17 Mindblowing facts about Russia

[Shadow]

Yes, definitely more humane than the Khmer Rouge.  China's numbers were likely mostly because of overpopulation, but also because of their zeal.  Each communist country may claim to want to do away with nationalism, but it never works. 

I maintain my opinion that Russians were the rulers of the Empire of the Soviet Union; the favored ones.  Putin clearly does not care that he has made enemies of ethnic Ukrainians, he favors the ethnic Russians.

I also qualified my statement to be those who "got with the program". 

Considering that the population of both Russia and Ukraine were growing, but are now declining, it would seem that in many some ways life was better for the average person in the FSU.  They had guaranteed employment, healthcare benefits, vacation benefits and retirement benefits.  Do you dispute that?

I wonder if studies are done regadring times of decline and increase in population during history in Europe.
For the FSU a large contributing factor seems to have been the economic instability after de fall of the Soviet Union.
That does not make the Soviet Union preferred, but indicates that in times of economic instability people will be less inclined to take children. The effect of missing a generation will last quite a while.

[AC]

I wonder if studies are done regadring times of decline and increase in population during history in Europe.
For the FSU a large contributing factor seems to have been the economic instability after de fall of the Soviet Union.
That does not make the Soviet Union preferred, but indicates that in times of economic instability people will be less inclined to take children. The effect of missing a generation will last quite a while.

Yes, the economic stability of the Soviet Union from the 1950's and on is what I was getting at.  Initially after the Soviet Union collapsed it's understandable that population rates would go down, but now what is the excuse, considering that under Putin (at least before the invasion of Ukraine) the economy of Russia was growing?  Why would the population of Russia be declining, even though the standard of living was growing?  It seems that certain security provisions of socialism under the USSR were very important. 

[Boethius]

Yes, definitely more humane than the Khmer Rouge.  China's numbers were likely mostly because of overpopulation, but also because of their zeal.  Each communist country may claim to want to do away with nationalism, but it never works. 

No, the Bolsheviks were not more humane.  They just ruled longer, so they had an opportunity to subdue the population.

I maintain my opinion that Russians were the rulers of the Empire of the Soviet Union; the favored ones.  Putin clearly does not care that he has made enemies of ethnic Ukrainians, he favors the ethnic Russians.

But Putin is not ruling the USSR.

Considering that the population of both Russia and Ukraine were growing, but are now declining, it would seem that in many some ways life was better for the average person in the FSU.  They had guaranteed employment, healthcare benefits, vacation benefits and retirement benefits.  Do you dispute that?

The decline in population is because of emigration.  Even in Soviet times, the death rate exceeded the birth rate.


For the most part, there was guaranteed employment and the benefits you mentioned.  However, if you came from the wrong class (i.e., not from the working class), even employment was not guaranteed.  Then, of course, you would wait.  Ten years or more for an apartment.  Average in Ukraine of 17 years for a car.  My MIL waited 13 years for a phone line.  You would also line up for every basic necessity imaginable.  Buying food was never less than a 2 hour ordeal in big cities.  When my husband worked at Chernobyl', the miners from Donbas who were there had not seen meat in their stores for 2 years.   


You also always wondered why people were asking you certain things, and who was informing on you.  On the collapse, I read an interview with the KGB officer who was in charge of students at Leningrad State University.  He said it was so bad, the informants were informing on informants. 


I know many view that time with nostalgia, as there was more stability, but they forget the bad things, and that they were all locked in the country.


It was

[AC]

The decline in population is because of emigration. 

That is certainly the number one reason:  the best and the brightest often leave regimes ruled by dictators.  Some who are millionaires and billionaires stay behind, because it's their country after all, not Putin's.  Yet many most likely have escape plans and money parked in overseas accounts.

That leaves the rest:  Although the Russian economy was growing, it was perhaps not good enough for those at the bottom and the small middle class to have enough children to reverse the decline in population.

[Shadow]

The decline in population is because of emigration.

I doubt you can prove that with numbers.

If the birth rate drops in one generation, it will take a number of generations to bring back the effect. Currently the decline has stoppped, and by various incentives for children it is expected that the birth rate will go up.

In this matter Medvedev was once thanked for his personal efforts to raise the number of pregnancies. 

[calmissile]

I doubt you can prove that with numbers.

If the birth rate drops in one generation, it will take a number of generations to bring back the effect. Currently the decline has stoppped, and by various incentives for children it is expected that the birth rate will go up.

In this matter Medvedev was once thanked for his personal efforts to raise the number of pregnancies. 

??? 

[AC]

I doubt you can prove that with numbers.

If the birth rate drops in one generation, it will take a number of generations to bring back the effect. Currently the decline has stoppped, and by various incentives for children it is expected that the birth rate will go up.

This is also a possibility.  Are there any historical graphs which prove this might be the case, whether from Russia or elsewhere?

[Gylden]

http://thediplomat.com/2014/07/russian-emigration-spikes-in-2013-2014/

"Russia’s official statistics service, Rosstat, states that 186,382 Russians left the country in 2013 and 122,751 in 2012. These numbers represent a significant increase over the 36,774 that left in 2011 and the 33,578 in 2010. Furthermore, some experts doubt the veracity of Rosstat’s numbers, alleging that the actual numbers could be much higher. The sharp uptick in emigration is likely due to Russia’s growing international political isolation under Vladimir Putin."
 
 

[Shadow]

http://thediplomat.com/2014/07/russian-emigration-spikes-in-2013-2014/

"Russia’s official statistics service, Rosstat, states that 186,382 Russians left the country in 2013 and 122,751 in 2012. These numbers represent a significant increase over the 36,774 that left in 2011 and the 33,578 in 2010. Furthermore, some experts doubt the veracity of Rosstat’s numbers, alleging that the actual numbers could be much higher. The sharp uptick in emigration is likely due to Russia’s growing international political isolation under Vladimir Putin."

And more important,
Gary Kasparov has left the country....again.

[Gator]

Well if you can accurately predict the price of oil than you are a wiser man than I am.  There are so many variables that go into the price; yet all that you wrote is true, providing that some other variables don't also come into play.   


http://useconomy.about.com/od/supply/f/crude_oil_price.htm

Here is a recent article (yesterday) that discusses the global picture. 

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20141012220864


I am not predicting the price of oil.  I am just reporting historic trends, plus predictions by those who are in the business of predicting.   

Russia's natural resources mean that Russia's government may be similar in some key ways to North Korea's, yet Russians will enjoy a far better, albeit declining lifestyle.   

[AC]

http://www.businessinsider.com/17-mind-blowing-facts-about-russia-2014-3?op=1


Legend has it that Lake Baikal is the birthplace of Genghis Khan, and also the World's deepest lake at 5,387 feet deep.  Perhaps someday this area will again be ruled by his descendants, many of whom live in Kazakhstan, a country which "isn't really a country" according to Putin.


http://www.villagegreendenison.com/lake%20baikal.htm

http://www.irkutsk.org/baikal/olkhon.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan

[AC]

Here is a recent article (yesterday) that discusses the global picture. 

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20141012220864


I am not predicting the price of oil.  I am just reporting historic trends, plus predictions by those who are in the business of predicting.   

fathertime says it's a conspiracy!  OMG!


http://www.commodityonline.com/news/brent-crude-oil-barclays-revises-downwards-4q-2014-2015-forecast-to-$93$96-60135-3-60136.html

[cc3]

Do you like it there?

Fiancee (from Luhansk) and I love it here. 

[Anotherkiwi]

Fiancee (from Luhansk) and I love it here. 

I'm glad that things are working out so well for you.  How are her relatives and friends coping with being part of a territory that's recognised only by itself?  Have any of them been caught up in the fighting?

[cc3]

I'm glad that things are working out so well for you.  How are her relatives and friends coping with being part of a territory that's recognised only by itself?  Have any of them been caught up in the fighting?

All of her relatives and friends have joined the Donbas diaspora, to safer parts of Ukraine, to Russia, or to other countries. Only 50% of Luhansk's and Donetsk's original populations are estimated to remain. Accurate counts are impossible in barbarian ruled "Peoples' Republics".

[Anotherkiwi]

All of her relatives and friends have joined the Donbas diaspora, to safer parts of Ukraine, to Russia, or to other countries.

Glad they're safe as well.

Only 50% of Luhansk's and Donetsk's original populations are estimated to remain. Accurate counts are impossible in barbarian ruled "Peoples' Republics".

So much for the overwhelming welcome to the liberators rebels.

[cc3]

Glad they're safe as well.

So much for the overwhelming welcome to the liberators rebels.

Dyakuyu!