A Russian person could not visit New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and then say they visited The United States and have an understanding of Americans. They might think they understand, but any American would giggle at the notion.
Conversely, the same is true in Russia. You cannot visit Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazan and think you have an understanding of Russians. However, if you give yourself time, join in the daily tasks and challenges of ordinary Russians, you can easily discover some of the deeper stuff that really puts context on life in the Russian Federation.
Perhaps what follows is a different perspective.
It took a while, but I finally figured out what this phrase “the fatherland” is all about.
Let me start by sharing another phrase that almost every American will find familiar, yet virtually every Russian asked has no reference to comprehend: “you work for us.”
When talking to a federal, state or local government official in the United States and saying, “you work for us,” everyone listening would completely understand your sentiment. However, in Russia that phrase is akin to asking a Martian for a canoe. This is the way to understand “the fatherland.”
Within Russia the social compact is organized around the premise (key word “premise“), that government is the father figure within a family – and all of the citizens are children. The government knows best. The state engages in all facets, systems and structures as if they are the omnipotent father who cares about the children.
The people of Russia generally accept this system. Generations and generations of compliant, well behaved, very structured and regimented ideology still permeates. The muscle memory is deepest in the psychological muscles that run through generations.
Oddly, this social compact is understood, but only understood insofar as the Russian people do not have any other reference point, or alternative system that would enable them to see the deficit in the oppressive system that surrounds them.
The average Russian knows the “West” is different but doesn’t really know why the social system they see outside their window seemingly operates with well-organized randomness. What is this efficiency within unbridled capitalism you speak of, and why would Americans be willing to give it up?
Karelia Russia, early spring ’24
♦ As stated previously, the level of social compliance within the fatherland compact is stunning. Some observers might brush off extreme lawfulness as a remnant of strict authoritarianism – decades of hardcore soviet influence. From that perspective, yes being an invisible “grey man” is safe; drawing attention to yourself can only bring the glare of Father. It is safer to be a generic sardine in a school of sardines.
Live within that system long enough, and it just becomes the natural way it is. It doesn’t matter what the uniform rule is, generally Russians act with extreme compliance.
Standing in line, waiting for the light at a crosswalk, standing on the right side of the escalator, remaining stoic, “cultured” and “not vulgar” in a subway or public venue, putting your trash in an often-changed public receptacle, appropriate (quiet) use of the cell phone, the odd lack of talking in just about any venue, all the way to accepting ridiculous outcomes as a matter of engagement with the fatherland bureaucracy.
The customs and norms circle around ordinary compliance and social acceptances, learned behaviors over time, and so they do. Note, in part this behavior pattern makes it very easy to spot a non-Russian. [That is also one of the reasons why I was careful about taking ordinary photographs, especially considering there are literally no tourists.]
From the 30,000 ft level, generally speaking, somewhere above 85% of the Russian population are compliant children, very well behaved with low expectations of anything in life that is not ordinary. That larger part of Russia accepts their malaise as just “life,” and they move along. The other 15% are part of the social strata (government worker or connected to a higher status), that affords them additional benefits.
St Petersburg, Russia – Spring ’24
Yes, there are definitely two castes or classes within the population, and this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, something the intellectual left in the United States will always deny. Totalitarianism is on the far-left side of the political continuum. Within that leftist system, a process the USA is working toward, there are ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ – or what is more familiarly called “elites.”
Have you ever visited Disney or a theme park in the USA where you can purchase a higher priced ticket to go into a “fast lane” at each attraction? The average price visitor stands in one long line, those who pay a much higher price get to skip to a much shorter line. In Russia, that’s the analogy for the general population engaging in everything; literally everything in their life from shopping to where they live, the better system experience is based on wealth & status.
♦ There is no part of this social system that an average American would enjoy in the long-term. Do not romanticize Russia. Edward Snowden gave up his best life when he made his hard choices.
Put simply, ordinary life as an ordinary Russian is just not easy. The concept of a social system structured around liberty and self-determination is unknown. Russians are not “free” people, not even close.
It is not uncommon to see police on foot, regular beat cops, on crowded streets stopping people and asking for “their papers.” I am told the people being stopped are clearly not native Russians; but honestly, I watched this take place several times, and they all look Russian to me.
As I walked in the crowd with my friends, I asked them, “Do I look Russian”, because I was not being asked for my papers.
The response was generally that I look “white”, and the people being stopped by the police were not white. However, again I repeat, everyone being stopped looked like a white Russian to me, so what do I know.
There were also a few seemingly random road checkpoints where you are stopped by police and asked for your papers when driving, or a passenger. This always made me nervous (and my friends, although they were embarrassed to admit it), and with my passport I was always questioned and checked closely (but never detained – except as previously noted in the airport).
On the overall social oppression aspect, yes there are signs the Russian government is trying to change, to figure out a middle ground. However, the default position of the social mechanism is set to strict control, oppressive govt and authoritarianism.
Step out of the sardine line, and you will end up regretting it – big time. Ordinary Russians do not want to step out of line.
The problem for the Russian government is the generational compliance system does not create forward-thinking, independent thinking or entrepreneurship at the scale needed (Western scale) to rapidly advance modern society or keep up with technological changes and advancements. The DNA of Russia is static, lacking innovation, and built on this system of compliance.
On one hand, too many grey people, not enough independent thinkers…. that appears to be part of the problem in Russia. Hence, the government has all kinds of financial and economic incentives for innovative Western tech people and businesses to emigrate. However, on the other hand the government likes the domineering social compliance aspect, so they face recruitment problems.
Socially, the extreme compliance creates unity, cohesion and lawfulness. However, that same permeating mindset chokes out innovation and independent critical thinking. The lack of home-grown innovation, meaning the people who actually think independently, means the industrial and tech business sectors must steal their ideas from other places. It is not accidentally the same in China. I think this is also why Russian hacking is so advanced.
The current/modern Russian government seems to hate the social wokeism stuff, within the “West,” more than they like innovation in a free-thinking capitalist society. As a consequence, Dear Father is not willing to allow his apples to fall away from the tree.
♦ The Western financial sanction regime against Russia has driven the Russian economy into a very close relationship with China, South Korea and larger Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). The new automobiles in Russia are almost all Kia, Hyundai and then Chinese models. The Russians notably do not have many EVs; they are mostly standard internal combustion engines. There are some newer USA and EU import vehicles, but those carry the cost of the 3rd party brokers (super high prices afforded only by the elites).
The odd thing about the sanction regime is the invisibility of it, unless you are looking deeply. Sure, many western retail companies were forced to leave by Western political demand, but their products are still mostly available. I cannot visibly see any segment of the Russian economy where the sanctions are having a strong impact. Quite the opposite is true, and all outward appearances of the Russian economy look strong.
Again, in a general sense, because Russia lacks innovative capitalism, their infrastructure innovation is archaic and outdated. This does not mean the old infrastructure is necessarily broken or doesn’t work; it only means it is old and very odd to see. Russia spends a lot of time cleaning and maintaining its infrastructure, but large sections of housing developments and apartments are very old and look well past their use-by dates.
Analog is still everywhere; digital systems have yet to become mainstream. If you step outside the center-city tourist perspective, you enter the 1970’s or 1980’s system in the suburbs dominated by the sardine cans where people live. As a person who was born/raised like Huck Finn in Florida on the beaches, islands and backwater bayous, the stacked-up rows and rows of sardine can apartments is seriously wild and simultaneously “yikes.”
The sardine Russians enjoy their parks, and to be fair they have some really nice spring and summer parks to enjoy, provided and maintained by Dear Father. On nice weather days, the benches are full of people quietly talking to one another, enjoying the fellowship outdoors and generally being well cultured and exceptionally civil.
Random park in center city, St Petersburg, Russia
The well-mannered expectations of social rules, within the suburban and city park system, were explained to me, and I did not see a single reference of non-compliance or crude behavior anywhere – not even once. NOT ONCE.
Truthfully, it’s really weird how quiet and stoic the Russian people are when they are enjoying their recreation time. It’s like something out of a 1950’s pod-people movie, and after a while I found it to be very disconcerting, almost bordering on annoying for some reason.
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) May 21, 2024
I woke up early and hiked up to that specific and beautiful hilltop in Kareila, Russia, just so I could record that train video. No one else was on the mountain. It was a cold and beautiful morning.
♦ Food and Diets – Russian people eat well, and generally you would say they eat healthy fresh food. Because he was apparently concerned about it at some point, Dear Father banned Canola oil in Russia as a food additive. Fresh foods are what the average American would consider “organic foods.” For those of you who grow in your own gardens, you understand what the food markets are like in Russia.
This is not to say Russians are “healthy,” because overall they might not be. Smoking cigarettes and heavy alcohol drinking are very visible, and the difference in appearance between a 20-year-old and a 40-year-old is striking; perhaps that’s why.
Good quality food is cheap in Russia. Everything you see on the counter in this picture (left) was purchased for less than $70. I transposed the prices that I would pay at my local grocery store in the USA, and I came up with around $150-$175.
Processed food prices in Russia (crackers, chips, candies, cereals) generally are about half of what you would pay in the U.S. However, on the fresh foods side (produce, fish, meats, dairy), the Russian prices are a fraction of the U.S.A costs.
[10 eggs for $0.50, bread $1, bananas $0.05/lb, salmon $2.00, head lettuce $0.50, berries less than $1, apples $0.45/lb, steak $2/lb, ground chuck $1.50/lb, etc]
A 30-mile cab ride is around $5 to $8, and gasoline costs less than $2/gal.
A typical “nice” restaurant meal for 2 people is around $15.00, and you can easily grab a burger and fries for $3/$4 at any fast-food place. The average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment (city or suburb) is around $300/mo. The average income of a middle class (blue collar) worker is around $1,000/month.
Those grab-n-go electric scooters and electric bicycles are well used in the Russian cities and cost around $1 for an hour (kinda cool, and yeah I used them).
Keep in mind, during the soviet era religion was essentially forbidden. As a consequence, the Christian calendar within economic life (something you don’t think about in the USA) was erased.
In the USA the typical work week, Monday to Friday 9-5 weekends off, was an outcome of Christianity in the economy. In Russia you can get a dental appointment at 8:00pm on Sunday, or a haircut at any random time of day. All of the private sector businesses operate based on paying customer needs, not the social economic history of church attendance or worship schedules.
You can open a bank account in Russia using a passport, you do not need to live in Russia to open a bank account. Almost everything in “modern Russia” is done through your phone number and apps. On the downside, I have no doubt Dear Father monitors all of the connected activity on the phone number.
FYI, there are no sanctions on telecommunications, and USA issued cell carriers operate reciprocity systems in Russia.
Instagram, Facebook, Rumble and all pornography sites are blocked on Russian internet, but people use VPN’s. However, before you think it’s big government remember, the number of sites blocked by Russia is less than the number of Russian web sites and domain IDs blocked by the USA govt.
If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) carries a Russian identifier, about half the USA websites will block it, including President Trump’s Truth Social platform. This happens in cell phone networks and targeted apps also. I find this to be very troublesome, because communication is critical to avoiding conflict. The “West” and Russia are building walls around their internet protocols making it harder for Americans and Russians to talk to each other. I do not think this is good.
♦ Healthcare – Russian healthcare is very cost efficient, and the system of healthcare itself is really cool. This is one element where you could say Russian outcomes easily exceed the USA. Healthcare for the average Russian is free; essentially, socialized medicine paid via taxes. However, yes there is a private sector healthcare system available for those who want to pay for extra stuff.
Dental is a good example to give you an idea of costs. You can get braces in Russia for less than $1,000 (generally $500). Standard dentists visit for cleaning around $20. That cost ratio carries throughout the general healthcare system that is remarkably modern, although if you need a specialized test like a CAT scan ($75), PET scan ($200) or MRI ($100/$150) you need an appointment at a govt institution (although, super-efficient timelines there too).
Within private sector healthcare, I’m told medical tourism used to be a big thing with people traveling to Russia for low-cost high-quality healthcare. I can see why. I went on several visits to healthcare providers, and the in/out efficiency within both the govt and private sector was impressive. You can also purchase just about all prescription medications (except narcotics classed meds) without a prescription at pharmacies (that are seemingly everywhere like convenience stores).
♦ The Russian Federation, at least through the prism of life as an ordinary Russian (generally middle class/worker class), is not really close to the portrayal that we see about it through Western media.
Russia is a beautiful country; it is massive and filled with natural resources. From the landscape beauty and natural resource perspective, it is similar to the United States in many ways, but the USA is better. Culturally, there is a big difference between the USA and Russia, some of the differences may be considered good, some of them not good depending on what point exactly we were discussing.
I can see how a very specific type of rugged individualist person may enjoy living in Russia more than the USA. In a place where you are disconnected from the modern world and far away from the urban city centers; you can do just about anything you want in Russia – yes, even beyond what is possible in the United States. However, on the aggregate, the ordinary life of the average MAGA American is far superior in quality than the ordinary life of the average Russian.
The opportunities to improve your independent life in the USA are present and within reach. Those same opportunities are not easily found as an independent person in Russia.
When the innovative DNA is triggered in a Russian person, they are inherently compelled by disposition and expressive need to leave the federation. That dynamic is the irony you will find buried deep under the surface, and for very obvious reasons it is the one dynamic the Russian government will not discuss.
If you were to ask me what is the “one thing” I think that will culturally change Russia, you just read what I think it will be in that prior paragraph.
Feel free to use this discussion thread as an ‘Ask Me Anything’ about my time visiting Russia, and I will try to answer as best possible.
Love to all….
Outstanding ethnography, thank you.
Yes! It reminded me of how small my little world really is and how narrow my thinking has become…
Have pulled out my dusty copy of ‘The Romanovs, Autocrats of All the Russias’ by E. Bruce Lincoln after reading Sundance’s post. Just the prologue alone describes so much the mindset that appears to be the foundation for the belief, and continuance of the concept of Fatherland. Hadn’t read that since high school; but as Sundance describes the mindset, that reinforced the presentation the author puts forth in that book.
Excellent reading and pictures. Thanks. Deeply appreciating your work. Godspeed.
WOW I am amazed at your traveling experiences and the way you put your thoughts on “paper”. This is fantastic, I can visualize what you are talking about.
As a dual citizen, there are a few countries I’ve always wanted to visit but jave not to date. Russia is on that list, so is Romania (for family heritage reasons). How is it possible that their food is so plentiful and cheap in comparison to Canada/US? I get that free money handed out during the scamdemic caused this inflation monster we’re currently stuck inside to grow, but even before that our food was still expensive, just not to the degree it is now. Appreciate your perspective SD and thanks, as always, for the share.
I was floored by bananas at $0.05/lb.
Here the banana republic is costing us everything!
Our food prices are controlled by multi-national corps who own the growing and distrubution channels of any one food item. Take lemons as example, lemons cost $.98 in US because the owner controls all pricing of lemons in US and outside US (unrelated to inflation just plain ‘suck the wealth out of US’). (My opinion after years of reading many sources).
Great article, thank you for all your insights (US and outside) from a long time reader.
Found in the bin… 🙁
Yes. I recall some posts by Sundance about that exact economic mechanism. Food prices are no longer primarily determined by supply and demand.
Another great example would be the control of the price of refined cane sugar in the U.S., look into who controls that.
Thank you for sharing these thoughts and photos. Very enlightening.👍🏻
Did you get any sense of the average opinion of Putin?
The average Russian doesn’t think about Putin. At all.
They must think about him during election time. Yes?
How are elections run there? Different candidates for different positions in government. Do they run ads on TV? Posters in the city and country? Do they think their elections are fair or rigged?
You spoke to digital censorship. What about print publication? Are the ideas of western freedom available in bookstores? Or black market? Example: Were Aym Rand’s writings available in book stores or libraries? Accounts of Solzhenitsyn?
Thoughts and books are free to express everywhere. Those prior soviet approaches are gone. You can read, write and buy books with all kinds of ideas and thoughts. No different than the USA.
Russia admits to itself that communism was not a good idea. However, those who are tasked with their Dear Father responsibilities understand that strict rules protect the children best. That really is the mindset.
I see validity in the mindset but I think the main reason we (in the US) would reject such an idea would be simply because most of us do not see government as a “parent figure” or even a family member. They’ve tried… Starting with “Uncle Sam” and then replacing fathers in the home with welfare programs. They’ve tried with some success but also a lot of failure. Uncle Sam isn’t only not welcome at Thanksgiving, he’s unwelcome at the dinner table every single day of every single year. But the replacement of fathers with welfare is an economic system which is am undeniable success which has utterly destroyed the notion of the family ENTIRELY for some groups of people in the US… forever as the last “grandmothers” who still remember a better way are being called back.
How interesting. It seems the Russian people are in many ways ‘freer’ these days than their American counterparts, even as they wither under strict authoritarian ‘parents’ who enforce the rules with an iron fist.
Who elects these leaders? Have the Russians crossed the rubicon where they actually prefer a comfortable autocracy, or do they have no choice in the matter?
Meanwhile Americans are by and large behaving as unruly, spoiled brats with no oversight, no direction, no rules, no responsibilities and no boundaries.
Yet we are happier this way. I guess it is preferable to carve out our own space within a crumbling, lawless society while dreaming of better days, than to chafe under the roof of a strict and humorless “father.”
The question is can we count on regular Americans to accept *personal* responsibility to carry their weight in a ‘free’ society?
If you are accepting of the limits on your freedom, then the things in which you no longer have any interest (due to acceptance) doesn’t feel like “less freedom.”
I had a Japanese girlfriend who was confused by my support for the right to keep and bear. She pointed out “But you don’t have any! Why would you…” I stopped her there. “Things change and so do I. Freedom is about keeping your options open as much as being able to exercise.” Not sure I actually got through to her but she didn’t talk about it again.
Your first paragraph is so very insightful! And I relate to your second paragraph, as well. When the 2021 mandates bore down, I was devastated that people failed to defend *each other’s* basic right to reject a medical experiment, no matter what they may have chosen for themselves.
That witch hunt made me lose faith in a large swath of society who should know better. I can never unsee it. These Americans continue to relinquish our basic human rights codified under the US Constitution (like 2a) with an alarming rate of “acceptance.”
“If you are accepting of the limits on your freedom, then the things in which you no longer have any interest (due to acceptance) doesn’t feel like “less freedom.””
Do you stop at a red light when nothing is coming in any direction?
I’m gratified to see you raise that red light question….because I ask the same thing.
& NO, I don’t.
We had organized a one week private trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg about seven years ago.
In Moscow our lady guide was surprised that I knew of RT when I saw their building. We pointed out that
we could watch RT but that she couldn’t watch Fox – of course, we can’t watch RT today!
Our young driver thought Putin a crook. He told us stories of growing up in one apartment shared by three families. He said people buying or renting flats today sought those which had been built in the Soviet time as they were bigger and more comfortable than ones built today as they had been built for the Soviet elite.
I could drone on and on but suffice it say if anyone ever has a chance to visit St. Petersburg they should take it.
Thank you for another enjoyable thread….:)
Seems to me you’re not being asked for your papers, Sundance, because you look American, and emanate an American aura. 🙂
Thanks for your fascinating ground report from Russia. May God continue to bless you.
Fascinating. Thanks for sharing your perspectives.
Interesting article. Are there big box home improvement stores in Russia? In the US, multiple trips in a weekend are not uncommon to fix things and make improvements. The documentary shows I’m seen detail grueling red tape to fix common problems at home in those sardine cans leading to peoples initiative being squashed. Hence crumbling infrastructure.
No. Big Box stores home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot do not exist.
A Russian vlogger (in English) shopping at a Hardware Store outside Moscow:
Same vlogger at a local (to Moscow) Castorama, which is a France-based Home Improvement chain.
You can compare with your local HD or Lowes
They look a lot like Home Depot or Lowes.
I was there just as Gorby was instituting perestroika. There were literally only two restaurants in St. Petersburg where you could go as a Westerner. It was bleak. So was Moscow. The fall of pure communism was ugly, but what you describe as civil society has advanced meaningfully from there in spite of the difficult transition. If only Putin would trip on a rock.
If only Putin would trip on a rock.
Why so? What has done to who that causes this sentiment?
What what you have replace him?
He obviously wants what the CIA wants. A western puppet who proudly displays rainbow flags!
is it you …Seb Gorka ???
A nice guide to understanding both the how we can improve friendship between our countries and why we should.
Be the change you want to see. Project peace and ensure justice. We must come together to evict the deep state from the throne.
It seems that the world is aligned based on banking schemes.
Wow Jim. Thank YOU. That is a brilliantly eloquent way to say something profound.
You are so right.
Bless you for your thoughts.
Follow up question please.
My was a Rotary exchange student.
Rotary Youth Exchange inspires young leaders to serve as catalysts for peace and social justice in their local communities and throughout the world, long after their exchanges end.
Is Father Russia permitting your free access in the hope Americans can learn Father Russia is not our enemy?
Father Russia never had time to know I was there, or what I was doing. Explained in previous report
Then the Papers Please was just random local cops?
Correct.
Random cops do it all the time.
How about civil society more broadly? That intermediate space between private citizens and the panopticon all seeing bureaucracy? Is there room for it. Do the Russians have their versions of kiwanis, rotary, 4H, boy girl scouts, legion (something like vets of the Afghan war) etc?
It seems ‘we the people’ exist everywhere. It’s those corrupted institutions and those who run it are the outliers. Some day I hope we can unite as you say Jim.
WOW! What an article! The photos show a beautiful, “clean” air type of environment. The people seem to like bright colors. Did you sense a subdued “happiness” among the Russians? Back in the 2000s, I had the opportunity to be around a former KGB officer, who laughed and enjoyed conversation. He was very guarded, but seem happy. In my mind, I have always thought of Russia as people full of despair and sadness. Must be the propaganda of USA media etc.
I probably would not be bothered by the lawfulness, but the lack of spontaneous “playfulness” would take me aback. Perhaps if one has no thought of advancement or improvement, a passive personality develops.
I am perplexed and must expand how I vision Russian people. To be so structured and controlled is suffocating to me. The spirit of God cannot be suffocating. Are the Russian people worshipers of God?
Thank you, Sundance
….”I probably would not be bothered by the lawfulness, but the lack of spontaneous “playfulness” would take me aback. Perhaps if one has no thought of advancement or improvement, a passive personality develops.”….
Exactly this.
At first it is neat… then, you start to realize that something is missing; and yes, it is exactly “playfulness”.
“Are the Russian people worshippers of God”.
Perhaps consider a reframing of this question from “the Russian people”, which is a Western individuality-erasing abstraction, to something more concrete like Russias ancient cultute before their 75 years of Western Marxist Captivity?
Russia is still trying to recover from those 75 years of being captured and under the control of the Western NWO Death Cult. And they were ultimately able to free themselves BECAUSE Russias culture defined Dear Father as Christs Dear Father.
At its founding, in Kiev, Russia chose to reject the Wests version of Christianity, which turned an individuals personal relationship with their Father into a religion with intermediary priests. Instead Russia embraced the more ancient expression of Christianity now commonly referred to as the Orthodox Christian Way of Life.
Some introductory books that may provide helpful insight include:
Land of the Firebirds, Russian Piety and books by Dostoevsky.
They definitely helped me have life altering encounters in just post Gorbachev Russia while working for Green Peace.
Western framing of reality =/= Russian framing of reality.
From my experience, Western framing, by design == reality disconnected. However, Americans culture has encouraged its people to be more reality connected than any other Westerners.
Perhaps that’s one reason why, Russia, until it was captured, acted as Americas older brother and routinely intervened to protect America from the Euro Globalists schemes to re enslave America.
And perhaps that’s one reason why those Euro Globalists took out Russias government and tried to destroy Russias history,culture and foundational spirituality by installing a Western communist puppet regime.
Also the works of Solzhenitsyn, of course.
Eastern Christianity (Orthodoxy) is not more ancient than Western Christianity. They both began with Christ.
If one would want to retire to a nice quiet place with christian values, decent social norms, lower cost of living and general rule of law ……..
IF one would want to be stoic and grey…. yes.
IF life has destroyed the concept of joy for you…. or if grief were the sense you struggled with, and found comfortable, after loss…. Then Russia is your kind of place.
Sounds a bit like Finland and the people there. Always heard they were very reserved and borderline depressed. Iceland, too.
I’ve lived in a few places around the world and found many countries lack the American “playfulness “. Germany, Italy, France and even England were much more reserved in public. Even in an English pub, the locals were well behaved.
Americans have long been known for being loud, obnoxious and rude. Generally I don’t think that’s the case, but we’re a different and original creature, for sure.
Thank you very intersting article. Be safe and enjoy your wknd everyone
That video of the train really brought back memories. My grandfather was a B&O engineer from 1909 to 1955. When I was a little boy he would put me up in the cab with him. I lived in Cumberland, MD at the time and the sound of the train whistle would put me to sleep at night.
This goes off-topic so we might pick up this convo sometime in the Open Thread. But both my father’s and grandfather’s careers were with the B&O, and I worked for the B&O in Baltimore one summer during college years (’69). I also was a member of the B&O RR Historical Society from 2010 to 2020. If you ever want to share info or history., reply to one of my posts and we can start a new thread.
That would be great
Reminded me of “chasing trains” with my Dad around 1965-66. B&O was one of the common ones in Maryland, obviously. Some other lines we chased, but might have been over the border in PA, or a ROW access area, if there is such a thing. Also, trips to Cass, WV to take the scenic train (coal fired) up the mountain with a 15 degree gradient, iirc. Then sticking my head out the open window area to see the train along the bend and getting a face full of gritty bits of coal. And the smell of it. Good memories!
I am surprised that no mention was made that Russians have always used a female image for their land: Mother Russia.
In the showdown between a Vaterland and a Motherland, it was Mother Russia who prevailed, despite being ruled by an even more brutal dictator at the time than the Germans.
On that basis, a Russian analyst once observed that mothers in Russia tightly – very tightly- swaddle their babies and toddlers: warmth against the cold was the goal, of course.
Yet he wondered whether this tight swaddling was unconsciously sending a message to the infant that being free to move, to flail your arms around in delight or distress, was somehow bad, and that being restricted in your bodily freedom was the correct way to live.
It would be difficult to prove, but it might explain the passive subservience which Alexander Solzhenitsyn observed and lamented in his fellows during the Communist era.
I read every volume of Solzhenitsyns Gulag Archipelago. The over all impression I got was NOT of the Russian peoples “passive submission” which is a typical human reaction, but rather the Russian peoples inspiring RESISTENCE to the Western Marxist Death Cult; resistence that Solzhenitsyn attributed to their life long immersion in the Orthodox Christian Way of Life.
I ultimately came to agree with Solzhenitsyn.
I read all of it also: to be sure, Solzhenitsyn thought Christianity, especially Russian Orthodoxy, was the path to the future for Russia.
We shall see!
So far it appears to be working well.
Wow, I really love this, and I can’t thank you enough for sharing this experience with us. I am part Russian and part Hungarian. Grandparents came from Hungary and Russia. My parents and I were born in Ohio. I am proudly an American. It has been on my bucket list to visit St. Petersburg. I am now 57 and due to financial reasons primarily, I’ve never been able to as of yet. I also wouldn’t mind visiting Budapest. But Russia is my deepest desire. Perhaps someday that dream will come true but until then, I can visit vicariously through your narrative and photos!
Russia is a police state. If the Russian people openly criticize Putin or the rest of regime government they will be arrested or killed.
The corruption in our own country desperately wants a permanent police state.
Will liberty or tyranny prevail in the United States? I pray every day that freedom and liberty prevails. The greatest country on earth is The United States of America.
This is false. Totally false.
Confused. Why do the police randomly ask for papers? Did anyone ever have a story about someone without papers? Is it just an artifact from communism or maybe a method that shows “father” is watching out for the welfare of citizens? Do you think it’s designed as a nationalistic way to preserve culture?
Have you traveled? Checkpoints in US for interstate transport of fruits and vegetables. Border patrol checkpoints sometimes check ID if you are Latino. Former Spanish colonies have Alcabala checkpoints. FSU countries check your parts randomly too.
First, I was asking about Russian everyday people on the street. Second, interstate F&V checks are for commercial, not average citizen, and border checks are not what Sundance talks about.
To a degree, we see random checks here in America as well.
Traffic stops.
We accept them as normal, even though a fair percentage of them (depending on the jurisdiction) are in reality a reason to “check our papers”, and to generate revenue.
Strongly and respectfully disagree. Russia is not a free country. Russia government controls there people. The Russian people have no individual liberties granted by God. Americans aren’t moving to Russia for freedoms or a better way of life.
Agree.
I think, however, that Sundance has dexterously laid the seed for the notion that there is a segment of that society that not only does not accept such control but is doing something about it in the sense of vacating the urban control structures.
It should escape no one’s attention that Putin has basically manipulated the law to ensure a perpetual presidency.
It would be interesting to open a vista into whether the average Russian has insight into how their national foreign policy/actions have been conducted since Putin ascended to power. Much like our own country, my bet is that it has been hidden from common view – and so, as in our country, accountability is often muted.
“Russia” == America
Hopefully prayers == connecting ones heart with God before going to work to make what’s prayed for happen if that’s Gods will.
When the hearts connected with Him then He can work WITH us and THROUGH us. When disconnected we’re tweenishly on our own.
“If the Russian people openly criticise Putin or the rest of regime government they will be arrested or killed.”
Simply not true.
Was in Moscow a few months before the 2012 presidential elections. Muscovites certainly had no problem speaking their minds, including the media. People were just not as animated by political intrigue as we were/ are.
Nobody ever asked for my papers(except for the airport and US embassy )while walking around as a foreigner , that is not to say it isn’t the case now. Different times.
But then again, Russia at the time, wasn’t on the verge of war with the collective west, heavily sanctioned, or recently suffered serious acts of terrorism…
Since your return, do you feel government spying eyes on you more than before you left?
I would say there is not difference between USA surveillance and Russia surveillance.
You name it in Russia, I can point to it in the USA.
The difference is within the activation of the system that now exists simultaneously in both countries. In the USA activation, they need to get past the challenge of the constitution…. THAT is the current status we live in.
But that big difference — in Russia it’s probably quite “legal.” In the US it’s actually not legal but we have a problem with authorities unwilling to agree with us.
Civil asset forfeiture is a thing which is CLEARLY illegal under the constitution and yet it continues and even the lowest level of local police are willing to participate in the “harvest.”
We need to keep up the fight before they finally legitimize what they are doing.
“….before they finally legitimize what they are doing.”
While I understand the spirit of your statement, we have to admit reality – the current regime in Washington DC has “legitimized” what they have been doing.
This is evident from the fact that the federal base of justice – DOJ & FBI – are both violating citizen’s constitutional rights without ANY substantive repercussions from the paralyzed / compliant / corrupt Congress or the majority of courts (almost all being leftwing -biased) except in a handful of isolated cases where specific appeals have been successful.
Lawfare enjoys unlimited public funding and political support so it is almost impossible for the average American to fight them off. Emergency powers like the Patriot Act and global health protocols have strategically been enacted to override Constitutional law.
We seem to be at a standoff now between our Constitutional right to fight a tyrannical government and the tyrannical government’s right to dispense with their domestic enemies.
What an illuminative and enlightening post.
TY so much for this snapshot of life in Russia.
I find it intriguing and disturbing why our food and energy costs here are so high, but I suspect it has to do with regulatory impositions and unnecessarily high government imposed taxes, fees and assessments.
The healthcare costs, lack of restrictions, quality, availability and efficiency described are most compelling and understood.
I used to frequent a certain stable and seemingly well run Central American country where the healthcare system was very much as you described in Russia.
Ever since those days, I have wondered in dismay how we, as Americans, have allowed government and Big Medicine/Pharma and private healthcare insurance industries destroy and make cost prohibitive something that is so universally essential and of central concern to all when it doesn’t have to be that way or need to be.
In any event, should you have the time and desire to answer a question from me, it would be this:
What in your view would you describe how the average Russian views the average American, contrasted to how they feel about our government, and do they genuinely see a similarity or differnce between the two?
Good post.
I think Sundance has laid down most of the landscape in this regard over the last many years:
the main street/wall street divide; the associated wall street favorable regulatory structure that enables global agriculture businesses to basically exercise market power for profit maximization through segmentation
profound supply chain changes during/following Covid; consequent changes in food distribution networks and priorities
profound changes in transport costs (global shipping industry has suffered from a double whammy of lack of new capacity for over a decade and sanctions); large increases in shipping insurance costs (Red Sea driven)
large increases in energy costs (green policy driven)?
random (maybe?) events such as mass cattle deaths in KS; bird flu; food contamination (there is a gov’t service that issues regular health warnings – in my mind, there seems to be an uptick in large events (i.e., recalls) such as Salmonella poisoning; other warnings such as one last year for metallic residues in some Diet Coke production runs).
Interesting observations, beautiful pictures. Thanks!
One of the biggest things we notice through your photographs is the population seems to be made up of all White people, and this appears to be a good thing. No racial strife and tension. The Russians are all one people, one big family with a common history and religion.
Would you agree this is true?
Yes. Everyone looks white to me. However, non-white Russians are described as “Asian Russians.”
The Moscow terrorists would be called “Asian Russians”…… Not chinese or what you would call “asian”, but more olive skinned white, middle-eastern looking people.
Back in the early 2000’s my adult daughter, while living in Norfolk VA, hosted two high school exchange students, one from Brazil and the other from Kazakhstan. The Kazahk girl (about 16 years old) had very oriental facial features and straight black hair. Her father was in the oil industry and was able to afford her visit to the U.S. She told us that many Kazahks live in Russia because of better job opportunities there.
Unless one is unfortunate enough to be born Chechen!
Unfortunate? Aren’t they allies with the Russians in the war in Ukraine?
I’m not choosing sides on this one!
That said, go back and review the history on Chechnya and you will see that Soviet and Russian actions have been borderline genocidal. I say this acknowledging a dearth of research on Chechnya (i.e., terrorism, separatist movements) on my part. A lot of this was documented in Soviet intelligence records released following the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent Chechnya/Russian wars.
The deeper one gets into Chechnya the “weirder” its history appears.
Whoops…forgot your question. Allies might not be the right term. Just the same anti-fascism is a recurring theme that forges common interests (Chechnya, Russia) in this respect. Just someone whose interest has been piqued.
There is certainly a lot more to this…
The DOS has spent a great deal of time and money on Chechnya Dagestan, Georgia, Ukraine etc. to destabilise and ultimately fracture Russia.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/washingtons-civil-society-and-cia-financing-of-chechen-and-other-caucasus-regional-terrorists/5333359
Thanks for the feedback.
It’s amazing the legacies from WWII that trace and haunt us to this very day. Especially the enormous growth in intelligence agencies.
👍
There are a number of Russians where I work, I had to smile when you said that they talk quiet on the cell phone. All the Russians at work sound like the yell when they talk. It’s like the louder they talk the easier it will be for me to understand their heavily accented attempt at speaking American.
Many western product are made in China. This may explain why there’s no shortage of them in Russia.
Authoritarianism in all its flavors and scale forces people into the shadows. It is happening here in the USA, from the work place, to the street, to society. I have witnessed people drop out of discussion forums in order to become grey men. The FIB sting operations as well as the J6 setup and persecutions have succeeded in fomenting mistrust and fear. The government installing snitch policies and laws adds to the grey man ranks in the USA. Oregon has a new snitch policy in regards to doctors and micro aggression ( a term I absolutely hate).
Sundance appears to be remarking how quiet Russians speak within the Fatherland.
The Russians who are here are part of the innovative 15% that sought a different, freer landscape.
And perhaps, they are liberated from speaking quietly!
Definitely. We had Russian neighbors in Denver. They could party with the best of us lol.
Thanks for all of the information on Russian people, costs and quality of dentistry, medical tests, food, and gas, etc. What is the average Russian worker salary?
Your comment on the probably ever increasing inability of our citizens to communicate with Russian people is troubling to say the least. Sounds like “You will communicate with no outsiders and you will be happy ” to me. I don’t like the sound of that!
Sundance mentioned $1,000/mo. as being an average blue collar salary in Russia.
TY!
SD as my user name suggests are there any outdoor activitie available to the average citizen, trapping, fishing, Archery, shooting sports. My guess would be no on the shooting sports? Thanks and great article, makes one appreciate the freedoms we have and all the more important to knowing what we risk losing….
Lots of outdoor recreation available. Same as in USA, no difference.
Except no guns.
Oh SNAP! I was thinking of retiring in Russia until you mentioned that. My wife wants to retire in Japan and I say “no” for the same reason.
Thank you, Sundance.
Sundance: What is the percentage who believe in God? Putin was building/restoring churches I believe not long ago, which indicated to me that he was encouraging religion, which ultimately is the ‘best’ form of control. Not meaning it cynically.
And apologies….my manners, for not saying at the outset what an outstandingly immersive article this is. Just fantastic…
I should have mentioned this. Sorry.
Communism killed religion…. but it never went away…. Christianity is resurging and supported by the government. However, as religion intersects with social life, stuff gets weird.
Like in the USA, stores and systems closed on Sunday was because the USA was a Christian country. In Russia those types of religious schedules for life organization do not exist. You can visit a dentist at 8pm on a saturday or a hairdresser on sunday evening…. because the work/non-work calendar is not based on Christian roots.
Here in the States, we’re told to thank the unions for giving us the weekend;)
Does Russia suffer the same “avian flu” fear porn we see in America recently? Every time you turn around more herds need to be eradicated. We must believe their testing results? On what basis?
No, and the Russian people do not buy into the “western” medical fear porn.
The COVID vaccination rate in Russia is much lower, stunningly much lower, than in the USA. They don’t believe that stuff.
Excellent piece. Allow me to point out that the Russian people have no idea/perception of living in “freedom” because they never have. They went from tribal chiefs to Czars to Communist dictators to today’s oligarchs and Putin. The boyars/nomenklatura/oligarchs have always run the State for the boss. We may be getting close here, too.
Exactly.
Informative article.Interesting to note the cost of goods and services,however no mention of discretionary income that would help put it into better perspective.
Presuming you are home again and thanks be to God for providing you safe travels.All my best,Casco. 🙂
Whatever, main thing is, people are eating regular, no potato famine, good things are happening by the look of the pictures. You can argue the finer points ’til people quit listening, or listen to happy people enjoying their lives. They have come a long way from post-soviet poverty.
The ‘Empires’ (referring to western here) cultural propaganda of exceptionalism always makes one compare “other” countries and people to ones’ own ingrained sense of superiority.
Why cannot “other” countries and their peoples be just viewed as, well “others” who have an inherent right to live and organize their society as they have seen fit?
When one looks around western society in a critical fashion, what does one see?
We are in an era of competition for “others” resources………and to take these one needs to believe they are ‘exceptional’ and deserving of those resources……because the locals are not using them ‘efficiently’ and ‘we, the exceptional ones’ should control it all……and make it soooo much better!!!!!
If the Russian people are all children fallowing the father government, how on earth did they manage to develop such great scientific, artistic, literary and cultural achievements? There are 11 time zones covering Russia with in-numerable peoples with distinct cultures. Somehow they have been able to create a ‘Russian Culture’ that allows them to co-exist and live (what they deem to be) enjoyable and worthwhile lives.
The US does not have the tech to create hyper-sonic missiles to give to Ukraine to achieve its’ goals of capturing Russian resources.
As for life in rural Russian? If there is happiness there ( as opposed to envy) they are all good-lives-lived, no matter where they were born.
The West needs to be more humble, when attempting to ‘judge’ the happiness and value of others lives and societies!
“the Russian people do not have any other reference point, or alternative system that would enable them to see the deficit in the oppressive system that surrounds them.”
This is exactly why we must steadfastly refuse a One World Government.
I saw how easily my fellow Americans clamored for the damn “paternalism” over a cold virus.
Nobody here is running on fixing thatso we don’t ever again go Soviet at the drop of a kleenex.
We won’t have MAGA until this is understood.
Store clerks were empowered to order customers to put rags on their faces.
Now were are all pretending that this didn’t happen.
Excellent point
Very true.
Don’t forget the part where large numbers of people also lifted the dubious digit and refused to wear masks or follow gov’t directed edicts – some at great personal cost (e.g., lost their jobs). An interesting part of this was how many Americans became Karens or actually attacked non-compliers. I was physically assaulted for not wearing a mask at one point.
I distinctly remember (and enjoyed) seeing one man wearing a package of bologna as his “mask.” It was awesome!
That’s funny.
I was assaulted in Florida of all places. Young stubby male punk rammed his cart into my legs from behind while I was reaching for a top shelf item. I yelled at him (i.e., I wasn’t hurt) some choice words and questioned why but he steamed off pretty quickly. Still po’d I went to the section that held home appliances, picked up a hammer, made it visible and headed to search down the punk. The calculating side of my brain quickly took over – “not a good idea”. So, I sought the store manager and queried whether there were recording devices in the store. There were – for every aisle in the store. The catch was I couldn’t see the tape unless I filed a police request first. I was more interested in finding out why the guy attacked me (I knew why; I wanted him to affirm the obvious) than calling in the police so I hunted the guy down. He was with his wife! I confronted him and asked “why?” He played like he didn’t know what I was talking about. The store manager had followed me and stepped in at that point and surprised me by playing along – stating that there were tapes. At that point the punk changed his story and claimed I was harassing his wife – a blatant lie that further undercut his original denial.
In the event, I chalked it up to what I had been witnessing during all of Covid: a lot of passive aggressive behavior intentionally unleashed/provoked by gov’t/media.
In the 60’s you could’ve slapped or punched him in response to the shopping cart assault and no cop in any rural town would’ve arrested you.
In my local grocery store in 2020, a guy about my age (over 60 is all I’ll say) yelled at me, “Put a f–king mask on!” to me. “F–k you!” I said in return. “I’ll kick your ass”, he says. He was about 10′ away from me.
I dropped my hand basket on the floor, squared up, and told him “Do it!”. As I knew he would, he hesitated, which made me call him out harder. A maskless woman who’d been watching said to him, “Whatsa matter, you scared of him?”
Suddenly I realized this was not 1965 and I’d probably be the one arrested. I stood down, told the guy to take off and stop being stupid, and finished my shopping keeping one eye on the front doors, waiting to be arrested.
Never was, but man, some people were so stupid and scared you just know if the govt had played up Covid as the black plaque, they’d have shot you on sight for not wearing a mask. Dumb sheep.
Bravo to you!!👏👏👏👏
You are stating the glaring disconnect between politics at large and the true mindset of the modern man.
My ‘take away’ after reading this – ‘Live and Let Live’ …it truly looks quiet & peaceful compared to the US at present.
Thanks for the lovely tour of Russia. Just one correction – Russians refer to their country as the Mother Land. The Father Land is what Germans call their country. Russians live–and die–for their principles, which they defend as a mother would her child, or a grown child would defend his mother. The warning not to poke the bear should be heeded.
..just tell it to blinken/nudelman….
Russians perceive the state as a father, and the land as a mother. One word or another is used depending on the context. Our Motherland Russia is seen by us as a young mother feeding her little child. While the Fatherland is seen as a male warrior guarding his family.
Thank you for the explanation. I am guessing the “fatherland” term came about during the reign of the Communist Party.
While also curious about the Russian people, their culture and history, I agree with you, Sundance, our path forward is to fix it here in the United States.
Still familial lineage, circumstances of our time, and interpersonal dynamics have caused me to begin re-exploring Russian art, literature, culture and history. As a kid, I picked up and read Crime & Punishment at 16 and The Brothers Karamazov at 24, and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich somewhere in between.
More recently, I have watched a couple handfuls of Soviet films, though one stands apart from all of the rest, Heart of a Dog, based on the short, hilarious novel of the same name by Mikhail Bulgakov.
Bulgakov’s main character is Sharik, a freezing, starving mutt who opines about human nature, the Bolsheviks and women, and ends up being seduced by a physician and live organ experimenter, Fillipo Fillipovich with a piece of Cracow sausage.
As brillant as the novel, the cinematography of the film, its deadly serious subject matter, along with several doses of belly laughs, is a film that I will surely watch again as I continue to (slowly) read through the novel
A note about translation. There are other versions out there that are terrible. This translation is excellent and close to the novel. However, in many cases the letter ‘s’ is dropped, so ‘she’ is ‘he’ and not in the way that we have been entrained, just a simple error.
As a way of saying thank you for your thoughtful travel and other writing, I offer you and the Treehouse, Heart of a Dog:
If you have made your way into any museums, are there any artists whose work moved you?
By the looks of things, Putin sure love his country and his people than our Gubmint does us.
Stress on country. Whoever among the people oppose Putin, it’s historically worse than being MAGA here.
I write “historically” because of course it’s getting worse here. And IF they were to win in November………
Thanks, good insights.
Many insights comport with what a friend of mine said about Russia a few years after the fall of the USSR. He was sent over there to help the Russians establish/improve their government audit systems and processes.
I distinctly remember him saying that once he got out of St. Petersburg it was like going back to the early 1900s here in America.
That was over 30 years ago, and I am sure things have changed somewhat since then.
Or not. In some of my various findings, just 10 years ago, parts of Russia were still stuck in the early 20th century.
As are several remote parts of the USA that I have visited in the last decade.
Very enjoyable read. One thing I kept thinking about was the several Russian exchange students I met back in 2007, who spend half or more of a summer in a tourist town in eastern TN. They lived the American life for weeks, at least semi-immersed in America (eastern TN is very American), meeting Americans like me – who took huge interest in meeting Russians after having served in the military for 20 years of the Cold War.
What I thought about mostly was the presumed shock that some of them felt when returning to Russia – Siberia in a few cases. And then that exchange program ended not long afterward, about the same time Putin terminated an Armed Forces treaty with Europe. I had collected a few email addresses and kept in touch with a couple of these brilliant, very pleasantly sociable young adults – until all of that stopped. And then I seriously wondered (worried) what was happening with my new Russian friends. The most worrisome thing was that one of them had made a few uncomplimentary comments about Putin, in email. “On the record.”
But the underriding point of my comment is this question: How did these exchange students, on balance, view their Fatherland after spending weeks living a very American lifestyle?
One thing I did know for sure was that they didn’t think very highly of American restaurant food, especially breakfast.
Sundance ave you any idea what a 75% Russian earns?
The price is irrelevant.
The income to price is what is important.
$1,000 to $2,000 a month avg.
Most of the people I met averaged around $2,500 a month in income.
” the “one thing” I think that will culturally change Russia”…… Like the ‘Telegram’ bros leaving Russia. So the proverbial question is how much Dear Father allows for cultural change in order to innovate and still maintain the peaceful, polite society. That’s a tough one.
Nice article. But…the “low” prices appear that way by Western (especially U.S) incomes. The article might be more balanced in terms of cost-of-living by mentioning the average Russian income.
Go back and read again.
Excellent read to gain a better perception (and truth). Proves the point how a little firsthand experience affords one a better understanding from what the media or bad actors want you to believe. No different than checking Yelp for a restaurant review that screams “It’s lousy!… but you go anyway and have a terrific meal.
People should not be trusted so easily…especially these days where everyone spouts their either chronic or momentary angst at will…many are too fickle, dragging their personal narcissism, biases, or even a bad day, into their “review”. Maybe they were a lousy customer or a doing a hit job for a competitor…one can never truly know…so one must employ “trust but verify”, otherwise one could miss out on a terrific meal or experience.
It’s sad really, or worse it’s a serious black eye – especially having grown up near Washington’s Crossing and steeped in Colonial history – for those in other countries viewing our Oval Office Installed Resident and his choice of inner circle immoral human beings, or worse, our media hyperventilator’s, then assuming this represents all American’s. As Kevin Leary said a few weeks back (roughly): “These people are destroying America’s Brand…either knowingly or completely tone deaf to their harmful actions because of their pursuit of absolute power.”
Putin is not Russia. Neither is Zelenskyy for Ukraine. Nor is The Husk ours. 15% of Colorado’s population in major urban centers destroy the perception for 85% of the state. We aren’t Denver or Boulder…yet people are being sold that we are all the same. Not even close.
👍
Sundance, thank you so very much for this enlightening insight on what ‘life is like’ inside Russia!
My first thoughts while reading was that it all sounded depressing.
But then I compared ‘life inside Russia’ to ‘life inside America’, as she is today — and with that comparison, it was no longer so depressing.
And by this I mean that ‘life inside America’ as she currently stands — also has an oppressive government. And, we also have social & moral decay (debauchery) all around us as well.
In that sense, the Russians are better off.
Wondering what is (un)employment like? Are most households comprised of Mom & Dad working?
Could you discern how many children the average couple has?
Being a product of the 40s/50s, I also felt your description brought me back to those times her in the USA. Thank You for all you do Sundance –
The average family has more than two children. [See prior articles where I talked extensively about this]
As they say in Excalibur, the king and the land are one.
Thank you Sundance for the pictures and commentary. The life style reminds me of my childhood in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Especially the train. Rode a lot and had a track near by. I still love the sound of a Train. I think I’ll take the great USA for my mother land..
As far as one article can describe a society, what Sundance has provided is prescient, but not complete. Sundance left out the most prevalent aspect of Russian society, more precisely the Russian “system”. To be clear, the Russian system as it applies to its Military. Russia is a devided social construct. There’s the Russian People, a vastly diverse amalgam of separate and diverse cultures. Then there is the Russian Government. A vastly overreaching, enormity which, although has great central power, is ignored as much as possible by the Russian people.
There is a saying in Russia that, I think, aptly describes this relationship. Remember salaries are low in Russia, typically a fraction of Western salaries. Salaries are controlled by the State. This works because prices are controlled by the State, as well. However, when asked about this, a good friend and Russian defector, explained that, “In Russia, companies pretend to pay their employees, and, in exchange, Russian employees pretend to work.”
The YouTube channel “Perun ” has done some outstanding work on a variety of topics. He, over the past two and a half years, has concentrated many of his weekly “shows” on the Russo-Ukraine war. About a year ago, he touched on this topic as it applies to the Russian military. It is worth a listen, when you have an hour for a detailed assessment:
“Salaries are controlled by the State”
This a patently false statement.
Perun = Globalist war mongering propaganda
So, Perun invaded Ukraine, eh? I’ll bet he’s a National Socialist as well.
Care to cite your sources for such accusations?