The State of The State of Russia

[SteveOR]

This is an interesting opinion article that I found on CBS News:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/09/opinion/main5147076.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.6

There have been many discussions here on RWD about life expectancy, fertility rates, population decline and alcohol consumption in Russia.  This article touches on all of these issues.  I found this paragraph to be especially interesting (and sad):

"Life expectancy in Russian males is falling, and its disparity with female life expectancy is unprecedented for a nation that calls itself a modern, industrialized state. Infant mortality is rising, female fertility (and hence birth rates) is dropping, and the level of both HIV/AIDs and TB is climbing towards epidemic proportions. Deaths due to cancer, heart disease and alcoholism are also off the charts. Average alcohol consumption in Russia, Feshbach points out, is double what the WHO considers to be a level that is hazardous to health."

[MatryoshkaMan]

I saw something on CBC last week (the National I think) where they did a feature on the Russian medical system and the health of Russians in general. What struck me was that the population of Russia has fallen by 12 million people since the end for of the Soviet Union 18 years ago - almost 1 million less people a year. Scary stuff.

[kievstar]

Much of Europe has fallen in population to and replaced with immigrants from Africa, Asia, and Middle East past 20 years.

Not to be racist but the white population is decreasing compared to the rest of the World.  I do not care but that is what is going on.

[groovlstk]

I tend to ignore the mainstream media's coverage of Russia - even the NY Times does a lot of shoddy work there. If you want to learn about current events in Russia, subscribe to Johnson's Russia List.

The humorous aspect of these breathless news stories is that they always seem to report that Russia is on the brink of collapsing - pretty much how the rest of the world has reported on the US for decades.