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Cossack
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Moscow
Nov 2001
time: 08:16
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I've read alot of absolute rubbish about Russia in the last two pages and most people obviously have had a few high school lessons and maybe read a book or two and seen something in the paper and that's about it. It's an entirely Western and at times uneducated view. As a Englishman living and working in finance in Moscow I see the pros and cons from both views.
Russia is a developing country whether they like it or not, however unlike most developing nations it has a very well educated (better than in the USA) workforce and tonnes and tonnes of natural resources. However, the country effectively has no middle class especially in the provinces, you are either rich or poor. Most of the wealth of Russia is still in the hands of oligarchs (industry barons). Putin is gradually taking away some of their powers, but he still needs certain oilgarchs to support him so it is a slow process. Also Putin's true goals are not clear yet, he could be setting up a power base for his own people.
The country is trying to diversify its economy away from a strong dependence on oil and gas its major source of tax revenues. Recently a series of reforms have been passed in particular land reform which has been a contentious issue should set the stage for further significant reforms going forward. However, the economy is still tied to oil and gas and at US$15 a barrel they may have trouble balancing the budget, but this time the government does not have such large debt obligations as in 1998 so they are in a better situation now than in 1998. OPEC may find a price war tough to handle as their economies are dependent on oil revenues too.
With regards to the working environment people's work suffers from traditionally being used to a rigid bureaucratic work environment. As a result people often lack initiative but will work tremendously hard if you give them a list of things to do.
Middle management in the country really hasn't evolved to a level where it is accountable for the decision it makes and this is because the higher bosses are afraid of delegating their power further down the company structure. Russian management often loves to focus on details and misses at times the bigger picture and often they will spend hours arguing about the precise methodology to do something instead of making a decision and actually getting something done. This is because they don't have the poer to make the decision anyway, its up to the boss so why focus on it, why not just produce a tonne of statistics to show your boss how hard you have been working.
However, there is definately a new breed of entrepreneurs developing and a middle class is starting to arise in Moscow, however, I doubt this trend is happening in the provinces.
Almost 70% of the wealth of Russia gravitates towards Moscow and St. Petersburg so these two cities are completely different from the situation in the rest of the country.
As for Russian women, yes the percentage of beautiful/above average looking women is probably much higher than in the west, however, they are all not looking for a passport and a way out, believe me in Moscow the 'new russians' earn a month five times what I earn each year, so a foreigner is not necessarily a better catch so to speak of if money is what the girl is looking for and we do have such types here. Here is an interesting point, prostitution is legal in Russia and despite the moral arguments westerners may put forward against this, the country has one of the lowest sexual crime rates in the world.
Russia is a great country with masses of freedom and yet at the same time masses of bureaucracy that almost always has a price and very few of the order rules and regulations of the west (can't do this or that) which makes it an exciting place if you love feeling free to do anything you want and that you can do absolutely anything for a price, for example the police will take you to any nightclub sirens blaring, lights flashing etc. for a price it could be US$10 could be US$100 who knows but if you want to do it you can. You can stop practically any car on the street at night and get a ride home for US$2-3 from the other side of the city.
However, if you can't live without a MacDonalds 10 metres from your house and your cup of Starbucks every morning and your gym and your 2.4 children etc. etc. and everything ordered and structured then don't ever come here.
The English Cossack (Happy in Moscow)
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Az
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MACEDONIA - It's the name of the sovereign country to the north of Greece
Apr 2000
time: 07:16
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quote:
Originally posted by faded glory
Yes I believe Russia should begin importing Swedish hookers.....that would solve the problem
Dalgetti you have to be kidding me right? Sure Stalin built factories...Airports...roads etc etc...
At what price? millions of his own people. And Russia was hardly up to par with the west in terms of economic well being.
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you're right about the cost , it was terrible. but if Russia was hardly at par then , It was much worse before that .
quote:
Had Krushev and the leaders after Stalin wanted to keep the Soviet Union alive and modern they would have to employ the same brutal forced labor means that stalin did.
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not necessary. Stalin achieved that through FEAR. The coming leader could achieve this through TV . also , if the soviets would employ western specialists ( like in the 20s and 30s , for the heavier industries ) to create better quality products that would be mass produced , and train soviet specialists that would take their places . together with the already great soviet education , and some better funding for the civilian industry , It would have been a wholly different ball game with the US.
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Even in 1945 the Soviet Union industry was cranked up. The labor was still forced with 14 hour shifts and meager pay. I know...I know I can hear your pro-commie BS.....would you want to work 14 hours in a factory building tank after tank for nothing in the freezing siberia? Granted, this is a strength of most Communist systems. The ability to produce endless amounts of one product (usaully military)
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but if that wouldn't be military . a relatively limited amount of products is needed , to support the needs of a society , around a thousand perhaps. if the product would be good , it could be exported .
[QUOTE]
The Fact is people like Solver and others on Apolyton will tell you that living in the Soviet Union or other communist governments was pure hell... You couldnt buy meat, you couldnt better yourself, and your herculian efforts were never enough for the state.
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I lived in the SU . I ate very well , thank you. and both my parents were regular wage owners.
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One Soviet Physic once lived in the Soviet Union. I think his name was Unizemf or somthing...
Anyway he lived like the rest of the downtrodden masses of citizens. He got paid nothing for what he did...in 1968 he came up with revolutionary ideas about Stealth technology. Even after publishing his work he asked for investments to get prove his ideas worked. the Soviets lauged at him and sent back to Siberia. In 1971 we picked this guy up and he is still working for Skunk works today.
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agreed . but that's not to say it couldn't be done differently . I never got this thing with scientific open-mindness.
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You see my point? There were no promotions.....no oppurtunitys.....nothing. The Soviet System was no better then the Fuedal ones of the middle ages.
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no promotions ? that's not true. but yes, it could have been done differently as well.
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Capitalism has came to Russia and people are now opening there own stores. Making Profits and hiring workers...the economy is booming and in a few years Communism will be just a bad memory and the future will look very bright. |
for the sake of people of Russia I hope you're right . But somehow I don't believe it . That country went insane. and is crumbling.
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Roman
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Bratislava, Slovakia
Sep 2000
time: 05:16
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More bad news about Russia, this time concentrating on spread of AIDS. From www.aegis.com
quote:
Russia-AIDS: Half of Russian population could have HIV in 10 years: top official
Agence France-Presse - January 9, 2001
MOSCOW, Jan 9 (AFP) - Russia could have a million citizens who are HIV positive by the end of this year and half of the population could become infected by the deadly disease within 10 years, the country's top AIDS official said Tuesday.
"If this rate of infection continues, more than a million people will have the HIV virus by the end of the year and half of the Russian population will be infected within the next 10 years," said Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the government-run National Centre for the Fight against AIDS.
There are 145 million people living in Russia.
According to official statistics, Russia has 80,000 cases of the HIV virus that causes AIDS but "in fact half a million Russians are infected," said Povrovsky, speaking on Moscow Echo Radio.
He said that 70 million dollars would be needed to combat the epidemic but the Russian government had only allocated three million dollars in the 2001 budget.
According to Pokrovsky, a promised loan of 50 million dollars from the World Bank to fight AIDS in Russia was generous but insufficient.
"These credits are spread out over a period of 10 years and we will need more resources between now and then," the official said.
"The new anti-AIDS programme will only be put into effect in 2002. Until then we have to continue our work on the basis of a programme set up in 1995," Povrovsky added.
A UNAIDS programme published in November reported that the number of new HIV infections last year exceeded the total of all previous years in Russia.
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Please note the date on the article. Latest official Russian figures of registered people in Russia that are HIV positive have doubled over the last five months to 150,000. Both Russian health authorities and the UN now estimate that the real number of people living with HIV in Russia is more than 20 times the official number of registered, because most Russians are complacent about the problem and do not even suspect they might have AIDS. This means that the current number of HIV positive people in Russia stands at over 3,000,000 and growing at the highest rate in the world, faster than in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
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Roman
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Bratislava, Slovakia
Sep 2000
time: 05:16
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quote:
Originally posted by axi
Well, it seems Russia is one of the contenders for the sceptre of "most devastated country in the 20th century". It has undergone WWI, the Civil War, Stalin's purges, WWII and the collapse of communism.
Who would be the rest of contenders?
Vietnam?
Cambodia?
Afghanistan?
Algeria? |
There are plenty of countries that suffered in the 20th century, but the damage done in Russia is lasting. I would say Russia wins your competition.
Even worse, Russia's outlook for the 21st century does not look any better. If anything it seems more depressing than ever. Of course, Russia no longer slaughters its own citizens en-masse, but infinitesimal birth rate, poverty, drugs, alcohol, tobbaco, environmental degradation on an unprecedented scale (mostly left over from communism), AIDS, tuberculosis and other ills are killing the Russian nation more efficiently than even Stalin ever dreamed of.
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Bob Dornan
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Capatalism without foreign aid going to devil corrupt leaders = good economy
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16-11-2001 10:53
). I feel if nothing is done, it could lead to serious political problems, including possible coup det'ats.
Putin is like that to a degree, but perhaps not sufficiently. The good thing Ronald Reagan had done for the USA is that he made the people feel confident and proud to be American again. What Russia also needs to do is to change the people's mindset (though hopefully not to nationalism). Maybe when the Russians will feel confident that they can deal with their problems; they will start tackling them. Even then, though, it would be extremely hard for Russia to get out of the mess it is currently in, as Russia's problems now are far more severe than the US problems in the early '80s.
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