Latvian Political Monitor

Millions of illegal cigarettes, hundreds of kg of narcotics and sanctioned goods worth millions – just a small glimpse of what @vid_gov Customs Administration officers intercept at the eastern border, protecting Latvia's economic security and providing service to honest entrepreneurs https://t.co/vbB3yBIaJD

Will have to go. https://t.co/yctgKeGmt5

Pillar in the Daugava - AirBaltic 300 million pawn bonds - 'drone superpower'. Progressives https://t.co/DxI8uWTPTo

Young people for Prime Minister Šlesers 👍

Springe again advertises Šlesers 🙂

Kaktiņa's rating message to the Latvian people is, once again, the same: you can participate in elections or not, nothing will change, the same old gray people will be in power, the same coalition (at best), in short - there is no point in going to vote. Many people take this message that way, and those belonging to the system are only happy about it. But we have another option. No. 2. That will flush down the toilet this whole rotten loser cartel. About changing the election law. The only way to pull Latvia out of the 'death spiral'. MMN.

Young people are our future! 💪🏼 That is why it is a real joy to see young people who care about their country, who want to understand how it works, and who are not afraid to ask questions. Today at noon we hosted 20 active young people from the Latvian Regions Association at the Ministry of Justice. I introduced them to the ministry's work, its main tasks, and also the daily life of the Minister of Justice – how decisions are made and how the justice system affects each of our lives. The young people's interest and questions were especially pleasing. A democratic and rule-of-law state is not a given – it begins with people who understand their rights and duties and are ready to get involved. 📖 We also talked about the Constitution – the foundation of our state. I wished every young person to read it, because I am convinced that it would be valuable for everyone to know what values, rights, and principles are the foundation of our state. Thank you to the young people for their energy, curiosity, and interest in Latvia! 🇱🇻

https://t.co/Qo9tK8IGxg https://t.co/jO6Pqa9FBH

The opportunity to develop business and available funding is only part of the components needed to raise the competitiveness of our agriculture. Thanks @AltumLV for the conversation! https://t.co/9AkcRrDcR6

IMMATURE ADULTS Yesterday I took part in the political debates organized by the association "Papardes zieds", which were devoted to discussing young people's reproductive health and the biggest challenges facing youth. I went there with the idea that I would not pander to young people's egos by helping them capitalize on their youth as an argument for gaining social benefits. I believe that is neither fair nor logical, because no stage of a person's life is absolutely more privileged than another. What youth gives, middle age takes away, but experience compensates. Every person, while meeting the standards they set for themselves, experiences difficulties until they achieve stability. Complaining about effort is like being angry at the laws of nature. I believe that a young person becomes an "adult" upon reaching the age of majority, and thereby gains all the privileges granted to any citizen. I do not support expanding the youth age category with the resulting raising of the upper age threshold for youth. Currently, the Youth Law states that even a thirty-year-old man is a youth. At the same time, the average healthy lifespan for a man in Latvia is fifty-two years. That is why I, being twenty-six years old, count myself as belonging to the middle-aged male stage (I hope the irony is readable). In my opinion, the constant political fuss with a focus on coddling young people is not positive. I consider it a deliberate infantilization of people, not stimulating them to grow up, and also putting them in a convenient self-defensive position. That is, any lack of effort, inability to cope with the need to work or think, etc., is offered to be excused by being a "young person". This is exactly how we have slid so far that a grown-up guy considers compulsory military service more of a "violation of human rights" or "a year stolen from professional life", while a woman considers conceiving, giving birth to, and raising a child to be "ruining her body". The biggest problem of youth is not small benefits, but the unwillingness to step into an adult's shoes, taking responsibility for one's decisions and doing everything so that tomorrow is better than yesterday. All successes are determined by each young person's dedication today. The "young people" of my age do not experience challenges different from those of our parents' and grandparents' youth. Quite the contrary, this era offers an unprecedented abundance of opportunities. You cannot master them all. I believe that the biggest challenge for youth is the unwillingness to start a family or the planning of it as far away from "youth" as possible. Family, relationships, supporting children are the main "adult shoes" in which to walk all one's life, but laziness and lack of responsibility squeeze the foot a bit, so many do not put on these shoes until they find themselves in the slippers of old age. The average age of a young mother keeps rising (30.4 years), the number of marriages per 1000 inhabitants is falling, and the proportion of divorces is also increasing. "Youthification", which postpones taking important steps, in the long term threatens the nation's ability to survive. There, that is the challenge. In contrast to the "Progressive" party, which advocates for an absolutely atomized society freed from all human relationships and responsibilities, I, representing the ranks of WE CHANGE THE RULES, propose not to extend the age stage of excusing irresponsibility, but to make it easier to step into adult shoes. Namely, for young families, doubling the tax-free allowance for each dependent and abolishing VAT on the purchase of a new home. It is time to take responsibility.