In Soviet Russia, Money Owns You!
“How do I begin this tale, which has no beginning?” ~ Wax Tailor
- This is what I think of when I think of the culture of wealth being in the hands of the few.
But seriously folks, it’s not just in Soviet Russia, or Post Soviet Russia, it is just the way things mostly are, and have been. We are owned by our desire to own, and it is that desire which translates to the value we imbue to the things we own. This train of thought mostly arises from the fact that I just came from seeing the royal diamond and gold collection of Russia, which is held deep in the Kremlin, and guarded very heavily. I can’t say that I was amused, or even wowed. Yes, they’re sparkly, priceless, rare as the rarest of natural occurances on this planet, but if the platinum is not being used for semiconducting purposes (or some other such practical thing), or the diamonds not being used for creating laser beams from outer space, I have to agree with father Lenin that they should have been and should now be sold, because the opportunity cost of this heavily guarded treasure is much needed public infrastructure.
But I know most people don’t share with me in this view. I think very logically, and not emotionally, or nationalistically. And as they say in here: “you can’t understand Russia with your mind, but only with your heart.” Perhaps this collection and other such things is a source of great pride for the people here, which might explain why they pay money and flock to see it. But perhaps, as I want to believe, they relish in the dream of possibilities, beauty, and some sense of ‘ownership’ – even if it is public. I think this makes them believe that great wealth is achievable to them, even if that dream is only with them for the duration of the tour, and is fleeting in the end.
But the wealth in Russia (especially in Moscow) is not just in diamonds. In fact, as I have found out, this is the most expensive place to live in the world. Real estate here is incredibly ridiculous. The average cost per square meter (meter = yard, roughly) is 10,000, but it definitely goes much higher than that. To put it in perspective for those back home, their average is the high end of San Francisco real estate. And the buildings they’re building are nowhere near the strict codes or standards that we have. That is not to say that their buildings will fall apart. But in San Francisco the high end houses are very cleanly built, with all the wiring, plumbing, and basic amenities already in the units. These places here are gutted. It is basically a skyrise that is just a shell – no sink, toilet, etc. I’m not saying that its necessarily worse, its just a different style, but you probably get more for your money back in the U.S.
Where am I going with this you might wonder? Well, developers here are making a killing. The people building these things are tycoons, in the realest sense of the word. But that is not to say that is that easy to put up a building. Many people have to be bribed along the process, in all the steps from tearing down the previous building, to getting all the permits, to building the building itself. But despite all of these ‘hurtles’, as we might consider them, buildings are flying up like crazy. I’ve never seen more cranes in my life. Dubai is probably one of the few places in the world rivaling construction here. And the prices are pretty much because of demand. Mostly because other tycoons see an opportunity to build, and because they’re in competition with the other 80 or so tycoons who own everything, they are all willing to pay a high buck to see it go up. Basically, until something catches their eye, it is not worth nearly as much as it will be after they build it and sell it. But if its not worth that much before they have their way with it, why do the people sell the property you ask? Well, having your house burned down is a good incentive. Or perhaps just the roof, so that it is unlivable, but the walls still stand. Or perhaps you’ve just been notified that the building is going to be demolished (becau$e $omeone got $ome right $omehow..). Any way they can, they will do it. And then it becomes an overinflated game of supply, demand, access, and resale.
There are definitely a lot of changes going on here, and a very specific crowd is making all the money. That same crowd of the top 0.something % are selling out Russia in everything else as well. In Moscow, most of the businesses we saw were foreign. Nestle sells everything, Coca Cola owns most of the water, European fashion is everything, etc. Somebody got paid (and keeps getting paid) for foreign businesses to own everything. All the TV ads are for American and European household products. There is very little that is local it seems. But despite all the money flying out of the country and into the pockets of foreign businesses nobody seems to mind all this. In fact, foreign business is all the rage. Everybody wants to be like the west, and live just like westerners. To an environmental localized socialist like me this is absolutely abhorrent, especially when this country is sitting on an incredible amount of wealth, and could easily use that money to generate its own infrastructure and keep the money circulating here amongst its peoples, lifting everybody up. But instead, the people seem to be content with just living the lifestyle that we have set up for ourselves back home. I think that their mentality is similar to how they feel about the diamonds; they take comfort knowing that the western companies, whom they trust because the west = good, are going to take care of them and provide them with good services.
Yeah, things here are pretty shade. And that is where a huge part of the economy operates – in the grey (but much closer to black). Bribes are everywhere, all the time, for all occasions. Tips are common place, connections are everything, and everyone expects you to lie. It is very rare to come across an honest official, especially a policeman.
So far here we have gotten past the airport security checking out luggage with a $20, I’ve seen my cousin get out of a ticket by first attempting a bribe, and then just pretending to call some official of the DPT – and was let go grudgingly, but immediately (you should have seen the pair on her in those scary 10 minutes!), and we’ve been given the royal treatment everywhere we’ve been going because my mom knows some people who have connections here. A phone call is made and then you’re received with the best smiles and service. Without that phone call we would have been received just like any regular shmoe – with apathy and the bare minimum in effort. But that is how things are done here. This untaxed grease between the official gears of government and the economy is what keeps this seemingly unlikely system working.
And somehow it actually ends up working okay. I have to say, for the most part they have everything we have, and more. If you have the money or the connections you can have anything you want. There are cars here that are not in production in the U.S. There are expenditures like the richest of us only dream of seeing on a large scale. There are amenities, services, and delicacies that Tzars would be jealous of. But at the same time there is deep, deep poverty, somewhere outside the city limits, povertying its own way somewhere else, beyond the glance and grasp of most people who live within the developed wealth.
And so the world here turns, because someone is bribing for it to turn.. It makes me think of a good line from an awesome Hip-Hop song I know titled “Pimps”
“Flash a little cash, make you think you got class,
But you’re really sellin’ ass
So ho, keep off my grass,
..less u cutting it – see I’m runnin shit.
Trick all you motha@#$%ckas, see I’m just a Pimp!”
~ The Coup
Monday, July 14, 2008
People
Russians are an interesting people. Even now as I say that word – Russians, it means something politically different than it meant 20 years ago, before the fall of the U.S.S.R. Back then the word referred to anyone within the boundaries of the Soviet Union. Today, technically it refers to people inside the boundaries of the Russian Federation – Russia (not the 13 independent countries that broke away during the fall of the Soviet Union).
Ironically, however, the predominant language even in these outlying states is still Russian, a huge portion of the population is still Russian, and a lot of the better parts of the infrastructure, much to the begrudgement of the “locals”, was set up by Russia. In fact, there is still much anger towards the Russian rule that was, as clearly seen by the political actions of the Ukraine and Estonia, but I’m not going to blog about that right now. I want this blog to be about the people – in general.
If we take our definition of Russians to include all of the people that once inhabited the Soviet Union, and then limit the parameters to people from the Ukraine and today’s Russia, or even Moscow and Odessa – to narrow it down to our experiences, then we have a definition we can work with and I can talk about
Despite 2nd world conditions for most common people (and above 1st world conditions for the rich), they are happy ones. Not only are they happy, but they are resourceful, cunning, and very beautiful. Happy, however is the key word here since it would be hard for most Americans, except for the immigrants I think, to understand why these people are happy. People here seek different things from life. They relish the simple stuff, and overlook the negatives exceptionally well. They focus on different things than most Americans focus on. Don’t worry, I hate generalizing and am not trying to do that here; obviously I recognize that all my friends and the readers of this blog are exceptions (unless you admit that you are unhappy and are the exception to my exclusion).
Things that they seek here I would deem generally superficial, especially considering the socio-economic-political situation that I observe, but then again I’m generally a bitter individual (at least compared to these people) who often sees people as little more than carbon footprints . Here they relish fashion (often above all other expenditures it would seem), nightlife, friends above all else, and love. How ... human of them.
Fashion – Just about everyone here looks good. People rarely wear simple clothing. The youth are constantly wearing unique clothing that is tight, shows off their young bodies, and is totally European brand name as much as possible. They all have pretty good fashion sense, and even though a lot of them might be from sub-par economic stati (=statuses), you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. Even the older ladies and gentlemen ascribe to some kind of fashion, which to our American eyes (George’s and mine) look funny. But hey, who are we to judge, I’m sure our style looks funny to them..
Public Life – There are huge public areas in these towns and cities. Big parks, huge boulevards paved in cobblestone, grand plazas with statues devoted to war heroes, and super wide streets are littered with people converging for general hangouts. People here take walks often, sit around on benches, often making out, and just generally congregate for reasons most of us Americans would probably not understand – mainly because I believe we need purpose to go to a place. Here they do it for the sake of doing it.
Alcohol and Cigarettes – everybody smokes and everybody drinks. I mean everybody. It is quite disgusting to us non-smokers. In restaurants it is hard to taste or smell food. Even in public places, it is very hard to get a whiff of fresh air. I think it is nasty, and I am honestly surprised that more people don’t have lung cancer here.
Air – and speaking of trying to get some fresh air, it is dang near impossible here. I am more of the sensitive type when it comes to environmental pollution – I sense it pretty fast, and my lungs and throat hurt here in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Odessa. I can imagine that air laws are pretty lax here, I am almost positive that car exhaust laws don’t exist, and if they do are rarely enforced. I often got nauseous when sitting in a car here, and also had a tendency to fall asleep on trips more than 15 minutes, due to the lack of oxygen I’m guessing. But as I say, I’m pretty sensitive to such stuff, as well as spoiled with the clean San Francisco air that I’m used to breathing.
Cars – there are an insane amount of cars in all of these cities here. Despite the fact that they have metros, electric trains, buses, trolleys, and other ways of getting around, cars are all the rage and so are traffic jams. In Moscow traffic jams can last hours and hours. It can take you 3-4 hours to get someplace that would take you 30 minutes by metro. I was shocked that people still drive everywhere despite that fact. I personally love the metro because it is efficient, quick, and full of interesting people to people watch. I found out that in Moscow there are about 4 million cars, and that number is probably only the registered ones. Granted it is in a city of 14 million, but still, a lot of cars..
Women – OMG!!! I have never seen so many beautiful women in my life! IN fact that is an understatement. These women are drop dead gorgeous. Mainly I have to say they are in Odessa, in the Ukraine. Just about every young woman possesses the figure that is the American super model ideal, or something close to it. My eyes and neck are sore from all the distractions. Granted that a whole lot of them grow up to be very reminiscent of the weight epidemics that we have in the Midwest in the states here, mostly due to the large intakes of meat and dairy I am wagering, but in their youth they are insanely gorgeous. They are also friendly here, which is something that cannot really be felt from good looking American women often. ..Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we are cold-hearted and fat, I’m just saying that here cultural norms are a bit more loose and not all about the “personal space bubble” that a lot of Americans are used to. Beauty is also so commonplace that it is not lusted after like it is in the states. Everybody generally looks good. Partly from fashion, and partly from the fact that they move around a lot more – walking, dancing, and other stuff keeps them a little bit more in shape than I see Americans being.
Men – well, men are men here. They are generally decently macho, stick to a narrow assembly of haircuts, and all aspire to be men. There are definitely outcasts here like punks, emos, Goths, and other “informals” as they’re called, but they are discriminated against more. People here are a long way from understanding gay rights, and people still play pretty traditional roles in society here, at least as far as “male” and “female” is concerned.
Whew…I’m sure you’re overwhelmed as I am right now. I know I have a lot of reflections about this strange country, and there are a few more to come. Stay tuned for something about wealth, and updates about what we have actually been up to here
Ironically, however, the predominant language even in these outlying states is still Russian, a huge portion of the population is still Russian, and a lot of the better parts of the infrastructure, much to the begrudgement of the “locals”, was set up by Russia. In fact, there is still much anger towards the Russian rule that was, as clearly seen by the political actions of the Ukraine and Estonia, but I’m not going to blog about that right now. I want this blog to be about the people – in general.
If we take our definition of Russians to include all of the people that once inhabited the Soviet Union, and then limit the parameters to people from the Ukraine and today’s Russia, or even Moscow and Odessa – to narrow it down to our experiences, then we have a definition we can work with and I can talk about
Despite 2nd world conditions for most common people (and above 1st world conditions for the rich), they are happy ones. Not only are they happy, but they are resourceful, cunning, and very beautiful. Happy, however is the key word here since it would be hard for most Americans, except for the immigrants I think, to understand why these people are happy. People here seek different things from life. They relish the simple stuff, and overlook the negatives exceptionally well. They focus on different things than most Americans focus on. Don’t worry, I hate generalizing and am not trying to do that here; obviously I recognize that all my friends and the readers of this blog are exceptions (unless you admit that you are unhappy and are the exception to my exclusion).
Things that they seek here I would deem generally superficial, especially considering the socio-economic-political situation that I observe, but then again I’m generally a bitter individual (at least compared to these people) who often sees people as little more than carbon footprints . Here they relish fashion (often above all other expenditures it would seem), nightlife, friends above all else, and love. How ... human of them.
Fashion – Just about everyone here looks good. People rarely wear simple clothing. The youth are constantly wearing unique clothing that is tight, shows off their young bodies, and is totally European brand name as much as possible. They all have pretty good fashion sense, and even though a lot of them might be from sub-par economic stati (=statuses), you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. Even the older ladies and gentlemen ascribe to some kind of fashion, which to our American eyes (George’s and mine) look funny. But hey, who are we to judge, I’m sure our style looks funny to them..
Public Life – There are huge public areas in these towns and cities. Big parks, huge boulevards paved in cobblestone, grand plazas with statues devoted to war heroes, and super wide streets are littered with people converging for general hangouts. People here take walks often, sit around on benches, often making out, and just generally congregate for reasons most of us Americans would probably not understand – mainly because I believe we need purpose to go to a place. Here they do it for the sake of doing it.
Alcohol and Cigarettes – everybody smokes and everybody drinks. I mean everybody. It is quite disgusting to us non-smokers. In restaurants it is hard to taste or smell food. Even in public places, it is very hard to get a whiff of fresh air. I think it is nasty, and I am honestly surprised that more people don’t have lung cancer here.
Air – and speaking of trying to get some fresh air, it is dang near impossible here. I am more of the sensitive type when it comes to environmental pollution – I sense it pretty fast, and my lungs and throat hurt here in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Odessa. I can imagine that air laws are pretty lax here, I am almost positive that car exhaust laws don’t exist, and if they do are rarely enforced. I often got nauseous when sitting in a car here, and also had a tendency to fall asleep on trips more than 15 minutes, due to the lack of oxygen I’m guessing. But as I say, I’m pretty sensitive to such stuff, as well as spoiled with the clean San Francisco air that I’m used to breathing.
Cars – there are an insane amount of cars in all of these cities here. Despite the fact that they have metros, electric trains, buses, trolleys, and other ways of getting around, cars are all the rage and so are traffic jams. In Moscow traffic jams can last hours and hours. It can take you 3-4 hours to get someplace that would take you 30 minutes by metro. I was shocked that people still drive everywhere despite that fact. I personally love the metro because it is efficient, quick, and full of interesting people to people watch. I found out that in Moscow there are about 4 million cars, and that number is probably only the registered ones. Granted it is in a city of 14 million, but still, a lot of cars..
Women – OMG!!! I have never seen so many beautiful women in my life! IN fact that is an understatement. These women are drop dead gorgeous. Mainly I have to say they are in Odessa, in the Ukraine. Just about every young woman possesses the figure that is the American super model ideal, or something close to it. My eyes and neck are sore from all the distractions. Granted that a whole lot of them grow up to be very reminiscent of the weight epidemics that we have in the Midwest in the states here, mostly due to the large intakes of meat and dairy I am wagering, but in their youth they are insanely gorgeous. They are also friendly here, which is something that cannot really be felt from good looking American women often. ..Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we are cold-hearted and fat, I’m just saying that here cultural norms are a bit more loose and not all about the “personal space bubble” that a lot of Americans are used to. Beauty is also so commonplace that it is not lusted after like it is in the states. Everybody generally looks good. Partly from fashion, and partly from the fact that they move around a lot more – walking, dancing, and other stuff keeps them a little bit more in shape than I see Americans being.
Men – well, men are men here. They are generally decently macho, stick to a narrow assembly of haircuts, and all aspire to be men. There are definitely outcasts here like punks, emos, Goths, and other “informals” as they’re called, but they are discriminated against more. People here are a long way from understanding gay rights, and people still play pretty traditional roles in society here, at least as far as “male” and “female” is concerned.
Whew…I’m sure you’re overwhelmed as I am right now. I know I have a lot of reflections about this strange country, and there are a few more to come. Stay tuned for something about wealth, and updates about what we have actually been up to here
Odessa
For the first time on this trip, I rolled into town with a smile on my face. And indeed so far not only has that smile sustained, but my sould feels lighter and cleaner. I’m not just talking about the cleaner air compared to Moscow and St. Petersburg, although there is a noticeable difference here due to many less cars and a sea to bring us fresh air. I am talking about being in a town that still partially has its signature local original cultural mark, and has not been fully pervertized, or westerted (westernized/perverted :), yet..
This used to be the town that was pride of the Ukraine. Bright, cultural town on the Black sea, lots of Jews, huge marine academy that was known for high black enrollment, fantastic agriculture that could not be rivaled in the U.S.S.R., and many more things I’m sure I don’t know about the place.
While it still retains some of those features, you can see that since the fall of the U.S.S.R., and the changeover of a few corrupt presidents, some things like buildings are falling apart. Cars dominate the streets much more than public transport. The coastline is being privatized quickly and developed into multi-multi-million dollar homes, hotels, and nightclubs, where once were public beaches, ports for public transport through speedy little boat busses, and sanitoriums – which are like resorts but with doctors on hand for those that have special needs while they rest.
We are actually staying in one of these last such places. It is pretty run down, with very little money for rebuilding or upkeep, and 2nd world room conditions, but they somehow stay alive, even I’m sure despite the many attempts to buy out the land from private developers for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Somehow it is quite surprising, considering that the place is pretty much falling apart. Our water here from the tap is definitely not drinkable, if it even flows at all. Everything squeaks as if there are little baby cats wedged between door hinges, ..and you can figure out what happens when you try to open or close one. And yet, people flock here from all over to rest, heal, and eat bland and healthy food. ..But I can’t complain ;)
But here end my more bitter words on this place (mostly, and for your sake, hopefully :), as my next post about Odessa should be brighter, as it will be about the people and not the polluted, run down, capitalistic surroundings.
This used to be the town that was pride of the Ukraine. Bright, cultural town on the Black sea, lots of Jews, huge marine academy that was known for high black enrollment, fantastic agriculture that could not be rivaled in the U.S.S.R., and many more things I’m sure I don’t know about the place.
While it still retains some of those features, you can see that since the fall of the U.S.S.R., and the changeover of a few corrupt presidents, some things like buildings are falling apart. Cars dominate the streets much more than public transport. The coastline is being privatized quickly and developed into multi-multi-million dollar homes, hotels, and nightclubs, where once were public beaches, ports for public transport through speedy little boat busses, and sanitoriums – which are like resorts but with doctors on hand for those that have special needs while they rest.
We are actually staying in one of these last such places. It is pretty run down, with very little money for rebuilding or upkeep, and 2nd world room conditions, but they somehow stay alive, even I’m sure despite the many attempts to buy out the land from private developers for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Somehow it is quite surprising, considering that the place is pretty much falling apart. Our water here from the tap is definitely not drinkable, if it even flows at all. Everything squeaks as if there are little baby cats wedged between door hinges, ..and you can figure out what happens when you try to open or close one. And yet, people flock here from all over to rest, heal, and eat bland and healthy food. ..But I can’t complain ;)
But here end my more bitter words on this place (mostly, and for your sake, hopefully :), as my next post about Odessa should be brighter, as it will be about the people and not the polluted, run down, capitalistic surroundings.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Politirant 1
Okay, where to begin..
I tried blogging a couple of days ago, but stupid Microsoft (windows and internet explorer at a cybercafe) totally wiped my whole blog and wouldn’t even let me save it as a draft.
Regardless, I’m not giving up, and I promise to faithfully try to keep up as internet access allows me to.
I know that you have all been wondering what
Right off the bat I want to say that it has not been easy being here and trying to always keep up a positive attitude for me. For those who know me well, you know that I tend to see the problems in society and always try to think of solutions and how things could be better..
With that in mind I can clearly say that
But at the end of the day, after my mom and my brother have given me enough shit for having a depressing attitude and look in my eyes, I do see a lot of opportunity for improvement. In fact, I think that there is a butt-load of money to be made here in services that will actually help the Russian people get out of this post-communist, westernly-perverted muck. The ironic thing is this, and there is a Russian saying that sums this up pretty well - One person asks a government official: “Do I have the right to do this? Yes” replies the government rep. “Can I do this? No.” is the stern and comedic reply.
This is true. While things are “legal” to do, it does not by any means you will be able to do them, because they system doesn’t work that way. It works on bribes, contacts, blackmail, and coercion.
While it is sad, so far it has gotten this country very far indeed...
~ Vlad
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