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 Motherland” 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 motherland.”
Within Russia the social compact is organized around the premise (key word “premise“), that government is the mother 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 mother who cares about the children.
Women, the generally forgotten sense of the word woman, are held in high esteem, and “Women’s Day” is the biggest holiday throughout the federation.
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 motherland 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 Mother.
It is safer to be a “non-vulgar” 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 motherland 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 were 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, and connection to govt, ie. “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 in our western definition, 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.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov is a great representation of this outcome. He created the social media platform inside Russia but then found out if he wanted to really control what he created, he needed to leave Russia. He now lives in Dubai and operates Telegram with a small group of innovative tech experts.
On one hand, there are too many grey people, not enough independent thinkers, and 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, and they want to control communication networks, 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, 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 Mother is not willing to allow her 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, India, 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 looked strong in both 2024 and 2025.
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 Mother. 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
— 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 she was apparently concerned about it at some point, Dear Mather banned Canola oil in Russia as a food additive.
Fresh foods in Russia 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 $300-500/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 Mother 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 ip’s 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.
Russians are a strong people. Super strong mentally and extremely pragmatic. An American trying to be politically correct to a Russian will not stand a chance at the necessary pretending needed. Russians are brutally honest, but after you get familiar with it, it’s extremely refreshing.
During my 2025 visit there were some noticeable differences. The internet is turned off during times when the govt is concerned about inbound drones or other issues of Ukraine attack. The Russian people brush it off, meh – just war stuff, and do something else until the internet is returned.
There are lots of children in Russia, more children in Russia than any other country I have visited in the past few years. There’s honestly not even a close second place. Children are considered very important and the ordinary Russian will express a protective instinct toward any child in any situation.
Feel free to use this discussion thread as an ‘Ask Me Anything‘ about my time visiting Russia in 2024 (April, May, June) and again in June/July 2025. I will try to answer as best possible.
Love to all….
Liberty and Freedom are messy. The reason why so many governments abhor it.
Thank you for your travels and reporting the truth just beneath the surface. Fascinating.
Liberty and freedom has gone off the rails in the US.
https://briantubbs.medium.com/the-u-s-constitution-only-works-for-a-moral-and-religious-people-5ff6bb3a16ee
Rights and responsibilities go hand in hand. The modern culture only wants the former and not the latter.
A “I do what I want” culture still has to abide by “do no harm”. If I want to practice my religion, then I have to accept others may practice their religion without my interference. But if their practice harms my practice, then we’ve broken that social contract.
Free speech means cultural limits, don’t curse in front of children, behave yourself around others. Don’t take or break the work of others just because you want it. But the public wants free social cost for their freedoms.
Maybe that’s a difference in the US vs Russians, to tie back to this article, they enforce the social cost which limits the government intrusion in their lives. No one wants to get yelled at by Mother.
But in the US, even though we’ve allowed Government to become intrusive via broken families, 4th wave women’s lib (DEI), and SNAP/WIP safety nets, Mother Gov wants to be the “Fun Party Mom”. Treat Yourself, take this money, live in a tent if you want, free needles, sex everywhere with anyone.
Mother US doesn’t Yell, she Enables. And that’s incredibly self-destructive for a youth that doesn’t have moral foundations.
That’s not what free speech means by any stretch. I agree with the rest. Except sex – that’s pretty rare if you’re a millennial or Gen Z. Allegedly.
IMO, most of what ‘troubles’ the USA, is the lack of consequences for irresponsible actions… from youth to adulthood. When youngsters don’t get punished, they grow up to be adults that don’t get punished… politicians, anyone???, a society that ignores wrongdoing, only encourages it..
Examples abound.
Interesting that you point out the difference between urban and rural life in Russia.
I am particularly interested in farming Sundance. In the USSR days Russia constantly under performed in meeting basic food demands. Remember shipping them US grain in the 80s?
Are those market products you illustrate produced by many small farms or large government farms? Alternatively are there a lot of imported agricultural products? How modernized are their farming techniques?
Loved their black bread, did you like it? Couldn’t even brush your teeth in Moscow using the tap water in the 90s……foreigners would all come down with a ghastly bug. Muscovite seemed unfazed by whatever the bug was in their water and were seemingly immune to it.
If we had honesty in the USA like in the 1960s woke and libs wouldn’t ever gain traaction.
Luciferian Communism damaged them badly. Some of the crazy stuff here like the Globull Warming/Climate Change “Science” is much like the Liberal-Soviet “science”. Research Lysenkoism my friend. Be well.
Stalin and Mao used starvation for depopulation. Politics shouldn’t mix with agriculture but then again fascist corporatism (Big Corp) shouldn’t mix with agriculture either; add in govt subsidies and you get strange solutions like depleting topsoil for ethanol in fuel.
Colkitto,
Thank you for mentioning Lysenkoism. The parallels between Lysenkoism and those who worship at the altar of climate change are amazing. The more you look at Lysenkoism, the more you see the climate agenda.
“Foreigners would all come down with a ghastly bug.”
Ask me how I know.
One ice cube. One.
I was warned and brushed my teeth with bottled water.
In the 1980’s I was told that in tourist areas you might need to walk a mile to get a bathroom. Also they had nourishment in public. If you became thirsty in the Red Square you could purchase from a vendor what was described to me as a cider like beverage (kvass?). Problem was no disposable containers. Your beverage was served in a metal cup that was returned from the previous recipient and refilled for you without being washed. I see in the photo a disposable (?) coffee cup?
Also I thought that Russian medical care involved the entire family if you needed a surgery. Your family needed to be able to rush out to purchase whatever the surgeon might need. Your family needed to provide blankets to keep you warm during your recovery. This is what I read years ago about conditions in Russia with no updates since.
In the 70’s a college friend visited Russia (USSR at the time). At the border, the guard took his passport and spent a worrying amount of time frowning, scrutinizing it and my friend’s face.
Then he handed the passport back and with a broad smile announced “Budka! Is good Ukrainian name!”
Are Russians required to do military service?
Can a Russian pick whatever profession they choose, and what “professions” are available?
Is there any path for a Russian to improve their circumstances?
Can a Russian live wherever they want, purchase land, build what they want, live how they want?
My wife is form Kazan, Russia. She has adult children there still. No required military service. They live their lives and do what they want. But, they know it best to not say or criticize certain things.
My wife had her own business. Did very well for herself. She told me that she once had to pay a huge tax “fine”, otherwise the gov was going to investigate all her employees for tax evasion.
That sardine got noticed, lol.
Thank you for sharing!
“Is there any path for a Russian to improve their circumstances?
Can a Russian live wherever they want, purchase land, build what they want, live how they want?”
can an “american” do those things at this point in our collapse?
I am. Who knows if that will ever change.
You have no building codes or zoning?
Or permits.
Don’t forget all the permits.
As long as you adhere to all of the ‘regulations’ here… even the really stupid ones. Bureaucracies do not appear to attract intelligent/Common Sense people.
What are the cities like compared to the US? Are there areas that are completely run down with stores boarded up?
Are there drug zombies hanging out on the streets?
The mother description makes digital ID seem ok?
There are no ghettos in the cities. There are no homeless and no visible drug use. I don’t know where the drug addicts go, but the process for drug use is to stay inside with their friends.
The penalties are harsh for drug possession. Additionally police may force you to take a drug blood test without permission. A positive drug test means jail time. A good friend grew up in the USSR and successfully immigrated to the US during the Cold War. He eventually moved back and set up in Sochi. He was forced to leave after he became a sardine that was “noticed”.
Drug possession charges in the states were harsh until the 70s.
Digital ID is different. Both Russia and the US scarf up all the personal data of citizens and foreigners alike from all kinds of communication lines. You do not need a digital ID to be identified based on location, name, date of birth, etc.
This link is tangential, but I think worth being aware of.
https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/putin-russia-neutrality-iran-israel-conflict-donald-trump-us-missile-strike-125062300479_1.html
There are many Russians and Ukrainians in Israel (1/8 of current population?) including non-Jewish people who came to Israel to work.
Signs in Israel when I visited were not only in Hebrew, but also English and Russian and Arabic (20% of population were refugees from
Morocco?)
I am American, not Israeli, but a close family member married a Russian speaker she met while studying in Israel. I will share this thread with her and await her response
Orthodox Christians from the Russian Empire were famous for making pilgrimage to the Holy Land before the Bolsheviks. There are Christian Holy Places that are still in the custody of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission.
The suffering Orthodox Christian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has a certain segment for the spiritual needs of Russian-speakers in the Holy Land.
The Orthodox Christian population in Israel now has greatly expanded. Mixed marriages were commonplace in anti-religion Communist Russia.
Anyone with one Jewish grandparent can claim Israeli citizenship, the religion they practice is irrelevant. Plus they can bring family with them.
Two million speakers of Russian now live in Israel.
My own Russki was an officer in the Soviet Army. His mother was born in Kharkiv, USSR.
One of his sons stayed in [the] Ukraine, started a family. We tried to convince him to come here, but his wife refused. She wouldn’t even let us evacuate the babies.
He was working on drone development in a research facility in Kiev when he was killed in an explosion.
His other son lives in Israel with his young family. They speak Russian at home.
One of my closest friends is a Russian emigre and he would agree with Sundance, 100%. Must reading for every American. I would add the dopes at the CIA too.
“I would add the dopes at the CIA too.”
i doubt the NAZCIA is ignorant to such things. they are there to manipulate and control, not learn. we are told differently because thats what they need us to think so they can do their work of tearing down and destroying.
Wasn’t that a steam engine?
That was steam engine. My grandfather drove one for 45 years, retiring in the ’50’s. I can still remember him putting me up in the cab with him and taking me for a ride when I was about 4 or 5 years old. The sound of that whistle sure brings back memories…
Bet that coal fired locomotive doesn’t pollute anymore than a diesel electric locomotive. Is it a statement though on their infrastructure? Could it be actually more effective to run coal locomotives?
Yes, because- recall what Sundance noted about their old infrastructure. That includes transportation systems.
Steam engines can last 100+ years but they require continuous maintenance on the heavy weight bearing components, and on the various steam pressure components (tubes, valves, cylinders, pistons) and the boilers have to be completely torn down and re-tubed (inside) every couple dozen years or sooner depending on usage. That job takes months to complete unless they can put a lot of manpower on it.
Don’t know what fuel they burn but it could be coal or oil. I’m guessing the locomotive in Sundance’s video burns oil, based on the relatively low volume of dark smoke. The white exhaust from the middle of the top seems to be a lot of excess steam being blown off at that time (usually to maintain proper system pressure.)
And a coal pile for the firebox. Other than a museum, you can find them in Strasburg PA running Polar Express holiday trips.
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/christmas-trains/
There’s also a scenic railway with a steam engine from the old Western Maryland Railway running from Cumberland, Md to Frostburg.
Y’all make me want to take a trip to Philly and ride one of those trains for a bit.
Yes, if you look carefully, you will notice the “Tender” filled with coal, to fuel the engine.
Yes, wasn’t it lovely to watch a functioning steam locomotive engine actually dragging real stuff around.
ok, question:
Can an ordinary Russian citizen own property or a home?
Yes. And once owned it is yours to do as you please. Virtually no govt involvement. No property taxes, at all.
“But there is one thing future historians will surely remark upon, and that is the utter poverty of imagination that characterized U.S. foreign policy in the late 1990’s. They will note that one of the seminal events of this century took place between 1989 and 1992 — the collapse of the Soviet Empire, which had the capability, imperial intentions and ideology to truly threaten the entire free world. Thanks to Western resolve and the courage of Russian democrats, that Soviet Empire collapsed without a shot, spawning a democratic Russia, setting free the former Soviet republics and leading to unprecedented arms control agreements with the U.S.
And what was America’s response? It was to expand the NATO cold-war alliance against Russia and bring it closer to Russia’s borders.
Yes, tell your children, and your children’s children, that you lived in the age of Bill Clinton and William Cohen, the age of Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger, the age of Trent Lott and Joe Lieberman, and you too were present at the creation of the post-cold-war order, when these foreign policy Titans put their heads together and produced . . . a mouse.”
George Kennan, 1998 interview on NATO expansion
https://eldyrin.livejournal.com/23389.html?
Don’t forget that demon Henry Kissinger.
And his side kick Brzezinski.
Was all this to satisfy the military industrial complex’s need for US taxpayer’s hard earned $?
What ghostly hands wanted Russia and China to be what they are in 2025?
(*perceived to be by the West)
YES. I had three babies and was so hopeful, watching the news when the Berlin Wall came down. Surely we were going to enjoy a prosperous Golden Age!
But nah, not with that leadership and a population of sheep who hate on command from media masters. What a massive disappointment it has been
I had one. I spent my time trying to stay employed while they sent all the software jobs overseas and closed the bases.
I cried uncontrollably and I still don’t know why since I don’t know of any relations there. IDT I cry easily but sometimes it wells up from things my conscious mind is unaware of.
that is interesting because in our former republic, property ownership was supposed to be one of the most important and absolute rights that a human being could have, in order to create agency and allow sovereignty.
most other rights flow from that absolute first right: that i have absolute dominion over my body and my property. and we don’t really have it, anymore…
You nailed it. In my county if some unfortunate event happens and you fall behind on your taxes after 2 years you are done. They will not take payments and the beginning of the third year, whether you owe $1000 or $10,000 they auction your home/property off to the highest bidder which is always 10-20x higher than the taxes and pocket it. Idk any other county in my state that does that and we are republican.
Wow!
Did you primarily visit the regions with a more ethnically “European” type populations? Aren’t there regions/oblasts in southern/South eastern Russia with a more ethnically Arab/Islamic population/tradition? What are those areas like as it regards the Russian Motherland? Are there many more “not whites” there stopped and asked for paper? Just wondering.
Sorry I meant south western Russia. Have to remember my metal map. But also what are south eastern Russia like? The Lake Baikal area and points east and south east of that? Do those have a more Oriental based tradition? How has Russia kept their 13 time zones under one roof with seemingly surprising success? Very low population concentrations out east with probably vast resources and it doesn’t seem we ever hear of incursions into those areas. Thanks.
I traveled North and South, east and west. To the Asian areas, to the ‘Stans” and to the cities of St Pete, Moscow, Kazan in the western regions.
Outstanding reporting.
“Children are considered very important and the ordinary Russian will express a protective instinct toward any child in any situation”
One vital symptom of a healthy culture destined for survival.
The regard for children is one of the things that bind Trump and Putin IMO. They abhor the abuse and trafficking of children .
I had seven children with my first wife. I cannot have any reasonable conversation(criticism) about the ex with my current Russian wife. She tells me all the time that my ex is a hero. In Russia she would have received national honors for being a great Mom!
Don’t you think she deserves honor for being a great mom? Being a great wife is different.
The birthrate is still way too low. Below replacement rate.
So they’re getting overrun by foreign workers. There are lots of complaints about migrants – legal and illegal – Muslims of the Caucasus. They won’t blend in, they don’t even learn to speak Russian. And they include a disproportionate number of terrorists.
Same story different host. Why the egyptian eye?
God given freedom when born free.
Who preaches at the churches …
Love you Sundance…. love my fellow treepers.
MAGA
How many citizens attend church? Is religion and God part of their lives?
Interesting reading.
“Children are considered very important and the ordinary Russian will express a protective instinct toward any child in any situation.”
Does Russia have a problem with the trafficking of children?
Touch a child and you will be disappeared. No mercy at all. Gone, Dead. Period.
The way it should be.
Thank you for your travels and descriptions and insights, Sundance. As a nation we desperately need to have an accurate understanding of Russia and her peoples. We should be friends and allies.
That’s one thing I’d like to see in America. Touch a child and you are a goner. No social workers opining about how family is better than no family, a father is better than no father, so the abuse continues.
So, does Russia allow abortions?
Incest is a travesty, but it is not necessarily better to kill the bread winner. Women have more options now than they used to as late as the 1960s.
According to my Russian friend who recently lived and raised his kids in Sochi, the kids are not highly sexualized. There is no “hook up” culture. Dating is much more traditional where kisses MAY be exchanged after 4 or 5 dates.
That is much healthier. The old Mexican customs were everyone went on the date with the couple also was healthier.
Awesome!
When Pres. Putin rescued children from a Trafficking Site in Ukraine, Z-Bag tried to paint it as abduction, not liberation.
That made my blood boil.
An EXCELLENT posting.
It should be mandatory reading for ALL Congress Critters and members of the media.
Ditto for our high schoolers also.
I visited Russia in the Autumn of 2023 and had a very similar experience, Sundance. My takeaway after three weeks was: why does our media and certain government sources continue to lie about Russia?
Thank you for giving us a truer picture of Russia.
How does the Federation handle immigration? Do they allow people to immigrate after vetting them, or, in general, disallow immigration for the protection of their culture?
Thank you for your curiosity. Those provisions and prices show the importance of energy independence. Godspeed with your research and analysis. And, again, thank you.
kinda sounded like growing up in the USA circa 1950s… 🙂
Does remind one of that, doesn’t it?
A much better time.
Beautiful. I’d love to explore China like that. Europe unfortunately has been destroyed through it’s imports so that’s off the list. I’ve always felt you could connect with the true nature of a place through it’s countryside. A train ride through Russia would be phenomenal. Thanks for sharing!
“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”
Sounds like my kind of place…..
Sounds a lot like here in SE Ohio. 🙂
Just watch out for the buggies and 4-wheelers..
Yes. And in Lancaster PA they warned about tailgating buggies, and passing. You don’t want to spook the horses
Touche’ Sundance. Spot on decertation!
This cannot be stressed enough. I’m not looking down my nose at the Russians; they are rugged and resilient, and they strive to make the best of their circumstances. Still, freedom is the difference maker and the primary reason why our average quality of life is far superior.
We Americans jump into European affairs armed with our hundred years of experience, and we try to deal with peoples who have a thousand years of experience with each other. That’s why serious people know that the current hostilities didn’t start in 2021.
Very interesting and informative analysis. But I disagree on three points. First, Russia is indisputably facing a demographic crisis…specifically centered on White Russians. So, in seeing children everywhere, you are missing something. Second, the veneer of “lawfulness” that you see, masks a deep and broad underlying corruption and lawlessness. Finally, the economy in Russia is pretty clearly grinding to a halt, probably accompanied by steep inflation…all the result of the war economy. Your analysis makes Russia sound pretty good. It isn’t.
Disagree? I’m not seeing it. What is exactly missing with children everywhere? The second point you reiterate, and I don’t remember reading about a booming economy. I didn’t take away from this the propping up of Russia as you claim, rather a comparison and contrast to life in the United States.
This is quite a different picture. I’d be interested to see a response from SD.
Prices in Russia are stable. Compared to the inflation in the USA their inflation is nothing. Eggs maybe from .50 to .55/ten. There is little inflation in Russia, at least from the retail side of the issues, despite popular Western claims.
There is no demographic crisis within “white Russia.” I have no clue what the heck you are implying there.
As said, there is a tiered status to the govt and what you call “lawfulness,” However, I can walk down the street in any Russian precinct at any time of day with complete safety. So can a 20-year-old woman. The lawlessness you claim to exist simply is not present, period.
Go there. See for yourself. It is the safest country I have ever visited.
Japan is 100 times more govt oppressive than Russia. It’s not even close.
Can concur regarding Japan. One of my children has lived there for 14 years. The government stipulates nearly every aspect of living and working, for Japanese citizens. One is under heavy and overlapping surveillance everywhere, every day.
I would not promote my opinion of Japan, simply to say…. For a person who evaluates liberty, it’s the worst country I have ever visited. The public signs, in regular places, that say, “No Talking” are the goofiest things I have seen.
Oh yeah. Fully understand you are reporting observations, not opinions.
I’ve heard about various “things not allowed” signs.
Oligarchs falling out of windows, head of the Orthodox Church coming out of the Russian mafia, coup attempt from the head of a private army, gunfights like at the OK Corral over control of Russia’s answer to Amazon. I could go on, but, really. The birthrate among non-Slavic Russians is relatively high. The overall birth rate in Russia is quite low….they bitch and moan about it constantly. This would mean the Slavic birthrate is really quite low. Inflation, by official measurement, was last at about 7 or 8 percent. Who was that guy from the New York Times who glorified Stalinist Russia back in the 30s?
Walter Duranty.
Those prices remind me of college in the 1970s…
There is no reason to believe your CIA economic numbers, or casualty numbers for that matter–NONE.
We’ve seen how they count things: 17 Agencies, 51 Intelligence Experts and 81 million votes.
I doubt they are as corrupt as, say, any Democrat city. And while they may not be completely immune from the anti-Christ anti-Child malaise of modernity, they strike me as a society that wants to live, including Pres. Putin, and especially as opposed to many sick Western Elites who exhibit a societal Death Wish.
Psalm 27:13
I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living!
Praise God!
the economic and corruption stuff are classic talking points that have never been meaningfully updated (by design, i am sure) from the USSR days. it is the stuff that my dad, his generation constantly repeat after watching fox news and living through the heart of the cold war. i do not think that cohort will ever be able to get past the fact that it is a different world than it was then.
the birth rate is widely understood across just about everywhere even nominally “western” and not sure what the origin or accuracy of it is. but any search for birth rate of russia is in the 1.4-1.5 range, whereas the US is about 1.6. both of them far below replacement rate of 2+. striped by race/ethnicity not sure but would not surprise me to see very different results in median vs mean.
Not every boomer is devoted to TV “news”. Obama legalized propaganda in the US and mainstream media has been deceptive ever since on a grand scale. In the 70s, the televised the coffins returning from Nam.
What a fun read SD. Thank you for sharing what most will never know.
Thank you for sharing.
You have opened a door to an alien world for most Americans, Sundance…and I include myself, so thank you.
There are so many thoughts tripping over themselves in this old brain of mine, and it is far too early (and I’m not caffeinated enough yet) to disentangle them. But my first overwhelming thought on your exquisite overview and the differences between Russia and a more developed (I’ll call it for brevity purposes) America…
The more modern, more technologically advanced one we know has its costs, many of which are leading to disturbing futures. I refer of course to the digital prisons which are being constructed for us, the nascent signs of their life suffocating effects you’ve ably discussed and we can observe in places like the UK which is pushing hard now to install the lock and key which is digital ID.
Progress of a sort I suppose.
But your ethereal photographs achingly call to our human God given spirit in a way no words can. You say Edward Snowden has already experienced his “best life” and given it up by relocating to Russia. But I wonder…
He has swum in the authoritarian dark godless waters of the Fourth Branch and found them not conducive for his “best life”. Perhaps, in spite of the downsides, he is breathing much easier and is able to pursue more fully that which individually we are all attempting to do. Regardless of one’s take on the right or wrong of what he did which necessitated his departure, this is something I’ve mused upon for quite a while vis a vis the many informative threads of your observations of Russian life…
I know, it’s complicated.
And finally, you reminded me of the excellent film “Gorky Park” of long ago, in which the dichotomy of Russian classes was laid bare back when the USSR was in existence, the vestiges of which still exist as you note. It was excellent.
And now, for that first ☕…and after I shall reread your worthy, thought-provoking essay.
A Bless-ed Sabbath I pray for all 🙏🏻
Wonderful essay. It’s very hard to write something concise like this as an outsider. My deepest geopolitical hope is Russia, USA, Europe and the other Western nations can form a strong and lasting political alliance, and to some extent a cultural/civilizational alliance. Such an alliance would control the Top of the World, its northernmost region, providing safety and abundant resources to all members.
Sundance, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this. Ofc, what I stated above is a great simplification. Putin had done his best to form an alliance with ‘the West’, but was rebuffed, even turned on, by NATO and EU policies, which led to the Ukraine War.
We can’t know, but perhaps this is where President Trump might be able to be of some assistance, such are the mysterious workings of Almighty God. Think Reagan and Gorbachev in their time and what followed. We can hope…or pray that such a thing is possible.
Are the Russians still using steam locomotives for regular service (passenger and freight)? Or was that train you photographed a tourist train, as all of the steam we have in America is today?
That was a regular freight and passenger car, traveling through Karila, northern Russia near Finland.
Interesting. Didn’t see any freight cars, but your video showed only the first few cars. Generally in our part of the world mixed freight and passenger trains are limited to small, rural railroads, as perhaps Karila might be similar. I’m surprised to see they’re still running steam engines there (a 2-10-0, which was common in Russia years ago). China was, until recently; railfans used to go there just to see them working. I wonder if that’s true in Russia now.
Russian Orthodox Church in Cali.
Russian Christmas Traditions
https://www.travelallrussia.com/blog/russian-christmas-traditions
ty 🙂
Sundance, It is very refreshing to read your writings on Russia. I have extended family in Russia. I have made many trips to the country. All you write is very true. I always enjoy my visits.
In most cities large or small a high percentage of people live in flats/apartments. Whats interesting is, if an older soviet style apartment block is owned by the state the maintenance and upkeep is a little lacking in the stairwells ect. But when you open the doors to the apartment (owned by the individual) it is a different world. You go from a dark dirty stairwell to a bright well maintained apartment. In every apartment or house I entered all shoes come off at the door.
Someone asked about property ownership. Yes, you can buy land and build on it. The real estate prices for land and houses on the outskirts of a small city/village are incredibly cheap. But I would not recommend buying and building unless you have a very reliable Russian friend who understands the culture to help guide you thru the process. They say there is a scam in every building project. Mostly small things.
Red Square around the New Year and Orthodox Christmas ( January 7 ) is an amazing place to visit at night. They have it all lit up with xmas lights.
I often think about the freedom of the individual that has made this country great. Lots of countries have resources. Freedom to think is the game changer. Alas, my notions are outdated. The controllers have taken over. Hey, lets import a bunch of people with no concepts of what American means. It will be fine. Not.
Freedom and Responsibility has been diconnected and therin lies our downfall.
“Telegram founder Pavel Durov is a great representation of this outcome. He created the social media platform inside Russia but then found out if he wanted to really control what he created, he needed to leave Russia.”
And then he made the mistake of getting off a plane in France and found out that despite the “Libertie!”-horseshit coming out of their mouths, they were much worse than the Russians.
Reading your descriptive essay, and realizing that I wish I were back in the 70’s and 80’s here in America… makes Russian lifestyle now enticing.
I’m not certain our technological advancement has had benefits for the American people or her families.
I live near some beautiful parks and expensive, immaculately planned, bike paths… and I rarely see children playing outside. I rarely see children playing in neighborhoods now… and few in these cracker box neighborhoods of clapbpard siding, look-a-like houses, know each other or commune with each other… save the occasional fight at a homeowners association meeting where only 5% participate.
I miss our families. I miss regular and normal. I miss striking up a conversation with an unknown neighbor as I regale their dog with friendly pets.
America is now the human trafficking capital of the world. I’ve lost my daughter due to social media influences… and I know for certain… she felt safer when we lived… when she lived… more simple lives.
I mourn our country and see clearly that this trampling and all out dismissal of our 4th amendment rights will have dire consequences.
Give me a simple man. A simple home. Give me a bonfire, a guitar, and a Holy Bible and I’ll have my utopia.
Frankly I don’t care what the “betters” do… because one wrong turn from them, or sudden economic shift, will have them in the “have nots” faster than you can shake a stick. They’re ridiculous really… and in their own affluent prisons of organized crime.
I want the lawfulness and peace of organized society. Send me to Russia… because America doesn’t look or feel like home anymore.
Honestly think it sounds wonderful to live in an orderly lawful society where people are civil. I would be happy never seeing the freaks and subhumans that roam freely here in the U.S. Discipline, IMO, is the key to a healthy life.
“…freaks and subhumans…” I can never tell if or when Halloween is over anymore. And here in the US, the setting back by 50 years or more of race relations is becoming frightening as well. The disappearance of good will and gracious behavior is notable. Very sad.
Halloween itself is a marker of how our society has fallen. It used to be a gentle costume party for children, and now it is a full on celebration of satan.
Madison Avenue has that much figured out, about the state of longing of the heritage Americans.
“The cheering came from a group of College Republicans—mostly young Midwestern men. They represented more than just campus enthusiasm. They were the surface current of a deeper, surging tide within the American right: a generation of young conservatives who have not merely rejected progressive orthodoxy, but who have turned their backs on the neutered, market-centric consensus that long dominated Republican politics.
Their affinities lie not with Reaganite optimism or Bush-era globalism, but with the sobering, culture-first realism of Pat Buchanan. These are the heirs to the original Buchanan Brigade, animated by a blend of cultural traditionalism, economic nationalism, and a deep-seated skepticism toward America’s post–Cold War trajectory. They’re not interested in conserving the status quo. They want to recover something lost.”
The Gen Z Right Is Pat Buchanan’s Lasting Legacy
A new culture of realism has prevailed among American youth, and it may finally put to rest
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-gen-z-right-is-pat-buchanans-lasting-legacy/
I’ll bring a Bible, guitar, kindling, and marshmallows for the ‘Smores .
Just name the time and place!
The motherland people, not being sheep, has come to ‘trust’ the wisdom of their leader.
Currently that is a peaceful coexistence (perhaps not knowing it is missing liberties).
(in contrast, if people in the west (and some are miss trying at huge costs (lives, property damage etc.),
were to install a freedom pretender, and miss handlers / swindlers, like bran done, car ter, b o, cl in tonne, then one might find more rams (looking to butt heads), than sheep (compliant) all over the motherland…as the once peaceful coexistence society grew towards high risks, high crimes, corruption etc.)
As such, in Russia, safeguards are in place, for the people, the motherland. (and they are sometimes attacked… but are resilient and then rebuild … )
In the USA, with supposed equal opportunity (cough) elections, the results are sometimes a cycle of, 3 steps backwards (people falling for the propagandized media (pretend) darlings),
then 1 big step forward with a lot of catching up to do (more people thinking for themselves, making a more wise choices) …
repeat.
Maybe for the betterment of we the people, we can thwart that silly, wasteful, 3 parts of the cycle – and really have liberty etc.?
imho
Love thy neighbors
I would not trade being an American for being a Russian, but I did think about it when Biden was President.
I live in a beautiful rural area with little to no crime.
Most people are either Christian or live mostly Christian principles.
I come and go as I please and can do whatever I choose to do.
My opportunities are endless, and are only limited by myself.
I do not feel the need to be “compliant” with any societal “norm”.
I own firearms and where I live there are little restrictions. Do Russians?
I can freely criticize my government when I think it’s doing something stupid or insane. Can Russians?
There’s no free healthcare, but I can choose my healthcare options, or go without insurance, and pay cash.
I can have as many luxuries as I’m willing to work for.
Groceries are expensive, but I can grow my own.
We have a lot of options in America.
America, even with all the problems we’ve seen and experienced, is still a place where I have abundant freedom.
There are still rules and legislations in place that protect my freedom, even though our government has abused them.
I don’t appreciate all the Russia bashing that’s been going on by the Left, and I can see that Russia is a beautiful place filled with honest people, but I wouldn’t trade America for Russia.
Sundance…thank you …I so enjoyed this post.
One thing to bear in mind is that Russia is vast. It is the largest country by land area in the world. (Canada is second.) It includes some mild places, but much of the weather there is very brutal all year round. Most of the area is, nonetheless, populated. (Unlike Canada.) So, I think that you need a different philosophy of governance, there, than what works for us here.
The American system was born in America from western European roots. While Russia grew from Slavic roots, briefly dabbled with communism and tried building a “USSR,” then abandoned it all as a failed experiment and returned to their Orthodoxy. Russia is also ancient, while we are still the new kids on the block – a “mere” 250 years old.
I find it very difficult to compare the two in terms of governance. I think that they have arrived at a system that works for them. Very different, yes, but that is to be expected. It would not be any improvement to “Americanize” their system. Neither to transplant their system here. The requirements are not the same.
Their tree was seeded and grew up there. While it is still “a tree,” it doesn’t look like ours – and, it shouldn’t. One is not “better than” the other.
Enjoyed reading this again.
Thank you, Sundance!
Snowden is a psyop. He was smart enough to be hired by the cia and booz Hamilton, smart enough to exfultrate a literal motherlode of damning intel from the most secure agencies in the world, but yet didn’t think ahead far enough to go to a non extradition country before spilling the beans? Really?
No. And his character – bc that’s what he’s playing – is a dead giveaway too, he explains things like he’s a limited hangout – slowly and in super dumbed down language that anyone aged 5 and above can understand. This is not normal behavior from a true whistleblower – especially one that was only 27 at the time.
Since then he hasn’t changed a bit – no Russian accent infecting him, no change in appearance at all – same goatee and haircut.
I just can’t explain why they made him go to Russia, other than to say that it just confirms my theory that Russia, along with every other country, is in on it bc they’re all united against one enemy: their people.
I have read that he was part of a CIA vs other intel agency competition. That was behind his behavior. Most people do not change accents in adulthood. I grew up an hour from New Orleans but we moved when I was 9 to Florida. You would not peg me with a Southern drawl at all unless I am around my Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia relatives.
The covid vaccine for Russians was not mRNA. It was an old school vaccine based on attenuating the virus. So, they are not in the same class of destructive to their citizens that the US was over the covid jabs.
Mr. Sundance has updated us nicely with his reports about Russia.
A book about Russia/Soviet Union in the 1970’s by a reporter named Hedrick Smith had a comment, which I still recall.
He had noticed that babies are tightly – Tightly! – swaddled even into their toddler years, so that they will stay warm, of course.
But he postulated that the restriction of movement might be sending an unconscious message to the brain that “Freedom of Movement – since my mother does not want me to move – is inferior to restricted movement.”
i.e. Freedom is somehow dangerous.
Another comment from over 50 years ago has stayed with me: it was made by my Russian-language professor, who was in fact a Lithuanian-American.
He said that the Russians were different because of the Mother Russia image. Most other countries have a “father image,” as in our words “patriotism” and “patriot” derive from the Latin word “Pater,” for “father.”
He said that a Mother country would always triumph over a Fatherland, as seen by Russia’s victories over Napoleonic France and Nazi Germany.
Stalin and the Russians were retreating from the Nazis, said my professor, when the rallying cry was “FIGHT FOR THE COMMUNIST PARTY!”
Because practically nobody wanted to save the hated Communist Party of murder and slavery!
But when Stalin was advised to switch his rallying cries to “SAVE MOTHER RUSSIA!” the tide was turned.
This comment stayed with me because I was unsure whether America had any paternal or maternal image of itself: we hear about Uncle Sam, and we see the female image of the Statue of Liberty.
After 50 years, I think – perhaps – that neither of these applies.
America remains an idea, the idea that FREEDOM is a necessity for a full human life, that GOD gave us Free Will, and that no government has any right to interfere with the proper exercise of that Freedom.
It could be that Freedom transcends gender, that it needs no image for people to understand it.
Uncle Sam is the American embodiment of the fatherland. The statue of Liberty was a gift from France and the face has some masculine features. It is a symbol of a religious diety.
in a “ask me anything” type of question:
why did you go in the first place? Why aren’t there many people in your photos, by design or was it like that…?
I went because I wanted to see the reality of Russia as it exists.
I took pictures without people because in ordinary places taking pictures looks weird. Remember, there are no tourists there, so why would a person be taking pictures….. it identifies you immediately as an outsider. I wanted to be grey.
I’m very grateful to read these perspectives and honest talk about a country shrouded in layers of propaganda that gave me only one perspective on Russia: “The enemy of freedom and democracy. A backwards country of tyranny.”
There is the possibility of a new world if the walls between these two entrenched “enemies” come down. A multi-generational illusion could be dispelled.
Given the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine what was the sentiment towards Ukrainians? Animosity towards the people as a whole or is it divided by region? Or is the conflict properly blamed on the pro-Western backed ideologues like the midget?
How do Russians pay their monthly bills? Rent phone etc etc Is it stand in line or electronic?
That was super interesting SD. It seems to me from your telling observations, that in a much more agreeable world, blending some Russian ways, many of which were like the old America we grew up in, into the American/western scene might be a good thing.
America is becoming more unstructured in its society and has lost the common glue of morality, decency and some healthy restraint on the anything goes mentality that it needs to not descend into social chaos at some point if this isn’t reversed soon.
The Russian society seemingly has the structure to maintain a peaceful and safe life, but is leaning into too much restrictive structure mentally, innately, so it strangles the creative and social freedoms. This is not always conducive to people who need the freedom of individuality to be the best they can be in their lives.
There needs to be a happy medium between some societal restraint for an orderly existence with a blend of social freedoms that allow creativity, joy and a sense of doing for oneself what one wants, needs and likes to do.
A beautiful country, a strong people, a somewhat repressed way of life ruled by the government Mother. Russia does what works for them I guess. America needs to do the same thing, do what works for us and we definitely need some morality, structure and restraint again that we got from religion in the past. I think Pres. Trump is trying to get that to happen again for American and based on the votes he got three times, there are a lot of Americans who want that to happen.
The one thing the Russians are not battling right now is the kind of activities that we see here from the liberal left and the globalists who freely use our freedoms and laws to try and rip America to shreds to gain control. We are in a very serious moment of upheaval and battle for a country we love. Our free life is being used against us. Some of the Russian like ways need to be blended back into our society without the govt. being the source of all control. We need our freedom but we also need a safer, more orderly, more moral, society again.
The Russia I visited is exactly like Norman Rockwells’ America, circa 1950 with a 1980’s tech flair.
“Financial Freedom” is a personal thing and not what someone else or a Government thinks it ought to be or imposed for you. All that is asked is it should not be impeded by someone or government, but you personally pursue it whatever is meaningful for you and only you.
There has to be a means and the teaching of young kids how to “make money” in the stock market is a step in the correct direction. Not to become “stock market traders” but the obtaining the financial means for pursuing your personal dream whatever it may be.
Actually they are.
https://idel-ural.org/en/
Just one I found.
Sundance …
Just wanted to congratulate you on the
AWESOME photography !!!!!
Thank you for another great article on the reality of Russia. It makes me wish I were a tag along on your trips.
I think the “grey” would become oppressive, and we “Americans” would feel stifled. Brutal honesty would be a welcome change from the pablum speak we’re spoon fed here. No political correctness would be marvelous, but at the same time remembering to swim like one of the sardines would occupy a lot of cognitive time.
You mention what Snowden gave up. He did indeed, and while he made the right decision in outing the lies of the US Gubmint/Military, he’s paid dearly for it because of that same system. It’s tragic that you can’t expose the lies and remain “free”. Have you made any attempts to see Snowden? I’m sure that you would then be watched, and signals intercepted by both countries. Their cell phones being monitored by Mother is no different than here, and we’re probably more invasive than they.
The locomotive looked like a 0-10-0, or possibly a 2-10-0, the likes of which I’ve not seen before.Thanks for you time and travels, and excellent analysis.
This is fascinating to me. I minored in Geography and my favorite class was one on Russia. I’ve always wanted to visit and see the Kremlin and the Hermitage. Thanks for sharing.
The foundations of the US and Russia, and the resulting ways in which the two peoples approached and interacted with the two vast wildernesses, is a very key difference.
https://rumble.com/v5m16e2-where-the-spirit-of-the-lord-is-there-is-liberty.html?e9s=src_v1_cbl%2Csrc_v1_upp_a
Without the Protestant Reformation, there is no West. Without Martin Luther, there is no American culture.
This is why Liberty resides in the US, and this is why the Bolsheviks and Trotskyites were content, for the most part, to merely treat Russia as a slave state to be exploited for nearly 100 years, once they (thought they had) wiped out Christianity from the USSR.
Whereas, for the US, they had to invade us with non-Christian cultures and try to wipe out our history, our foundational beliefs, and our heroes. Our American character, our high trust culture that rested upon the expectation of Christian concern for the eternal destination of one’s soul and a sense of being bound by the Ten Commandments, as a communal value, lies at our birth as a nation. There was no other way to defeat the strength of that Mayflower Compact with God than to flood us with millions of people from cultures that have no such moral understandings.
I stood on a road on a Russian forest of towering thick 60 foot pines, and the thought came: one hundred steps into that forest, you’d be lost, and alone, you would die.
The land was hostile to the individual.
I stood on a field outside Montpelier (home of James Madison) and looked out towards the fields and the mountains, towards the vast west and the thought came, the King of England was very far away over the sea and why should some bloodline pretender to the power of God have any say over this very far way and beautiful land, or American lives? Our destiny is ours to forge.
The land was freedom to the individual.
Two different vast land masses.
In one, the people look for group survival under authoritative protection.
In the other, the people look to conquer the land and wrestle it into a free and independent life of liberty.
We can still be friends. But we can’t be each other. That’s as it should be. POTUS is right to recognize and in his way, celebrate, the sovereign nations being themselves.
Vive la difference.
Sundance, do you know whether the Russian people were changed in any fundamental way by the Covid years? Are they too suffering a huge wave of death and disability from injections, as we are? Would we know if they were?
Here, I feel there is a “before” and “after” always present, just below the surface.
Is that true, there?
Russians are the least COVID vaccinated population I have ever encountered. It is said that only 25% of the Russian population took the covid vaccine; but quite frankly that number seems high. I never met a vaccinated Russian person, and I asked many.
Most Russians thought the COVID vaccine was a govt control operation. They didn’t buy it.
Boy we they right.
How are prescriptions handled? Issued by Doctors through independent or government controlled pharmacies? During the plandemic the major pharmacies colluded with Fauci and wouldn’t allow the off label use of ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19!
The Russian jab was an ordinary vaccine NOT what the mRNA the rest of the world received.
I had to go back and look to be sure. The Russian vaccine was NOT an mRNA vaccine.
https://grokipedia.com/page/Sputnik_V_COVID-19_vaccine
What Christmas carols do Russians sing?
English ones and Russian ones.
Your question got me to go search YouTube
Russian Orthodox carols