This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Look In The Mirror, America!
Submitted by L. Todd Wood of LToddWood.com,
Listening to the media gleefully hype the numerous construction flaws and rumors of corruption at the Sochi Olympics, I couldn't help thinking that Americans in general have no clue about Russia. Since I spend a lot of time in Moscow, I thought I would point out some of the similarities and differences.
So let's talk about corruption. Yes, Russia has systemic governmental corruption from the local to the national level; politicians up and down the line have their hand in the pie. Yes, there were billions stolen in Sochi. This corruption pushes up the cost of everything in Russia and prevents her economy from modernizing. That is why Russia was recently voted 92nd in ease of doing business by the World Bank.
However, these billions don't come close to the $800+ billion that was wasted by the economic stimulus the Obama administration enacted in 2009. Most of the money went to pay back supporters and lined public service union pockets--attempting to head off the rightsizing of state governments that will eventually have to take place. What about the auto bailouts where again billions were paid to unions and bond holders were left holding the bag, preventing the rationalization of labor costs that would have taken place in a normal bankruptcy process? How about the Federal government using the IRS and other government agencies to target the opposition? And come on, does anyone believe the case against Dinesh D'Souza was brought as a result of a normal FBI review? What about the $600+ million that was spent on the website for the Affordable Care Act? There is a strong case to be made that corruption in the United States siphons more money out of our economy than in Russia. Luckily the American economy has been resilient enough to overcome this hurdle.
Yes, Putin and other officials have palatial dachas in the countryside. But I wonder if they were more expensive than all of the global vacations the Obama's have taken? And yes, Putin has stifled the free press in Russia; in America, the corrupt press does the bidding of the Democratic Party. Which is worse?
Moving on to infrastructure, Russia has serious infrastructure deficiencies, especially outside the major cities. However, if you ever want to see a true, massive work of art, ride the Moscow metro. Every station is a gleaming architectural masterpiece with marble, statues, mosaics, and chandeliers. And, it's clean and well maintained and safe. All one has to do is ride the New York subway once to see the difference. Talk about third world! The tiling is falling off, escalators often don't work, riders are accosted by the homeless and panhandlers, the elevators stink of urine, etc. And I have to agree with Joe Biden, LaGuardia is a third world disgrace. JFK and Newark are second world. I wish Americans could see Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, then they would understand. It's a gleaming metropolis of modernity with a very nice Aeroexpress train to the capital city.
Let's take a look at culture. In Russia, most people speak several languages. Education is valued. Kids are loaded down with work every night in mathematics, literature, the sciences, history, etc. The Russian historical appreciation of the arts is well documented. And I'm not talking about a canvas smeared with feces, I'm talking about ballet, classical music, and theater. I heard recently a young girl tell her mother in Moscow, "Mom, there was a girl in my class today who hadn't heard of Vivaldi. Can you imagine not knowing Vivaldi?" I think that question speaks for itself. Just ask your child who Vivaldi was. In contrast, the American education system is collapsing under a union driven agenda of dumbing down our children and the promotion of socialist values. It was recently reported that one fourth of Americans don't know the Earth revolves around the Sun, case closed.
And speaking of airports, one notices another thing getting off the plane in America. We are fat. We are not sturdy, or strong, or plus -sized. We are fat. There is no obesity epidemic in Russia. People spend time cooking with things like fresh vegetables and enjoy the taste of things rather than filling themselves to the gills with processed carbohydrates and sugars.
And last but not least, yes there is organized crime in Russia. It's a problem. Like any country, there are places that are not safe. But what you don't see are gangs of teenagers looking to knock out someone of a different race. Instead of looking for who is committing crime in America, the administration looks to remove the consequences of one's actions by making it illegal for employers to conduct background checks and campaigns for felons to be able to vote (to garner more Democratic votes). I haven't even brought up our refusal to enforce immigration law.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a patriot. I served my country. I'm proud of her history and what she used to represent. But I'm not proud of what's going on today. I don't recognize America. She is sinking into a moral and cultural black hole of corruption. Russia is regaining her rightful, historical place in the world that was sidetracked by the communist revolution. America is spending her days thinking of ways to pick your pocket--we'll cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.
Russia is rising. Maybe we can give her a high five on our way down. Instead of criticizing others, look in the mirror America.
»
- 31273 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Damn.
What else can one say?
Its gonna be bloody and I will show no emotion or compassion for what will be done.
None.
Except for the boy who knows only to accept one candy bar from me, as a courtesy because I am not his enemy ;-)
Classic post. I couldn't possibly improve on it. FOR HOW LONG? Maybe five hundred years from now, some historian will realize, this is what happened to us.
Spent one summer in Myrtle Beach. Don't ask. Until then, I didn't know that some Merikans invest their life savings in tats and piercings. It must be a diversity thang. Now, if you could just harness the energy from my grandfathers (incredibly hard workers) spinning in their graves....
Its coming.
The rage of the middle class is palpable and it will consume everything the upper and lower classes thought was real.
....And THAT is a fact!
ALL of them FSA thieves at the lower end the Mother Effing Thieves at the upper end. We KNOW who they are!
Payback is a medevac!
Dats Rayciss!
You down with EBT? YEAH YOU KNOW ME! You down with EBT? YEAH YOU KNOW ME!
Oh hell yeah...lol.
Its all raaaaaayyyyyyyzist. He had a dog box on the back of his pickup, so he hunts. Thats some prime insightful information right thar.
So do I ;-)
The other issue i see is rotten teeth and future diabetes.
So it's the oligarchy's fault that the children (defined by IQ, not age) like to spend their credits on candy? I'd love to see you run through the logic on that one!
Furthermore, governments don't dumb down children. Children are born pretty 'dumb', in that they only are endowed with basic survival instincts. So what you're really saying is that, 'the government service, that the large majority of American parents take advantage of at massively subsidised rates, doesn't do a good enough job at educating other people's children.' Do you really think that someone else is going to take care of your kids for you??
Maybe you should read the rest of the thread before you make a complete fool of yourself.
*facepalm*
Seriously?
Use the EBT money and hand it over to the banks, rich and corps. They'll save us!
Author is some one on food stamps. can't see the big picture.
Thank goodness we had Mitt Romney to save the Salt Lake games.
sarc
If you can't say something nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGt9jAkWie4 (0:22)
False. Russia is notorious for assaulting racial minority students: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4737468.stm
Otherwise you are correct the USA has been turned into a shithole ever since you stole it from the Native Americans.
"stole from the Native Americans"? Sorry that's a Hollywood meme, maybe it was stolen but before whitey got out on the plains your Native Americans "you call it corn we call it maize" were butchering each other- tribe on tribe.
The 'marvelous cliff dwelling civilisations of the SW were not even a village. More like an extended family and 6 dwellings for no more than 17 people. Tiny, go there, see for yourself.
The Natives would have all died, it could never have been avoided.
Even if in 1500 everyone had 2014 ultra-PC values and made the entire Western Hemisphere offlimits, eventually someone's rich teenage son would take a trip, post video to YouTube of him shaking hands with the locals smiling broadly, and three years later 95% of everyone in the Western Hemisphere would have died of various diseases.
It is not as though this did not happen to 'The White Man'. Yuan Chinese Mongol warriors used germ warfare in the Crimea and that brought the Black Death to Europe and killed 75% of everyone in Europa.
Good for the Russians, they don't want to end up like Sweden, or the rest of Western world, thanks to ethnics like Barbara Spectre and their continual third world immigration activism.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/somali-muslim-who-raped-dea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a56EqUPwyFQ
http://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/muslims-raped-over-300-sw...
And Russians certainly don't want to end up like third world DIEverse New York City.
http://newobserveronline.com/nonwhite-crime-apocalypse-envelops-new-york...
Let Barbara Spectre instruct you on how to be multicultural. Well, except for in Israel, where they put their illegal African immigrants into concentration camps, and then promptly ship them back to Africa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Vq_e2Z1ug
instead of quibbling over the relative merits of each generally failed experiment in common governance, it might be better to address the volatile nature of the present conflicts in Eastern Europe in the Ukraine, and the bloody abbatoir in Syria generally recognized as geopolitcal maneuvering and strategic positioning of the major powers in this renascence of the Cold War occurring across the Middle East and Central Asia in the build up to a confrontation of immense proportions which is most probably the curtain raiser for WW III.
People are people -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uHCa7dnVGM
Well, they certainly have both been f'ed over by Bolsheviks. The key difference is that Putin has purged the most of them, gotten rid of their debt and seems to actually love his country.
Now compare that to the USSA. You've got a first-couple who openly disdain what America was and have further entrenched the New Bolsheviks into every corner of our existence, from health care to education. That's not even to speak of their complete control over media, finances, and the judicial system.
That about says all that matters. The Bolsheviks have to tip toe around Putin least they get some of their own medicine from him. They don't have to worry about that with Ron Paul who is saying all the right things while waiting for the duped up US sheeple to become aware. The Bols are duncing them down and gutting their minds faster than they can be made aware. The Russians have suffered badly under the Bol yoke and they know its not Mr. Niceguy time.
About the Putin man crush thing the trolls like to bring up, you know your tribe really enjoys feeding on Obamas pole (ask Rahm), its your way. Putin is a strongman keeping himself strong and protecting his people from the Bols. In the world of war dogs, and it is very much a war for the mind and soul of a people, Obama is a poodle and Putin a Rottweiler.
Well said.
Russia is a beautiful example of a post-socialist society. Whether a nation is forced into socialism or chooses it democratically, it ends when there's no wealth left to share.
America's political system in 2024 has come to resemble Russia's. We still have elections, with the National Unity Party winning 90% of the vote and the Libertarian, Constitution, and Green Parties dividing up the rest. No one's really sure where the NUP stands on the political spectrum. When asked about it, most people shrug and say they don't follow politics.
In 2021, Congress balanced the budget and ended hyperinflation by voting unanimously to abolish Social Security, Medicare, and all welfare programs. They plan to introduce a "new dollar" equal to 1000 old dollars, bringing prices roughly back to 2014 levels and the national debt to a manageable $100 billion. The 2020 census never took place, so population estimates vary from the official figure of 340 million to as low as 250 million.
After a few "accidental" deaths, the news media quickly learned to treat the NUP with the utmost deference they once lavished on Barack Obama. Drugs, guns, and prostitutes are illegal but very easy to get. So many men in various uniforms carry high-capacity assault weapons that one hardly notices them.
What's the life expectancy for Russian males. Somewhere around the level of Bangladesh I've heard. Yeah, real robust men full of cheap vodka.
In America the Oligarchs that steal from the Treasury are heroes.
The "bad guys" are teenagers smoking pot and not slaving for the Corporatocracy.
" I don't recognize America. She is sinking into a moral and cultural black hole of corruption."
She, the country of the American people, is not "sinking," but being dragged down by the weight of the corrupt DC US and their criminal bankster masters. Time to cut the chain and kick them into the hole they have created for themselves.
"My guillotine likes to eat pol, crat and banksters."
There is no denying the US has an obesity epidemic. Stop eating those frigging Doritos.
"preventing the rationalization of labor costs"
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for what? so we can all make even less??? i was making ~$90K (in 2014 dollars) with 3 years of design experience in 1984!!!! i still am yet to get back to that AND THAT IS WHY AMERICA IS CIRCLING THE FUCKING DRAIN
Always a pleasure to hear the experts tell us all is bright and dandy in the Homeland.
Not that dandy, William, but at least we are armed and dangerous;)
"in America, the corrupt press does the bidding of the Democratic Party."
the author hasn't a clue
There is no right life in the wrong one. ;-)
america is today a distant shadow of what it used to be , one day it will be the greates come back in the 21st century , that if america addresses its problems .... running away out of debt with more debt is not the solution .
I wonder how many on ZH know Vivaldi's work.
Concerto for Oboe and strings was a B**** to learn on piano and sounded not as good. I learned that after mastering Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody, 18 yrs of classical training don't fail me now!!!
Are you kidding? Emerson Vivaldi was a kickass Indy racer; anybody don't know that is a commie...
Todd is the worst oped writer on this website currently and that is saying something with the All-Star collection of op-ed garbage that is routinely posted here. Not a single fact that compares and contrasts the US/Russia or objectively compares who Russia ranks on any host of objective world. My favorite are the completely ridiculous and unsubstantiaed things including Russian eating preferences. Go look at the massive spread of Western fast food outlets/knockoffs in Moscow & St. Petersburg that have multiplied like rabbits the past 20 years.
If you worked for me and turned in this kind of subjective and unsubstantiated crap, I wouldn't even discuss it and say come back when you have something worth discussing.
If Russia is so great how come Thailand is full of Russians?
Gotcha...
they are just visiting the Thai Children.
bottom line russia sucks usa sucks why no truth no integrity in the ruling classes. when we get bet to honesty and integrity we will be on the right track. heres a clue it aint coming from the top, governments everywhere are corrupt
Here's how to play both sides of the deal: drink vodka and eat Doritos.
Most points correct, this one not.
Russia has a bad problem with gang violence against blacks. You simply do not want to go there if you are black.
Will you be knocked out by a gang of teenagers? No. You will be knocked out or killed by a gang of white 20-somethings because they don't want a black person in Russia.
What's the difference between a Communist and a Socialist?
A Communist seizes power at the point of a gun. A Socialisst seizes power with the point of a pen.
Quote 0blahma: "I have a pen..." Any questions?
Here's my variation on the theme, held since I was a college student.
The Difference is that a Socialist has not yet consolidated all power. When he has, he will announce himself as a Communist.
Thus....no gangs of black teen thuglets....
And let's be honest....WTF would any person of color ever actually WANT to go to Russia?
"the corrupt press does the bidding of the Democratic Party." Hate to break it to the author, but BOTH parties in the USA have control of the media. Our two party system still provides the illusion of choice for the feeble-minded. All Americans are free to choose between elephant excrement or donkey excrement.
"Common sense is not so common" ~ Voltaire
It is a dumb article. Very misleading. There IS a big difference. Stating that the US and Russia are the "same shit", is just ignorant and plain stupid. Trust me, even if you truly believe that the US is a police state etc. (and even if it is by your standards!), Russia is much worse.
The poster does not know shit about post-soviet countries. Even if he lives there, he didn't understand too much of how that country is working.
Doesn't matter what country you live in corruption is corruption, and crime is crime.
Yes, crime is crime but sadly much of the world and society seems not to care! This is a world wide problem and we do not have the true reference points to know if it is getting better or worse. Below is a list of is a list of the worlds ten most crucial problems counted down from "least to most crucial" The world must begin to address these many problems with long term solutions. Most of these are issues that center on our sustainability. In your honor I have added the word "corruption."
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-worlds-10-worst-problems.html
Of course, the USA are as corrupt as is Russia, the only difference is that Russia is now only at the stage where the US were a 130 years ago when Rockefeller "built" is fortune. Today's US corruption is just more sophisticated, they dont break arms and legs any more to get results. Banking: none of all these Wallstreet banksters has been jailed, not even brought to some court (take an example on Iceland). Tax-evasion: the US imposed FATCA on the rest of the world but refused to subscribe on this G-20 to the full new OECD-rules governing tax-evasion and thus enabling Miami, Las Vegas, Delaware and others to continue to verify the origin of the funds brought in by the local drugdeales, le local mafia and all the Southamerican monney streaming f.g. to Miami which is now the largest monney-laundering banking place of this planet. This would not have been possible without corrupt political leaders on all levels of power.
What e.g. about the corrupt military industry which manipulated the corrupt politicians to start the 2nd war in Irak. Political lobbying in Washington is certainly highgrade corruption, look at the funding of the last 2 presidents election campaigns by banksters. And in foreign politics just one small example: Thailand, where the american born king Bumipol-pot built a fortune going from zero to 25B$, first by opium-trade and later and util now by taking a permanent 10% gift by all industries, and of course from the american petroleum industries which operates in the Gulf of Siam. The american f-up in the Middle-East and in Ukraine, in Pakistan etc are other examples full of corruption of leaders and military chiefs. Not want to see what is going on is alsoccalled bigotry.
Thanks, great post. My visit to Russia a few years ago also makes me want to caution those who paint the Russia with a broad brush. I would also like to add a word of caution to that those who see government spending on infrastructure as a silver bullet for the economy and as a big job creator.
It may be time for a "truth off'. More "bridges to nowhere" and wasted spending exist then the taxpayer could ever imagine. Often this spending does not create real wealth for our country. More on why infrastructure spending often falls short of its goal in the article below,
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/02/infrastructure-spending-no-silver...
Interesting points. Unfortunately, the author has been to Russia too many times and takes the tried and true, Lefty, Russian, and Arab method of attempted equivocation as argument.
Is Russia looking up? Can't tell from this type of "discussion". What I like is little in the way of government debt and companies that make money with an average PE of 5-6. That is what should interest ZHers.
Author makes some great points. I've been to Russian and the Ukraine a couple times. I didn't like the airports very much, though. What I saw was somewhat decrepit. Customs was hit-or-miss corrupt and lazy. Their public bathrooms are abyssimally awful. Just walk in the door and pee on anything or anyone standing still. And your taxi driver may or may not be conspiring to take you into a quiet place to kill you.
Some Russians are fat, but overall I thought they were skinny and short-something I attribute to a leaner, diet and the malnutrition of the previous era. I have a pic of me with 3 guys of roughly the same age and I tower over them. I think I noted the younger generation was bigger and taller, but it's been a few years. They do get better food than us in one respect-less processed food and fewer chemicals and preservatives. I thought their food was pretty good. And there was lots of it. Their take on the "Gamboorger" was pretty good, in my opinion. Beer was great and really cheap (found broken glass in one Oberon bottle-had to drink around it) While they were harvesting with 19th century techniques in the fields I passed-guy with a scyth and horse cart-food was so plentiful it was sold everywhere in the country on the side of the road and at improptu markets. You can laugh at Russians and talk about us being free, but if you saw their markets, you would be surprised. ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is on sale in their markets. No rules, no regulations, no taxes-just folks selling to folks buying. I felt like it was a more pure form of capitalism than we enjoy here. (At one point, a guy even offered to sell me a rocket launcher. What a country!) Plus, you can see your meat being cut up, cut off the animal, or just plain buy the whole carcass. The only drawbacks, in my opinion, were the lack of air conditioning and refrigeration in the markets (flies were everywhere) and the potential to buy produce contaminated with radiation (brought a survey meter). I guess Russia and the Ukraine are like a snowy Caucasian version of Mexico? I would be happy to go back any time.
I have to add-we may not be corrupt like them, but we are sure as hell corrupt. I have a Moldovan friend who wishes Americans were as corrupt like they are in Moldova-it would be easier. When he told me about his pains getting his house permitted and constructed, he wished he could have just passed off some cash to the various officials to get it done on schedule. He told me he would have gladly paid 5k to get his house built on time. I have to agree. I know my officials are corrupt, so if I could just bribe them up front for what I want, it would be so much easier. Corruption shouldn't have to be a domain of the wealthy-everyone should be able to buy the best freedom and justice they can afford.