Kazakhstan: economic paradoxes, sexism and the decline of science · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Kazakhstan’s bloggers continue to discuss topics of social relevance Last week, online discussions touched on various subjects.
The blogger Lord-Fame was visited by tax authorities, who found his company to have an insufficient number of employees, below the “industry average” [ru]
What moron came up with this rule? How stupid do you have to be to hold ALL companies within an industry to the same standard?
Continuing the economic theme, Thousand-pa cannot understand why, despite the background of optimistic statements by the government, authorities have decided against the planned increase in salaries for employees of government-funded organizations [ru]:
Why were we talking about the end of the crisis, only to use that same crisis as an excuse to go back on earlier promises a month later?
D-lov is concerned by the lack of discussion in Kazakhstan regarding sexual harassment in the workplace [ru]:
Women here inherently accept male chauvinism on every level and in every form, which is typical of a second world Asian country. Sleeping with the boss is considered a great honor. If an attractive female employee has no intention of flirting with management, and, additionally, demonstrates intelligence and skill in the workplace, she becomes a “competitor,” a “dangerous player,” a “bitch,” etc.
Megakhuimyak is worried about the quality of Kazakhstan’s potential in research science and education [ru]:
Analyzing the history of science in Kazakhstan shows that our perennial leaders have been found in natural science: geologists, mining engineers, biologists. The country no longer has scientists who could perform work on a comparable level – and, given the quality of our education, we will never have them again.
pycm
a href=”http://pycm.livejournal.com/422260.html”>summarizes the situation with a sarcastic aphorism [ru]:
The paradox is that the country has no culture, yet it has a Ministry of Culture. On the other hand, there is corruption everywhere, yet there is no Ministry of Corruption.
Also posted on neweurasia (translated by Andrey)