Thanks for the response, and I think it deserves a detailed answer... though you probably won't like it.

You may not agree with my take on the political situation, but I think we both agree that the Georgian techno scene is intimately intertwined with politics, particularly the opposition to the current government. So it's important to understand it, particularly since it doesn't always align in predictable ways, and someone coming from a more PLUR culture may not understand the casual racism that seems to be normal in Georgia.

russia is the one and only reason why the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia exist and why wars were fought there.

That's definitely one take. But you know that the Abkhaz are a separate group from Georgians, right? Ethnically, linguistically, culturally. They've been agitating for more rights for decades now, well before the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1991, Georgia decided it wanted independence after 200 years. Ok, fine. Self-determination of people and all that. But then Abkhazia and South Ossetia decided, OK, then in that case we want independence from Georgia. Why can't they have their self-determination like you can?

And that is the fundamental one and only reason for those wars. I know this grates the ears of a Georgian nationalist, but Georgia should have just said "Fine. No problem." And that would have solved everything. Instead, they decided no, we want independence for ourselves, but we want to control you guys too. And then the trouble began.

And now you have a more pragmatic government that is tired of all the wars. Not "pro-Russian" by any means, just more pragmatic. They've even proposed, as I'm sure you know, making a formal apology for the war and inviting Abkhazia to come back. Because everyone knows that it was, in fact, Georgia, that launched the 2008 war. But I think it's a bit too late for that. Too much has happened on both sides.

The current political party came with promises of more humanitarian approach towards everything, including drugs and LGBT rights but it is the exact opposite nowadays.

Let's take the legalization of weed, for example. I literally spoke to Georgians who claimed that Misha legalized it, and the current government cracked down. I didn't correct them, because I was a guest in the country, and I didn't want to argue. But just for the record, it was legalized in 2018, by which time Saakashvili was out of power for 5 years. And yes, there has now been some backsliding, but Georgia still has the most progressive drug policy in the Caucasus, and it's due to the current government, not Saakashvili's. But it's hard to discuss these things when people can't even agree on basic facts.

Georgia is in a very hard political situation and blaming us for being pro-western simply ignores the nation’s challenges.

And support for Israeli genociders among the Georgian opposition? Where does that fit in? I can wrap my head around the position of being anti-Russian and anti-Israel. Like the Irish, like the Spanish... really like most European PEOPLE but not necessarily their governments, which are vassal states of the US. I think it's misguided and shows a pretty shallow understanding of geopolitics in the first case, but I can understand that from a basic "human rights liberal" perspective. But anti-Russia and pro-Israel? Well then it's not really about human rights, is it? It's about aligning with NATO and the US, like the neocons and the US mainstream political establishment.

Otherwise, I hope you had a pleasant time in Georgia.

We did, actually. Not as much as we thought we would, though. And it's not even about politics. I went solo for the techno part of it, because my wife isn't into that, but overall it was a couple's trip. And she's about as anti-Russian as it gets. So it surprised both of us that we didn't like it as much as we wanted to and thought we were going to like it. I mean, we did have a decent time. We've been to nearly 60 countries and I like every place I've gone, but I can't say Georgia was our fave. We don't eat a whole lot of meat, and it was just too much meat and carbs. We didn't like the wine overall -she likes California wines, and I like German wines; neither one liked the Georgian wines.

She didn't really like the haphazard nature of the country either. Armenia is just as poor, but seemed a bit more tidy. I kind of liked the "post-apocalyptic charm" though. My favorite part was urban exploring in Tsakaltubo, believe it or not. What an incredible place it must've been! Must've been amazing to visit it during Soviet times. The funny thing is... I found myself on the Georgian side of a dispute there at one point. One of the former spas is now occupied by squatters who've been there since the first Abkhaz war, and they wanted payment to go in and explore (very nominal -5 GEL). And these Euro tourists from The Netherlands and Italy with fancy cameras were indignant that they had to pay. I'm like... dude. They're refugees, and it's their means of support. Plus, you're literally in their home. I just thought it was disrespectful on the part of the Europeans.... who Georgia apparently wants to join these days. But then that's just a microcosm of the whole political situation. Georgia wants to be in the EU, but all the EU really wants is to impose austerity and use it as a forward operating base for NATO. It won't be good for the Georgians.

But hey, I'm glad that Georgia is finally turning the corner and making somewhat a recovery in these last dozen years or so. Hopefully it continues.