Lessons from shutting down institutions in Eastern Europe.

This is a cross post from: https://250bpm.substack.com/p/meditations-on-doge

Imagine living in the former Soviet republic of Georgia in early 2000's:

All marshrutka [mini taxi bus] drivers had to have a medical exam every day to make sure they were not drunk and did not have high blood pressure. If a driver did not display his health certificate, he risked losing his license. By the time Shevarnadze was in power there were hundreds, probably thousands , of marshrutkas ferrying people all over the capital city of Tbilisi. Shevernadze's government was detail-oriented not only when it came to taxi drivers. It decided that all the stalls of petty street-side traders had to conform to a particular architectural design. Like marshrutka drivers, such traders had to renew their licenses twice a year. These regulations were only the tip of the iceberg. Gas [...]

---

First published:
May 25th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Zhp2Xe8cWqDcf2rsY/meditations-on-doge

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Georgian police car parked outside Tbilisi State Concert Hall.

GDP per capita line graph comparing Poland, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Ukraine (1990-2023).

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

“Meditations on Doge” by Martin Sustrik 17:58 Share

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

Shownotes Transcript

“Meditations on Doge” by Martin Sustrik