Well, as a Canadian living in Russia for the past 13 years I have the following to say about the US... Seriously, the parent post is so full of old clichés, it

Well, as a Canadian living in Russia for the past 13 years I have the following to say about the US... Seriously, the parent post is so full of old clichés, it's not even funny. I lived outside of Russia for the past 20 years and I've moved back half a year ago, and I'm not even located in Moscow now. I live in a large industrial city in Ural region. Russia has changed a lot in past 10 years and 90% of what I see in my daily private and business life is not much different from what I'm accustomed to in the UK. Some things are positively better (for example communal services are great though I can judge by my apartment block only). Let me say something about bribes and corruption. I never gave a single bribe in my life in Russia then or now, with a possible exception of a small fine to a traffic cop paid on the spot in cash (to save myself time going to a nearby bank). I know there are people who pay bribes, but plenty of businesspeople don't. Those businesspeople who don't pay bribes CAN be successful and quite often are. And those who do quite often get caught together with corrupt officials. The key point is -- today corruption is much less than it was in the 90s and it's falling year by year. The image of organised crime driving around with armed body guards in SUVs is total bullshit nowadays. Most of SUVs you see on the streets in my city is driven by beautiful blond girls with artificial sun tan on their way to a gym. I am walking the streets at night (admittedly, not in the depressed areas) without fear of being mugged, since the last fight I saw in this city was when bouncers kicked some rich guy out of a club for being too drunk. The key is to look at the dynamics. Russia is getting better, cleaner, wealthier. Lawlessness that happened in the 90s is quickly being replaced by the rule of law. It's not perfect, but the progress is amazing. When author of the parent post implies that somebody (like me) cannot make an honest living in Russia today, I take it quite personally. The irony is -- he is not Russian, he has not lived in Russia for years, his friends are emigrant Russians -- but he has a long list of clichés that earn upvotes on HN.