours and conditions of vehicles as you would anywhere else. Indeed I rode in a dark beige 4x4 in the desert.
I wonder how many more lies have been accumulated in this smear( I wonder if most of the comments were written with the same pen 😮)... Every bow will break if you over stretch...
"Indeed I rode in a dark beige 4x4"
I believe the name for that color is "brown".
Wow! This was your response? To minimize the absurdity, “Just in the Capital and some colors are allowed,” then u provide examples of colors as if anyone gives a FCUK and then using “Anything Goes” to describe what the situation outside the capital is regarding vehicle color and type, “Beige 4x4”
Yikes! It’s quite clear that a phrase like Anything Goes is pretty offensive and obviously in poor taste when discussing anything about this country. It seems to be quite the opposite.
Congrats on sounding really really dumb.
Gross
So, my intuition was right. This dictatorship it's not worse than North Korea.
@@kellyortiz367 well I think it was under Turkmenbashi; but now I believe it has indeed liberalized quite a bit
I knew Turkmenistan was pretty bad, but this video truly highlights just how repressive it is. I hope the people rise up one day like in Romania in 1989.
Unfortunately it's extremely hard to topple a dictatorship like this. Turkmenistan government sits on practically endless pile of cash which it uses to buy loyalty of elites and enforcement agencies. That's why low population petrocracies are so stable.
The global community might be able to do something about it but they'd rather close their eyes on that issue because unlike North Korea Turkmenistan sells oil & gas and is explicitly neutral so they don't really pissed off any major regional power yet.
You're falling for propaganda
@@kristoffer3000 okay, what is turkmenistan actually like then?
@@redcrown5154He's just full of shit. Pretend he doesn't exist and move on.
I think the reason so many (Western) people don't know how bad it is is because the leaders of Turkmenistan don't make loud, foolish threats to the West. Turkmenistan dictators may be as insane with power as Kim Jong Un, but because they don't fire rockets toward their neighbors, try to develop nuclear weapons and technology, and don't threaten war or world domination, they fly under the radar, unnoticed, and untouched.
Forcing orphans to pay for school renovations! Dr. Evil is jealous that he didn't think of that first.
Even dr evil won't stood that low
Almost as if these dictators are starting to get more sadistic than intelligent.
Even ignoring morality, forcing orphans to pay for school renovations seems absurd. Orphans are not the type of people you’d expect to have lots of money.
Well i remember a funny incident that happened like few years back my school wanted to celebrate Women's Day & so they asked all the girls to participate in a dance event where we all get to sit & watch. For which they were charged a fees to participate. It was the idea of someone in top management no one participated tho...it just became a funny incident for me to remember😅😅
@Thegingerbreadm4n Some were incredibly intelligent. The problem comes from their own megalomania often causing their downfall.
It's just an excuse to make them a debt class who must work off their debt for decades.
Someone asked itchy boots what was the worst country she passed through she didn’t hesitate Turkmenistan
I've been to Turkmenistan! In 2016 we drove through doing the Mongol Rally. One of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had.
Yet this dude is trying to tout it as worse than North Korea, and I doubt you would do that in North Korea?
When?
No, no, when did anyone ask?
@@kaydog890That was unnecessary.
@kaydog890 I think i ask.
I think the fact that you were able to do that proves that North Korea is still worse. 🤔
I'll give you an idea for a video about the king of Thailand, talking about crazy rulers, he's given military honors to his pets, arrested a guy for criticizing him on the internet, has extravagant expenses and doesn't mind showing them off
A far cry from his father, who was the longest reigning and, perhaps, the most beloved king of Thailand.
@@mayuri4184 Also on his 4th or 5th wife by now and at least a dozen extramarital kids (probably many dozens since many of them are married and not willing to divorce and be single and likely end up no child support), showing up in tank tops, having a literal p* wife (well one of em at least) and a lot more.
His father was much much better.
@@mayuri4184Agreed... the current king of Thailand is an embarrassment
@@monumentaltravel3745There's also Kim Jong Un too.
@@mayuri4184 and a legitimately high level jazz musician 😂
The stair case was the only good idea that the dictator had. But that means he climbs it once a year?
No, the vid says he watches everyone else climb it from a helicopter
He is not a president for life but a ruthless ,heartless dictator for life .
#Trump
Imagine if all the endless conversations about slavery in US history is channeled into highlighting child slaves picking cotton, there could be some change in the world today
@@Dude-pb5ftTrump Derangement Syndrome much? If Trump was even close to a dictator he would have made the call to arms on Jan 6 and taken control of the United States completely, but those indoctrinated to the narrative can't see the truth.
@@Dude-pb5ftyes trump 2024🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸
Yes, even better. I envy him
The capital looks so beautiful.
It’s so sad the average citizen in Turkmenistan can never enjoy it.
That is an ironic statement since the capital wouldn't exist if the average citizen could enjoy it because it was built at their expense.
That capital is the ugliest I’ve ever seen
They have all those white marble facades on all the government buildings there. It’s ridiculous. Rumor has it though that the Italian marble brokers sold them low quality marble. I guess it looks nice but will deteriorate quickly.
@andyhurrell Your spelling was correct.
It is beautiful. But there's a very long list of "so sad" things the average citizen suffers from that enjoying a pretty capital city is wholly irrelevant.
Between 2001 and 2012 I have been several times in Tükmenistan. In that time I worked as a flight attendant for Lufthansa. We always had a few days off and I did some very interesting trips to places out of Ashkabad. It was interesting, but I was also happy to leave that country.
Why on earth 137 people would like your comment? Not the one word that would suggest that you ever cared about these poor people. Interesting? Interesting? Yeah, interesting.
@@GoranJovanovic-fr1ig you are right... there's no reason to "like" my comment. I haven't met anybody there. It were just a few interesting days. But on the other hand, why deny the good stuff and only concentrate on the bad side? I would never change place with the people living there. Under that regime it is not good to live. That's why I was glad to leave it. I live in Thailand, where people live free.
@@SjaakSchulteis liberals only know how to be offended. Don’t mind them
@@GoranJovanovic-fr1ig You seem to suggest that every flight attendant should severely pity the people of every country they visit and wish to overthrow their governments, that sounds exhausting. Also, I don't assume you've visited the country, as such, I would trust the original commenter on formulating an emotion towards the country more than you.
@@SjaakSchulteisit was 100% for you to post your experience while there.
I enjoyed reading both your post.
And your post was related to this article, adding that you would not want to be there. Thank you
My roommate of a couple years moved back because of her visa ending and I haven’t heard from her since.😟
Banning beards and naming a Watermelon type after yourself is something Aladeen would do from Dictator (2012)
Don’t forget that the Turkmenistan dictator also named the months after his family name 😂
It's common for plant breeders/cultivators to name new cultivars after themselves/their family but don't think I've seen a random person claim one as their own for vanity reasons 😅 He could have chosen a more flattering type because now I'm just imagining a guy with a giant watermelon head. (Same with the eggplant emoji symbolism lol. Whoever thought that's a good representation I have concerns...)
The beard thing is really only enforced on young Turkmen guys. Old men and white and black guys can have beards without anyone minding. Not sure if that makes it more or less bizarre.
@@andrewbrown3304 pulled off very well by the poker faced doc..
And score 18 on the local golf course
This depressed me more than I thought it would.
I started this video knowing less than zero about Turkmenistan because whatever I thought I knew was wrong.
I think this guy is just the world’s most elite and ambitious super troll.. literally just fucking with an entire nation coming up with the most bizarre things he can think of for his own amusement in awe wondering just how far and batshit he can go before they finally snap
You think a dictator is being a troll? He's just a dictator that's what they do they're in love with power
I worked with a teacher that worked there as a teacher for children of diplomats. Without going into detail, it's all the insanity this video cracks it up to be.
Endlessly interesting how all the 'stans are so related yet so different.
Related in being shitholes
Post soviet countries
@@Dr.Geeoff.99789 Afghanistan and Pakistan are post soviet counties as well?
That's why Pakistan doesn't have dictator problems...most post soviet has this problems.
@@rubymeaddle Afghanistan is not post soviet country, wtf🤣🤣
Imagine him just saying: “You are so slow, i outrun you even with my helicopter ha ha.”
The missle is not pointy enough, also you are HIV aladeen.
Like they got a 12 year old iPad kid in charge
Some governments are actual anchors for progression, i wouldn't even want this guy to manage a McDonalds let alone a country
Alright that's horrible, insane and batshit crazy, but that whole staircase thing is hilarious. That should 100% be implemented here in America. Once a year every member of the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the President and Vice President all have to climb the staircase. If they can't finish it in a set amount of time, they're fired.
😂
Nice one! 🤣🤣🤣
The Olympics don't interest me much, but I would PAY for cable to watch Biden and Trump in a one-on-one trying to get up that staircase.
Yes absolutely need this for Indian Supreme leader and his blind uneducated followers
We would lose 80% of the government because we have a jerentocracy, most of our politicians are so old they can't do much with out assistance and don't understand the modern world from their fortresses of wealth and privilege they have built with our tax money. There is no incentive to change anything.
No way govt would approve that.
"Humans are the only animal to follow an unstable leader" - Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer
Oh, wow, that is brilliant! And tragic.😢 (Pay attention, maga people.)
@@diane9247 Says the guy who brings Trump up when literally nobody mentioned him.
@@Mr-Troxdrawing comparisons between two evils is not inappropriate
@@terryheatwole6153 I don't like Trump much, if at all, but comparing him to actual dictators is really silly.
@@diane9247answer me this, Who did the FBI go after, antifa, or the J6 protestors? I think it’s pretty clear we live in a leftist liberal regime. Which candidate are they currently literally trying to take off your ballot and say you can’t vote for him, in a country where anyone is allowed to run for president? If you can’t see that you’re willingly covering your eyes.
Im actually now impressed how accurate the TV show Archer actuality was in portraying this place...
Which episode?
@@ciupenhauer Once Bitten, S4 E6
Is that the one where they say "gurp gork" or something like that?
@@Chet_24 yeah, he changes the words snake, bread and Friday to his dog's name, Gurpgork
Archer is always accurate. It's Soft Disclosure.
Had an opportunity to live in Turkmenistan for over 4 years:
very kind and friendly people, absolutely horrible corruption and poverty.
i had a friend in high school who was a refugee from turkmenistan, he barely remembers it bc he was a kid but he became the most american frat boy and it was such an interesting pipeline
The power of parties & booze changes a man
He probably wasn't even a Muslim anymore.
Well, that's another country added to my never fucking go there list. Thank you buddy.
LOL, I like how you named that!! I call mine the Oh Hell No list!!!
I doubt you'd heard of the place before then. No need to add it to your list.
@b-k-m-c I had heard of it, just didn't realise it was that bad. You'd think in 2024 everyone would be on the same page. But it's so strange some people are living in the middle ages, take Afghanistan they just banned all pics of living things! They are going back to the middle ages. Surely someone with a brain there is like "this is just getting fucking stupid now" not to mention the poor fucking women over there. All they are now are sex slaves for the men, the next change in their law will be FGM as standard from birth.
Anyway, thanks for replying.
Thank you so much for this video! Finally someone made a great video about Turkmenistan!
My mother is from Turkmenistan and she told me exact the same things as in your video! There are a lot more stuff but you did it so great.
I want to visit the country, but I'm afraid that I can't leave Turkmenistan because of my dual citizenship, which I can't give up.
Stranger's advice, I personally wouldn't go. I don't think the risk is worth it at all. Wait until it gets better, if it wver does.
good god, even the states is a risky visit these days, you do not want to go there. especially with the tales of other people visiting their family in turkmenistan and never leaving.
This is some of the craziest ish i I have ever heard within a span of an hour. The citizens of Turkmenistan deserve every blessing possible.
Amazingly sad for those people who have to live there.
Man's cruelty and appetite for power are truly horrifying.
Most countries are not like this. You see the worst and apply it to all of mankind.
@@RoyalNivasthink again…
Yeah people suck
That's why it checks and balances in power are necessary. And a moral code in form of religion.
@@jirislavicek9954You dont need religion to have morals.
They love "The Dictator" movie so much, they turned it into real life.
You do realize this is the inspiration for that movie, yes?
@@lifes2short4aname You do realize that I was joking, yes?
@@lifes2short4anameisn’t it Ghadaffy that Libyan dictator arab dude I don’t rly know his name
The way North Korean citizens clap insanely around overlord Kim, like their entire family tree might end up in prison if they slow down. Is wild.
Yeah other countries in the world have nothing on North Korea and it's honestly silly to even imply otherwise 😂😂
Same happened in Stalin’s Russia. After a speech by Stalin Everyone was afraid of being the first to stop clapping. Probably with good reason
this is bullshit lol don't believe everything you read
Stalin had people who wrote down the names of those who stopped clapping first.
Stalin had his whole family executed. He thought that they weren't 100% devoted to HIS cause. 🙄
Amazing how this Berdi guy got into power, reversed a bunch of dumb laws, then fell off the deep-end himself.
The construction of a lavish Vegas like city with zero intentions of allowing anyone to visit blow my mind. So obnoxious. Wonder what the vibe is like in this city?
Could be make-work, to offset unemployment. Dude probably gets a fuzzy feeling thinking of the work he gives to his poor people.
@@tsm688 China has actually done the same with these massive city’s that stay uninhabited. They did this heavily through Covid to make their economy appear to be doing well.
@@BigshotnI've seen a Chinese ghost city back in 2012. Wild shit.
@NoChance797 I didn't say it was effective.
Those castle like houses, row upon row of identical luxury houses unoccupied since completion. @DerHammerSpricht
I love how absolut power allways leads to completly insane ruling with the most crazy ideas you ever heard of.
Then followed by overwhelming plutocracy or crony capitalism and then turns to chaos in the streets and then Revolution.
@@Toneloke-3000 Not necessarily. Revolution will only happen if the people grow out of their sheep mentality that is ingrained to them by their tradition/culture/environment/etc.. Just look at China; Mao and CCP slaughtered dozens of millions of their own people, commit war crimes daily and have nearly Orwellian level of monitoring and Chinese people are still praising them and thinking that's the best for them.
Capitalism is self determinism...When this ideology is corrupted by monopoly and Crony rule of oligarchs, it becomes what you young Commies think of as Fascism...
Communism is the absolute worst type of rule, because it allows No One but the specially anointed or the politically aligned to benefit while the 99.99% live lives of emptiness and futility...
Not always.
@@salahudinfarah221lol example?
As soon as I heard "he banned black cars because they're bad luck" I knew we were dealing with a psychotic megalomaniac. (edit) WHY DO I HAVE SO MANY LIKES
🤣
The way paint jobs were super expensive sounds like a wealth acquiring device.
@@ROXANNE708 😭
.
I think he is onto something
I watched a TH-cam video recently of a guy who visited Turkmenistan. He reported that the streets were empty of people, often only he would would be present.
I would be truly interested in a documentary of how these men got into power
They claimed socialism was good and took away people's guns.
@@918Mitchell were you paying attention? Russia literally conquered the place. Why would you give guns to anyone you conquered, that's almost Russia-stupid....oh.
Unrealistic political promises + Unrealistic population expectations.
what is so "surprising" ?
Romania was like this until '89.
We were being literally dragged from schools ( 1st grade ) to pick vegetables or fruit. We weren't allowed to eat it btw
Damn. That's fucked up. I didn't know this was happening in Romania.
@@noco7243 oh ya.
6 hours of electricity per day.
2h TV per day from the only TV station at the time. All 2 hours were the "Dear Leader" telling us we are "sticking it to the rotten west".
There was no heating in winter. We would turn on the cooking stove, boil water and fill these rubber pouches. Hide under thicks blankets and keep warm.
"Fun" times.
Sorry about that
I did notice quite alot of Romanians in Australia, even knew a family, cooked food with lavender flowers and all kinds of weird spices, good people
@@33mavboy our cuisine is crazy complex and spices add flavor :P
I was like "Oh at least the second dictator returned some necessities." Then "2.4 billion dollar airport in the shape of a falcon" and had 97 percent of the vote. Hahaha, right. Still a dictator.
Were you ‘like’ that, or were you actually that way?
Where are the 3 percenters today?
I make natural gas.
@@MissLippy-fy6bj they’re like the fabricated Chinese populations. They’re mean’t to be there to serve as a way to say “No we’ree free it’s just the people love me!”
the soviet union collapsed but never went away. these nations are so depressing
Turkmenistan makes East-Turkmenistan look like the SouthKorea of NorthKorea,
Time to rename Turkmenistan into WestTurkmenistan, just like Macedonia to NorthMacedonia
This has nothing to do with Soviet Union. They had better life and economic policy under Union, none of the Turkmen government can do what Soviets did.
The reason this nation is what it is is because of the Russian Empire, not the Soviet Union. Have you even been watching the video?
It's about the leader, not history.
The ideology never goes away no matter how bad it fails. Always another thing to subvert nations and people are always fooled
Sounds like it's run by Admiral General Aladeen
Yeah this is Wadiya irl
More or less, yeah.
Your statement is Aladeen.
I aladeen this message
He definitely took inspiration from Turkmenistans dictators for the film, as well as Gaddafi and probably a few others
This video is so good!!!! Also, congrats on the topic. I bet most people, myself included, have very little knowledge of Turkmenistán 🇹🇲
Çok üzülüyorum halimize
@@Qwerka eso mismo me pregunto yo 🤔
Don't worry, you didn't learn anything about Turkmenistan here, this is unashamed propaganda from beginning to end.
Please please explain@@kristoffer3000
@@kristoffer3000 🙄👎🏻
Classic LSAT question: "Dogs chew bones. There are few dogs found in dental offices. Therefore, people should chew bones to improve their dental health."
Explain the flaw in Niyazov's reasoning.
What makes me the saddest is that the people of Turkmenistan have no way to change the course of their country because of the relentless opression done by their own leaders. They are locked into a totalitarian hell-hole. I hope that this will change one day in the future and we will hear voices that we couldn't hear before.
and yet their incarceration rate is not any higher than that of the "land of the free."
@@TimJohnson-x1o"B-b-but USA IS WORSE"
@@TimJohnson-x1o rusky bot
@@TimJohnson-x1o yeah, they have effective graveyards to reduce overloading of penitentiary system
based on what? Your imagination? Americans are so desensitized to violence that they have not even the slightest clue that the US is a vastly more violent society than any of the random places they can't find on a map yet don't hesitate to imagine the worst things about. It's all rather hilarious.
Lets come back to reality for a moment and look at world bank data. you know, actual empirical evidence, that thing most Americans seem to be allergic to.
Burglaries. US has 476 times more than Tajikistan.
Drug use. US has 4 times more.
Incarceration rate. About the same, tie for #1, congrats you're #1!! woo.
Capital punishment. Tie. Congrats you are #1!
Rape. The US has 55 times more.
Violent crime. The US has 89 times more.
Murder rate. The has 91 times more.
prisoners per capita, The US has 4x more.
In 2019 I was reminded to close my hotel room curtains each afternoon to ensure privacy for the daily presidential commute. We all figured our rooms were also bugged.
I'm gonna say this, and I'm not trying to be mean but I would never go to such a place, I don't care what they are offering. It's like y'all do no research on these places, go anyway and are surprised by the treatment you get.
i was there in 2016 and 2017 for 9 days each and many of my colleagues too. I have to admit its a weird place but not dangerous, people are nice food is great and yeah they watch every step but it was a nice experience and i have no bad memories. This video depicts a lot of historic ifacts but nowaday it has changed. There are strict rules and limited travel fredom but all the basic necessities are free or cheap. No opressive military regime like in North Korea
@@luxchris4629 I don't think you can say that it doesn't have an oppressive military regime when they have a secret police. Kind of classic military regime move there.
@@luxchris4629Ya…but the common people are the grease for his machine, so…
Certified Turkmenbashi moment
I have been working a few times in Turkmenistan between 2016-2019 and had no problem at all ,even in restricted areas. Did some trip at night alone with a local guy after curfew without any trouble.Have been to discotheque, to restaurant, to black market....no problem.
Just to mention that I was not american, allways with a local collegue and talking with some basic russian language when asked to answer some questions.
It's weirder than north Korea but I wouldn't say it's worse
I'd say it's worse in some ways but better in others (easier to escape for one, but also subject to the mad whims of the current dictator)
Sounds like the biggest difference is the Turk dictators don’t last as long. So when a new one comes in, the weirdness gets twisted further
@@rileygladue3979 It's not that hard actually to leave North Korea. There was a story of a man who crossed the border river unnoticed and got to South Korea, lived there for a few days and then got back to NK because he didn't like it to live in South Korea.
@@Kshahdoo67 its hard, know your stuff and read the numbers
@@Kshahdoo67 Link me to an article talking about it and then I'll believe you, cause as it sits the DMZ and all border crossings across it are the most heavily monitored and militarized places in the world, so the chances of someone making not once but TWICE unnoticed is pretty much impossible
*Number 1 food source = Cabbage*
*Number 1 export = Natural Gas*
Lmao
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🚶💨🧖😳🥴🤭
Cabbage consumption also makes gas!
This is like if Sacha Baron Cohen’s character from The Dictator was in charge of North Korea.
Well basically he is.
The dictator is based of Eritrea and its dictator. There are more dictatorships in the world than just North Korea.
Good satire is based on reality.
There has been so much conflict and confusion in these lands, that anything is possible.
This planet is fucked up.
Same as it has always been
Blame the dumb humans.
@@bestoftiktok8950 Yeah. At least it's got the best night life in the quadrant though. 😃
@stab74 To put it mildly.
@@stab74 hey!!! don't blame the planet for commies being commie
Turkmenistan is an example of the truth behind Lord Acton's famous saying that "Power tends to corrupt. absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Let's be real, nobody would rather live in North Korea than Turkmenistan. Kim dynasty is still on an another level.
0:35 i'm not too impressed. one rep with no weight at all and they think he is a god
In the absence of greatness, pettiness prevails.
The very goal of pettiness is to prevent greatness, at any cost..
I really like your videos. They're very informative and well-researched, I'm glad to see another video on a topic I knew nothing about. Thank you for making them!
Thank you for watching them!!
@@CasualScholar You should make one about Venezuela; they are about to become a country just like that, if they’re not already, in the American Continent. It’s worse than Cuba, and in a third of the time. Your reaserch is extremely complete, and relatable. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Imagine the mental gymnastics you have to go through to build such a beautiful capital, with 20+ luxury hotels and an airport designed for 14 million annual travelers, and then you keep an arbitrary visitor cap of 10000 a year. Maybe he just forgot and someone needs to remind him? Because I cant fathom another reason to just squander everything they built.
I think it was make-work to fight unemployment.
Tucker Carlson would go there and say "Wow, what a beautiful and clean place, I would want this for the U.S... 🤦♂️
I like Tucker Carlson, but man that was dumb as hell... Lol
@snaz27 I think he just wants the best of both worlds. Dictators can do great things terrible as they might be. If that means clean roads AND I can vote for whoever I want AND have modern luxuries and other things, then I agree with Tucker. Note: I hate dictators and dictatorships.
@@tonysisemore958 - It's not really the point though bro, we're not talking about going to Denmark here and seeing a nice area and saying you would love that in the U.S. he's in a country that's in the process of attempting a genocide. A country that has attacked yet another neighbour, wiped entire cities off the map! Kidnapped thousands of children and taken them to Russia, killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Not to mention what they do to their own! Locking up political rivals, arresting people for protesting, even some that held up an empty piece of paper, I kid you not!
The vast majority of Russia is a hell hole where many people don't even have inside toilets or gas...
It's just in incredibly bad taste, verging on blatant propaganda to be honest. It's very disappointing.
Imagine you are kidnapped or something, forced into sex slavery, beaten and abused for years, starved and just had the most heinous things happen to you, then a reporter comes along and says "well the garden was very nice though, I'd love my garden to be like that", it's gross and tone deaf.
@snaz27 That's a blatant misunderstanding of what I said. I said dictatorships can do good things just as much as a fairly elected leader could. I would prefer a fairly elected leader to an extreme degree, but we have to understand that the bad outweighs the good by a mile, and that has to be recognized and fized. Thank you for allowing me to elaborate.
Well researched, focusing on facts rather than hyperbole, with a visually interesting style that emphasizes the narrative. Well done 🎉
I love how dictatorships call themselves, "republics." The illusion of choice.
PLAY WAR THUNDER BECAUSE A DICTATOR IS RUINING PEOPLES LIVES.....But im not any worse, believe me guys.
I agree....the flag of California confirms this statement.
Like america and russia
I know, and if Trump is elected here in America, a dictatoship/Republic, will be a big possibility. Even Maga Republicans seem perfectly satisfied if he rules the nation for life. They even have this Utopian idea of his son, Barron, taking over after him. Biden maybe old, and sometimes senile, but at least he tries to be reasonable.
@@adolfhipsteryolocaust3443 if you think America is a dictatorship you've either never been to America or have never been to a country that is an actual dictatorship
This whole video feels like a fever dream.
sad but true
sad but true
sad but true
sad but true
True but sad
This whole story is just insane, hard to believe it's real
Well I mean, one of the sources is the literal CIA propaganda outlet Radio Free Europe, if it sounds too ridiculous to be true and the sources are that bad then it's very likely not true.
I don't believe it's real either buddy
Despots are indeed insane. They are tragically also very real. The disbelief and/or denial of that fact from otherwise reasonable people helps to keep them in power, btw..
The tooth fairy and Santa Claus don't exist, yet people claim they do.
Same for the reptilians or that God doesn't exist.
The mexican drug lords don't exist either.
That was excellent! Thank you so much. I learned a ton!
Imagine you were the Monarch of such a country, imagine you basically had creative mode on, you got so many great options, but all dictators waste their money on absurd projects instead of things the people and the world actually want...
Meglomaniacs
north america is not without its share of this. in the great depression many governments undertook strange projects just to ease unemployment a little bit. My home city possesses the guiness record for longest bridge over the shortest length of water. It's all art decoed up, but they didn't put anyone's damned face on it.
For this guy its probably win-win - they're "grateful" to have any work at all, and he gets more trophies.
They really aren't worse than North Korea. My sister is an ethnic Turkmen, she moved to Turkey to escape (real) racism. While the dictators have been unhinged, and freedom is incredibly scarce, nobody is being imprisoned for multiple generations, and they aren't starving on such an incredible scale.
The racism is pretty bad, though. Multitudes of Russian transplants from the USSR era have decided the native Turkmen are lesser because they aren't white. When Ismira came to America, she went wild for Mexican boys 😂 "Gasolina" was the big song at the time and I will never hear that without grinning. She played it all the time and stumbled through her own version of Spanish.
She moved back in 2014 to connect with her birth mother and sister and never was able to get back here.
I'm so sorry my bro. I hope she can make it back to the U. S.
What a sad situation. It’s horrible what the people of this country have been put through. Nobody asked them if they wanted to live in a dictatorship!!
But not enough of them stand up against-it’s like they don’t realize they have a voice. Very sad.
After watching this and the one about Cuba, I'm subscribed!!!
Fun fact there are no sanctions on Turkemenistan, the country is part of many multilateral treaties with the EU and USA and receives grant money from USAID and US intiatives. So much for freedom
I just looked it up, there are tons of trade restrictions on turkemenistian.
Not that it matters much for a one-export country with 100% unfriendly neighbors.
When the world stands up and holds China accountable for covid, I'll be willing to hear an argument on sanctions for Turkmenistan. Until then, dont want to hear it.
I am not suprised.
When I was in highschool in 2018 we had a girl who was from turkministan stay in our town for the year. She would talk about the place like it was paradise. She was also kinda rude but i didnt know if it was a culture difference or something.
I'm going to guess that only the super rich and well-connected are sending their kids to high school exchange programs outside the country so wealth and privilege might explain both why she loved Turkmenistan so much and why she was not very nice.
@@levibee9451usa and turkmenistan work togetther so not really, but she could be the girl in questiin
@@levibee9451 Good call. No doubt exactly the truth.
Did she have a huge bush?
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely". A famous quote by Baron Acton.
Absolute powerlessness does the same
Actually the quote is "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority."
You have to admit it was impressive when he lifted that 45lb bar over his head.
It's always easier to go back to what you know than to boldly march toward an open and free future.
People are finding this funny, but it's really not. What you are seeing is what any human is capable of doing if given power but has no consequences.
Completely agree. I feel nothing but sad (ok, angry too) for the people. It is only by miracle of birth that we aren't citizens of a place like this, and we have a duty to protect our freedoms and help in any way we can these people. Anyone finding this funny is SO ignorant. These people are no different from us except how much they're suffering and what they've been taught to believe. 😢
Yes …I find it scary as hell…..the fact that many of the people in this country are functioning as useful ideas …..reminds how bad it could get …..this goes downhill slowly …until it goes really fast….we may just now be entering the fast phase….and things will happen so fast it will be difficult stop or even slow this hulking Marxist machine ….the long slow march through the institutions has happened …..we are moving to stage 2…..you don’t want to know stage 3….hope we don’t find out…..stay strong
@@mylastduchess9998this is what will happen if trump becomes prez 🇨🇦
@@marigauthier3475 its what the left AND rightwing are trying to do. Not just Trump. You would have to be a dumb boomer to think either side isnt trying. You can see plainly with whistle blower assasinations and all other proof… like companies being allowed to profit off peoples health… how dupont got away with exposing pregnant women to chemicals that caused birth defects. The list or corporations allowed to do these things with little to no consequences is held up by both sides. Current leading american political parties are both malevolent corporatists.
The opposite, actually. You've been lied to about him and decided to fear monger, when it's actually the far left we're dealing with that are showing how power hungry and control hungry they are. @marigauthier3475
If you wonder: Syria is the least free country on the list.
To think it used to be called the Paris of the Middle East or whatever. Before others got in to the place.
@@PwerRanger01That was Beirut. It's also been allowed to fall apart.
that’s weird. aren’t Syrians at least allowed to flee their country? what makes Syria worse than Turkmenistan?
@@Nickel_Eye There is one thing you have to remember when looking at this, and that's that the country's position on the list does NOT take into account the (unmeasurable and unquantifiable) real power of the government. Sure, Turkmenistan and Syria might be able to legislate/decree all this crazy shit, but their ability to enforce it is a lot weaker than you'd imagine. It's easy enough policing the streets of a populated capital city, but how do you enforce the law of the land upon a nomad?
How do you prosecute a nomadic herder for breaking the law? Does a nomad give a fuck whether or not you need to ask permission to assemble? Whose going to stop him and his buddies?
And of course with regards to Syria, as with a lot of these places it is RIDDLED with organised crime which undermines the power of the state, the most prevalent of these by far is the Albanian mafia who are responsible for a lot of the refugee flood into Europe.
It's one of the reasons that calling Taliban controlled Afghanistan a super authoritarian country is fucking dumb as hell. Most of Afghanistan is in total anarchy with no functional government at all. Tribal elders govern according to religious law and tribal customs with no one above them. The Taliban basically just control the major cities and a couple of the places they hid in while the US held those cities. Not that they're nice, of course they're not, and it's also true that the tribal customs that are sporadically enforced by elders in different valleys tend to be far more draconian than Western civil customs for example, but y'know, that's basically just the country's culture manifesting as a substitute for a government.
We know North Korea as the worst because they don't have this.
Organised crime, although still present is nowhere near as debilitating in North Korea as it is in Turkmenistan. Likewise, North Koreas population is not nomadic, and the North Korean state is MUCH more easily able to project power and enforce it's will upon the territory it controls in a way that Syria, Turkmenistan and ESPECIALLY Afghanistan just cannot do.
There are lots of places to hide from the state in Turkmenistan, in fact you probably wouldn't even realise you're in such a wacky country with such an absurd leader in most places that you go since it's so rural. In North Korea though, everywhere you go, you'd know EXACTLY what country you are in.
@@Nickel_Eye Constant civil war?
Forcing lawyers to gather cotton and otherwise bring come measure of actual use to mankind is actually pretty cool.
When I read the title I just knew it was Turkmenistan