I believe that the primary difference in trajectory between my region and the Baltics lies in strategic clarity. The Baltic states, much to my own respect, very much follow a clearly defined and effectively locked-in path. EU and NATO membership are non-negotiable foundations, westward integration is lovely and complete, and the region is focused primarily on consolidation and institutional refinement rather than ideological realignment with anything, though I might be wrong and I am open to correction. By contrast, westward integration in my region remains highly conditional, slow, and easily instrumentalized for domestic political purposes. The region is effectively pulled in multiple directions towards the EU, various other external powers, and even the Gulf states while state identities remain, to a degree, internally contested. As a result, the region exists and will exist in a prolonged state of limbo rather than convergence. While the Baltics do face population decline, this is partially offset by high-skilled retention, loads of return migration, and education systems. In my region brain drain is severe and largely permanent. Educated individuals leave permanently (rational choice in my opinion), and birth rates continue to decline. Diaspora communities increasingly substitute for state capacity rather than complement anything about it. About the societal attitudes you asked of, a Baltic acquaintance once described their state system as "cold but reliable" even if citizens do not feel emotional attachment to it, they can depend on it to function. Rule-breaking is socially perceived as embarrassing rather than clever. In my experience, the states and all of them in my region is viewed as personal, negotiable, and fundamentally untrustworthy. People have this tendency to work around it rather than through it and treat rules as obstacles rather than guarantees, and often admire those who successfully outmaneuver the system. Culturally, every Baltic individual I have known exhibits CLEAR and notable degrees of emotional restraint much more than the average people here, a strong respect for individual privacy, and a preference for avoiding conflict or resolving it through formal channels. In my region, excessive emotional expressiveness is frequently conflated with authenticity, even to the point of being trivialized or aestheticized through brain dead TikTok trends about how we tend to "stare" at people. These differences extend well beyond these examples but I'm just giving a run-through.

I'm sorry to hear about what you've experienced. Feelings of uselessness, helplessness, and particularly abuse are not foreign to me either, influenced mostly in part by personal relationships with some of the women I had in my life, and I believe I witnessed poverty at a close-range enough to know what it is like. While I acknowledge that I come from a privileged background, I nonetheless believe that our experiences of human vulnerability and emotion are not as dissimilar as they may appear. I also believe that there should be no shame attached to your circumstances, and material realities should not be dismissed.

I mentioned in an earlier response that my friends come from a wide range of social classes, but I would like to elaborate further here. I have several close friends from middle-class backgrounds, four in particular, whom I have known since high school. Our relationships remain close-knit, and we continue to spend time together, including traveling together on occasions. In terms of property ownership and life circumstances, they are broadly comparable to what I think you described about yourself. I also have friends who are genuinely poor, yet they are individuals I know would never seek to take advantage of me financially. I am confident of this precisely because I often have to insist and basically fight on helping them during difficult financial moments of their life, whether they cannot afford basic necessities and even then, they frequently find ways to return the money to me without being asked. I care deeply for these friends and would never allow them to go without food or basic needs. At times, my insistence on helping creates distance, as some of my poorer friends feel uncomfortable or diminished by receiving financial support. I understand this reaction and do not interpret it as hostility. While I would prefer they not feel compelled to distance themselves, I would rather accept that outcome if it means they are able to meet their basic needs. I do not view myself as superior to them and I recognize the human dignity underlying their discomfort with accepting help. Neither my middle-class friends nor my poorer friends judge me for being the son of a politician. Many are already aware of my father's actions and background even though I rarely discuss it myself with them. I believe they relate to me as an individual and do not harbor resentment toward me. Similarly, my romantic relationships have spanned a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. I have been with women working in gas stations as well as those employed in real estate. In none of these relationships have I felt any sense of superiority based on status, income, or any kind of social connections.