Opinions & Interviews

‘Paradise on earth, country to live and raise family’. American brothers about perception of Belarus in the West

MINSK, 16 March (BelTA) - In The Honest Story project on BelTA’s YouTube channel, American brothers Jeffrey and Jason Blank, who moved to Belarus, shared their opinion about Belarus and talked about the way the U.S. American propaganda works.

"You need to understand that in the United States the perceptions of Russia and Belarus are very bad, very negative. It's because of the Cold War. I think that Belarus is many times better than Russia. When Americans see that it is a very good country, very clean, green, with many parks, safe, they experience a culture shock," Jeffrey Blank said, noting that the United States thinks of Belarus as a poor country with an inefficient economy. "This is a lie,” he stressed.  

"We saw the subway. We saw everything and went everywhere. For example, Pobediteley Avenue in Minsk. We don't have avenues like that in America, not a single one. Very wide, a lot of space for pedestrians, with trees, flower beds. Our first time here we were shocked," Jeffrey Blank said.

The man said that during their first visit to Belarus they had a guide from the Belarusian BRSM Youth Union. They walked around Minsk with their mouths open, and the girl could not understand their surprise: "We were gazing everything open-mouthed: where we are? It's heaven on earth. This is Europe's last dictatorship? It's heaven on earth for us."

Jeffrey Blank noted that they had their impressions confirmed in stores: "We went to department stores: there are a lot of goods, prices are low. GUM, Nemiga: the choice is great and the prices are low."

Returning to the topic of the negative perception of Belarus in the United States, Jeffrey Blank recalled something from his youth: "I remember how our school teacher said that America is many times better than the Soviet Union. For example, in a supermarket in America, we have diet dog food because even our dogs are fat." He noted that dogs and cats in Belarus are well-fed as well. "This contrast is very striking. We've only heard bad things. It's like a dream, a utopia," the American said.

For his part, Jason Blank suggested that propaganda machines are running full bore in the neighboring countries of Belarus. "I think that, most likely, the propaganda in Poland and Lithuania is pretty aggressive against Belarus. When Belarus has waived visas for Poles and Lithuanians, the propaganda has become even more aggressive than in the United States. There are people who are curious, and they visit Belarus and realize that their state is lying. Everything is fine here, normal. It's a very good country to live, to raise a family."

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