The Russians have an explanation for this. Apparently they are delighted with it (below link, unfortunately material in Polish).
And that they are wrong is brilliantly demonstrated by Poland. Reborn in 1918 from three partitions, it had not badly developed lands administered by Germany, the Habsburg-ruled territories, despite the reputation of being extremely backward, were quickly catching up with the Austrian centre. The hardest thing to say something good about was the territories ruled by Russia.
I don't identify as pro-Russian, but I know some people who are. When we talk about politics, their answer to the question "What do you like about Russia?" usually goes something like this: "Russia is one of the few powerful nations that dares to stand up to US imperialism. For my part, I certainly like the fact that they hosted Snowned.
Some of the people I know studied Russian philology or something and lived in Russia for varying lengths of time. And it seems that they quite enjoyed living there (granted, in big cities, not in "glubinka") until early 2022.
Your description of Russia as a hellhole doesn't sound very convincing, especially if we're talking about Russia before 2022. Or maybe you just have higher standards than I do?
Sure, Western Europe probably has the highest standard of living in the world, so from that perspective any other place might seem shitty in comparison (and there are certainly a lot of shittier places in the world than Russia when it comes to standard of living). My personal idea of the world's "average standard" would be Thailand. A lot of Scandinavians move there when they retire (it's the third most popular retirement destination after Spain and the US), which means that even though it's far from perfect, it's a good enough country for many Europeans to live in. Is Russia really a hellhole, or is it just, let's say, an "average standard" country, or even a little higher?
Incidentally, in many Asian countries (including advanced nations such as Japan), people simply don't like toilet bowls and think it's healthier and more hygienic to use squat toilets. It makes sense: you can do your business without touching anything. Treating toilet bowls as a measure of civilisation is completely wrong. Europeans and Asians have different customs and that's all there is to it.
Good point: most of 'Pro-Russians' do not really know the object of their affection. It is however interesting what really pushes them into arms of Vladimir Vladimirovich: is it positive stereotype of Russia, or rather negative stereotype of the enemies of Russia, particularly US?
Those maimed by the positive stereotype usually end pathetically, like Gerard Depardieu (Zhora Depardeev) who moved to RF to waive French taxes, and now says that Mr. Putin is ivil after all, or continue pathetically, like Steven Seagal and few other individuals that you have mentioned in previous posts. But after all, positive stereotypes tend to die out faster then negative.
What is really worrying, negative feelings against US in the global South/3rd world will always drive new sympathizers towards Kremlin. I wonder how many readers you may find in India or English speaking African countries, but believe not too many. And I would not dare to think about Latinosphere, where Pope comes from (worthy topic for an another post, I hope). There is strong pro-Russian sentiment in Latin America, and I am afraid they do not care whether Russians live in dugouts or igloos, ride zhigulis or white bears, as what counts is that they stand against Estados Unidos.
Sorry to dust off this old discussion, but I wanted to add something. Perhaps my comparison with Thailand was too controversial, but surely it would be fair to judge Ukraine by the standards set out in this article. And wouldn't the conclusion be that "living in (pre-war) Ukraine is hell"?
"What is it that you particularly like about Ukraine? Ever been there? Planning to relocate? Do you drive a Ukrainian vehicle? Do you use a Ukrainian laptop or smartphone? Do you wear Ukrainian clothes? Is that an UkraineWatch on our wrist? When you binge TV series, do you watch Ukrflix on a Ukrainian TV set, sitting on a sofa made by the world famous furniture company, UKRKEA?"
Ukrainians are also very keen to get foreign passports, and similar things can be said about Ukrainian oligarchs and the resource curse (chernozem and coal in eastern Ukraine).
As for tap water: when I was in Lviv in the early 2000s, it wasn't a question of whether the tap water was drinkable (it obviously wasn't), but if it was available at all (which was from 6am to 9am and from 6pm to 9pm for most of the city's inhabitants). AFAIK the availability of water is better now, but it's still undrinkable, as your map shows.
And when I drove through Karpaty, the dirt roads leading to some popular destinations were only slightly better than the one in the picture, and I wouldn't be surprised if they looked very similar after heavy rains.
You say that Ukrainians "are improving their quality of life. It has already started". Where can we see this?
Wow. This really addresses the bigotry of low expectations and the dehumanising cultural relativism many westerners presume. Keep it up.
The Russians have an explanation for this. Apparently they are delighted with it (below link, unfortunately material in Polish).
And that they are wrong is brilliantly demonstrated by Poland. Reborn in 1918 from three partitions, it had not badly developed lands administered by Germany, the Habsburg-ruled territories, despite the reputation of being extremely backward, were quickly catching up with the Austrian centre. The hardest thing to say something good about was the territories ruled by Russia.
--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iVanY2hr7I&ab_channel=Andromeda
I don't identify as pro-Russian, but I know some people who are. When we talk about politics, their answer to the question "What do you like about Russia?" usually goes something like this: "Russia is one of the few powerful nations that dares to stand up to US imperialism. For my part, I certainly like the fact that they hosted Snowned.
Some of the people I know studied Russian philology or something and lived in Russia for varying lengths of time. And it seems that they quite enjoyed living there (granted, in big cities, not in "glubinka") until early 2022.
Your description of Russia as a hellhole doesn't sound very convincing, especially if we're talking about Russia before 2022. Or maybe you just have higher standards than I do?
Sure, Western Europe probably has the highest standard of living in the world, so from that perspective any other place might seem shitty in comparison (and there are certainly a lot of shittier places in the world than Russia when it comes to standard of living). My personal idea of the world's "average standard" would be Thailand. A lot of Scandinavians move there when they retire (it's the third most popular retirement destination after Spain and the US), which means that even though it's far from perfect, it's a good enough country for many Europeans to live in. Is Russia really a hellhole, or is it just, let's say, an "average standard" country, or even a little higher?
Incidentally, in many Asian countries (including advanced nations such as Japan), people simply don't like toilet bowls and think it's healthier and more hygienic to use squat toilets. It makes sense: you can do your business without touching anything. Treating toilet bowls as a measure of civilisation is completely wrong. Europeans and Asians have different customs and that's all there is to it.
All of this is very helpful.
Thank you for it!
Good point: most of 'Pro-Russians' do not really know the object of their affection. It is however interesting what really pushes them into arms of Vladimir Vladimirovich: is it positive stereotype of Russia, or rather negative stereotype of the enemies of Russia, particularly US?
Those maimed by the positive stereotype usually end pathetically, like Gerard Depardieu (Zhora Depardeev) who moved to RF to waive French taxes, and now says that Mr. Putin is ivil after all, or continue pathetically, like Steven Seagal and few other individuals that you have mentioned in previous posts. But after all, positive stereotypes tend to die out faster then negative.
What is really worrying, negative feelings against US in the global South/3rd world will always drive new sympathizers towards Kremlin. I wonder how many readers you may find in India or English speaking African countries, but believe not too many. And I would not dare to think about Latinosphere, where Pope comes from (worthy topic for an another post, I hope). There is strong pro-Russian sentiment in Latin America, and I am afraid they do not care whether Russians live in dugouts or igloos, ride zhigulis or white bears, as what counts is that they stand against Estados Unidos.
Sorry to dust off this old discussion, but I wanted to add something. Perhaps my comparison with Thailand was too controversial, but surely it would be fair to judge Ukraine by the standards set out in this article. And wouldn't the conclusion be that "living in (pre-war) Ukraine is hell"?
"What is it that you particularly like about Ukraine? Ever been there? Planning to relocate? Do you drive a Ukrainian vehicle? Do you use a Ukrainian laptop or smartphone? Do you wear Ukrainian clothes? Is that an UkraineWatch on our wrist? When you binge TV series, do you watch Ukrflix on a Ukrainian TV set, sitting on a sofa made by the world famous furniture company, UKRKEA?"
Ukrainians are also very keen to get foreign passports, and similar things can be said about Ukrainian oligarchs and the resource curse (chernozem and coal in eastern Ukraine).
As for tap water: when I was in Lviv in the early 2000s, it wasn't a question of whether the tap water was drinkable (it obviously wasn't), but if it was available at all (which was from 6am to 9am and from 6pm to 9pm for most of the city's inhabitants). AFAIK the availability of water is better now, but it's still undrinkable, as your map shows.
And when I drove through Karpaty, the dirt roads leading to some popular destinations were only slightly better than the one in the picture, and I wouldn't be surprised if they looked very similar after heavy rains.
You say that Ukrainians "are improving their quality of life. It has already started". Where can we see this?