Botswana launches first satellite BOTSAT-1 aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

>Let me tell you how we actually feel about it here.

Can we have the opinion not from some privileged elites, but of the oppressed majority, who are literally starving to involuntarily under threat of execution finance all this support projects for this disgusting government?

When USSR launched the world's first satellite into space, the enthusiasm was universal. Even among its peasants who at the time were paperless indentured servants.

Can we maybe not shit on this parade? The number of non-disgusting governments world in space-capable nations currently sits at zero. It doesn't detract from this achievement, and people are right to celebrate it.

Botswana is a democracy with a higher democracy index (7.63) than some European countries. Even close to USA (7.85). [1]

[1] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu

>Even among its peasants

No, it wasn't. This is Soviet propaganda, that existed only because people who expressed different opinions were killed. As far as I understand, the situation in Botswana is much better when it comes to expressing one's opinion. So I am interested in what they think about this issue.

>The number of non-disgusting governments world in space-capable nations currently sits at zero.

You are now trivializing institutionalized mass oppression. We're talking about a country where HALF THE POPULATION IS STARVING RIGHT NOW.

I think you might be trivialising the scale on which space-capable nations are causing suffering. But that's not the point. The point is that this is neither the time nor place for party pooping.

You have no idea what you are talking about.

Until the mid 2000s, if you good good enough grades at _any_ high school in the country, the government would foot the entire bill (tuition, board, stipend) to send you to a foreign university for the entirety of your degree. The only requirement was that you returned to Botswana to work back your tuition cost. Probably hundreds of thousands (and that's a lot in a country of 2 million people) of people benefited from this program.

Is it perfect? No. Do citizens have the same opportunities as an average person from an OECD country? Not even close. But you have to appreciate the incredibly low base Botswana started from, and how the government has spent the entirety of its existence ploughing resources into improving the human capital of its citizens.

You would not have been killed in Khrustchev times for expressing a dissatisfaction with the space programme, even though it certainly deviated from the party line. Perhaps it's worth considering that what people find inspiring does not necessarily reflect their material condition: humans are complex creatures.

Are you interested in their opinion when you instantly dismiss one?

I had colleagues who worked in Botswana and they said it was the nicest location of any of our clients - which included London, Boston, Singapore, etc.

I got landed with Nairobi which was horrible (at least in terms of my work).

I think some people think all African countries are the same.

Don't you feel silly for commenting on things that you know nothing about?

Botswana is one of the most developed countries in the world on many aspects like democracy, press and political freedom or gender equality.

I'm from the former communist block and let me tell you: you have no idea what are you talking about. Zero, none.

You seem to be regurgitating stereotypes.

just ten years in the gulag archipelago I guess lol, not death!

You are buying Soviet propaganda. Just an example of what what happening in Khrustchev times for expressing a dissatisfaction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novocherkassk_massacre

I grew up in Soviet Union and have a pretty solid idea what you could and what you could not say, but thanks for trivia.

A life anecdote: in mid 1980s my classmate shot the Lenin portrait in the classroom through a straw. His parents were called in and reprimanded. In 1950s they'd been in real trouble; in 1937 they would have been arrested, tortured and likely killed. In 1989 nobody would have cared.

GULag system was disbanded by same Khrushchev in favor of traditional prisons.

>aspects like democracy, press and political freedom or gender equality

We are literally talking about country, where half the population are starving and 10 percent of children are DYING. But yeah, girls are dying not worse than boys, so amazing gender equality, best place on the Earth. All you need to know about fascists and their statistics.

And what place they are holding on starvation index and children mortality rate?

You're overstating the severity somewhat .. severe food insecurity is not starvation level food shortages, and 3.8 percent is less than 10 percent.

  At national level 53.29 percent of the population in Botswana was affected by moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021/22

  Moderate or severe Food insecurity occurs when a person or household has limited or uncertain access to sufficient and healthy food because of financial limitations or other constraints.

  As a result of financial or other constraints, people may have to compromise on the quality and quantity of their diets, but they do not necessarily suffer from extreme hunger or starvation. 

~ https://statsbots.org.bw/sites/default/files/publications/PR...

* Under-five Mortality Rate: 38.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.

and dropping steadily from 77.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 24 years ago

~ https://data.unicef.org/country/bwa/