Life in Russia

My blog about Russia and living here gives you reliable information about this country. Here I’ve collected interesting and noteworthy facts about life in Russia. While creating this website I have adhered to these following principles: honesty, impartiality and objectivity. The purpose being pursued is to impart the truth about the country and the real situation in here to the people concerned.

On the cusp of the 1990s, during the so-called “perestroika”, many people felt hopeful. They expected the life of ordinary people to get better. They hoped to see the end of corruption and injustice in the country. They hoped to get responsible and decent government. They hoped to live a wealthier, safer and more peaceful live, to have more freedom and independence. They expected, that the state property of the former USSR would be fairly and reasonably distributed among the citizens. Most of these and other hopes have never come true.

Instead, poverty, starvation, economic ruin, unemployment, racketeering, murders of the reporters and new kinds of injustice befell the country.

It has been decades since then. And what does Russia look like today? How has the life of Russia and its people been changing? What is the reality of living in Putin’s Russia?

Financial well-being of the majority of Russian people has definitely improved in comparison with the 1990s. However, one should bear in mind that in the 1990s the most of population was beyond the line of poverty. Even now, many people in Russia have money problems. Low salaries, mostly a pittance for a pension, students’ scholarships couldn’t be lower while the prices for food and other products keep growing. Besides, one should also pay the utility bills. As for the retirees, they have to spend their money for medications as well. A lot of them don’t have enough money even to buy food and pay the bills. Haven’t you seen the retirees begging at a subway entrance yet? This is a gruesome sight.

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The law in Russia works in a peculiar way. Russian legislation is primarily the punitive force of the government. It is almost impossible for law-abiding citizens to protect their rights legally. De facto, human rights in Russia are not protected in any way. Constitutional provisions are violated almost everywhere and this is considered ‘normal’. Moreover, people seem to like it. Russian people are used to tzars, leaders and to being deprived of their rights as well. Besides, people themselves are not totally keen on abiding the law. The Russian constitution is no more than a cover-up that makes it possible for the country to look like a law-governed state.

Actually, the country does have the institutions intended to protect human rights. However, to all intents and purposes human rights in Russia exist only on paper. Moreover, people and the authorities do everything in their power to make life in Russia unbearable. Citizens themselves violate the rights of other citizens in every possible way and take it as a norm. While doing so, these people truly believe that, when the push comes to shove, they will be able to protect their rights by filing a complaint with the police and other government agencies. This is shockingly naïve. There are far too many cases confirming my words, let alone my very own experience. It’s no wonder, that the most clever, talented, educated and wealthy citizens leave the country renouncing the Russian citizenship, when they get the new one.

Religious, public and political life in the Russian Federation has been notably moving towards the deideologization lately. This is due to fact that attitude, value and intelligence structure of a modern human has changed. By the way, other countries are not immune to this process as well. However, as the general situation worsens, the propaganda of ‘patriotism’ is rapidly ramping up. The authorities are trying to divert people’s attention not only from the issues important for those exact people but also from their own incompetence and crimes. Well-established fact, the words ‘for the sake of the motherland’ and ‘for the sake of Russia’ can cover for any crime and any stupid actions. The Russian government, politicians and officials are remarkably mediocre and irresponsible.

The education quality in Russia leaves a lot to be desired. This is referred to the school-based education acquired with a help of educators. As a rule, home-educated students show higher levels of knowledge. Many school graduates use obscene language, drink alcohol, smoke, and at large they display rudeness and lax morals. Mostly, the environment these young people grow in causes this; and school is a big part of this environment. Schetinin school is a nice but contaversial exception.

I was born in Russia and have been living there since, so, from my own experience, I can make an apparent conclusion — Russia is unfit for living. And for the last 15 years, the life here has become even worse, especially for those who possesses freethinking and selfhood. Freethinking is still persecuted in Russia.

Why is the life in Russia becoming worse? I think the Russian people are to blame. How can we expect the country to change for the best when the following features are normal for the citizens: herd instinct, animal-like existence, submissiveness, willingness to put up with just anything, lack of critical thinking skills, inadequate level of sanity, complete or partial absence of self-esteem.

In conclusion, I can say only one thing: Russia is the country where ‘nice’ traditions of injustice, mediocrity, stupidity, herd instinct and animal-like existence are deeply rooted. This is why living in Russia is so horrible.