MINSK, 10 June (BelTA) – The state should take care of citizens, but people should contribute to its development as well, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the national seminar-conference to discuss new methods and forms of public communication at the grassroots level, BelTA has learned.
"What do we see today? The Soviet sacred attitude towards the state, coupled with a sense of duty, mutual responsibility and the priority of state interests over personal ones, is being replaced by garden-variety consumerism. It is expressed in the mental attitude of modern society: the state owes me. Unfortunately, expectations of the state from individuals are growing. Meanwhile they are unwilling to take on any additional obligations," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
As a result, the demands of certain people or a whole social group to the state significantly exceed their contribution to its development, the president noted.
"In other words, they want to live like in Switzerland and work in a lazy way. They want to pay minimum taxes or not pay at all and have a large social package,” the head of state emphasized. “Of course, the state must protect peace and order, provide jobs, education, medical care, the opportunity to realize oneself in science, art, sports and so on. Tell me, what do we lack in Belarus for people not to realize themselves? There are things that people can and should share with the state."
The simplest thing that people can do, according to the president, is to create comfort and beauty with their own hands and for themselves, to keep their communities clean and tidy, and to preserve what was created by generations of Belarusians.
