The quality of life, in times of peace, does seem comparable to that of rural U.S.. Adding to that, U.S. households are orders of magnitude more personally inde

The quality of life, in times of peace, does seem comparable to that of rural U.S.. Adding to that, U.S. households are orders of magnitude more personally indebted than Russia. I don't buy the "wealth" argument. A nation's wealth says little about how wealthy, in practice, its residents are.