> As we say in Russia, "and what are the downsides"? Tremendous wasted potential. You could be living the kind of life Norwegians are enjoying, but you are una

> As we say in Russia, "and what are the downsides"? Tremendous wasted potential. You could be living the kind of life Norwegians are enjoying, but you are unable to climb out of the self-destructive pattern that leads to low development, lack of freedoms, retarded economy and general despair that makes 1 in 4 men to drink themselves to death before the age of 55. As much as you like to shake fists at the "rotting West", in the end it's you who are living shorter, unhappier and less productive lives. It's true now, it was true in Soviet days, and it was true during czars and empresses. The rest of us would happily leave you alone in that misery if only you stopped trying to drag us down with you.