6 ms·

Russia sounds like a pretty scary place, to be honest. Is it really as bad as this makes it sound? How does a whole country get to be so sociopathic?

by ryusage 14y ago

jacquesm 14y ago
A fish rots from the head.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  Reminds me of these reddit comments about Russian girls: http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_something_something_russian_girls/c7untbu http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_som... http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_something_something_russian_girls/c7uo8om http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_som...
  - jacquesm 14y ago
    I'm not sure how these comments have anything to do with the way Russia is being run these days.
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      "How does a whole country get to be so sociopathic?"
      - jacquesm 14y ago
        Consider me dumb but I still don't get the relation with Russian girls. I know quite a few of them and they don't strike me as particularly sociopathic. If you mean to say that such generalizations are not applicable then yes, of course not everybody in the country is like that, but at the same time I doubt you'd see young people throwing themselves in front of cars in order to be able to sue the drivers in many other countries. And that kind of behaviour has its roots in how the country is run, and most Russian people would agree with that. At least, my Russian friends do. People with skills in demand abroad leave in droves, the Russian mob is firmly in control and they can only be that way because the authorities are about as corrupt as they come. Compared to other countries that have managed to get rid of the so called communists former Russia and its component states have it worse than any of them.
        stcredzero 14y ago
        > Consider me dumb but I still don't get the relation with Russian girls. I thought you were saying that sociopathy from the top can effect the entire society. However, you have specific mechanisms in mind having to do with the workings (or not) of law enforcement.
  - danabramov 14y ago
    Is this meant to be sarcastic or serious?
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      Not meant to be entirely serious, but I do think that seeing lots of sociopathic behavior in society does affect interpersonal behaviors.
      - danabramov 14y ago
        Um, perhaps. And what exactly does this have to do with Russian girls?
        stcredzero 14y ago
        Oh sorry. Thought they were part of society.
  - arrrg 14y ago
    Keep that sexist crap contained on Reddit, don't spread it around here, sexist.
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      Wow, I must've really hurt your feelings in the other thread. Delighted.
coldtea 14y ago
Well, some people think the same about the US from stories they hear.
- ryusage 14y ago
  That's fair, and that's partially why I'm asking. I know many have the impression that the United States is incredibly dangerous, to which I would say that's only really true in very specific areas - generally the poorest areas where people are desperate. This sounds really widespread, though. I've never heard of people in the US carrying around weapons purely in case of road rage, for example.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    > I've never heard of people in the US carrying around weapons purely in case of road rage, for example. I've had a friend of mine in Texas give me specific (un-solicted) advice on how to have a gun for protection in case of road rage. (Involving what features not to get, because you don't really need them and they make juries think you're a gun nut itching to shoot someone.) Also in Texas, once I got out of the car at an intersection so I could let the people in the car ahead know they didn't have their headlights on. I told my friends this had happened, and they all told me, "That's a good way to get shot!" I've also been advised to have a steel pipe in the car, since it's useful as a "cheater bar" to get more leverage on the lug nut wrench as well as for self defense.
    - cobrausn 14y ago
      Personal anecdotes? How about some real numbers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage A 2007 study of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas concluded that the cities with the least courteous drivers (most road rage) are Miami, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. The cities with the most courteous drivers (least road rage) are Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle, and Atlanta.[11] In spite of this, in 2009, New York, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul were rated the top five "Road Rage Capitals" of the United States.[12] In other words, any big city. And (from what I can tell), deadly incidents are not that common.
at-fates-hands 14y ago
I remember watching some reality COPS show with John Bunnell and they went to Russia to follow some of the detectives there. When the Russians would bust drug dealers, they would take their drugs and give them to addicts who informed on them. Pretty crazy stuff.
- philwelch 14y ago
  That's a great inventive to turn informer! It's perfectly logical, in a certain horrible kind of way.
xentronium 14y ago
This is a complex question. 1. Article is mostly based on CHP community posts and comments. Their data is strongly skewed toward scary stuff (which is the only type of content that is posted there) 2. There are several categories of horrible things that can happen to you, but mostly you can avoid them. However, sometimes you can't, and sometimes it's batshit crazy. For example, couple of months ago, some road crash with some heated argument happened in St. Petersburg. One of the participants of that argument died from five knife wounds to the chest. Investigative Committee alleged that (sic!) the man committed suicide (google Grigory Kochnev). You can't make this shit up. 3. Russians themselves are mostly fine, but corruption is on super-high levels and these people are not sent as alien agents from space. Saltykov-Shchedrin, great Russian satirist, wrote more than a hundred years ago: "If I were to doze off and re-awake in a hundred years and someone asked me what is happening in Russia, my answer would be unhesitating: people are drinking and stealing". 4. If you are to visit Russia as a tourist, you are reasonably safe. But I'd never advice anyone to open business in or relocate to Russia. Unless you want to deal with truly kafkaesque things every single day.
- ryusage 14y ago
  So is the article just picking out a few isolated incidents and painting a completely unrealistic picture of driving in Russia?
  - pavel_lishin 14y ago
    I realize that I'm just throwing more anecdotes into the "NOT DATA" bucket here, but the last time I visited Russia I was driven around by my grandfather and uncle. It was probably one of the most terrifying things I've ever experienced on the road, and I've had a tire blow-out in a Ford king-everything truck, as well as losing power-everything in the same truck, both times going 70+ mph on a highway.
    - ryusage 14y ago
      What specifically made the driving in Russia so terrifying? Was it the kind of things the article was talking about, or something else?

Russia sounds like a pretty scary place, to be honest. Is it really as bad as this makes it sound? How does a whole country get to be so sociopathic?

by ryusage 14y ago

Russia sounds like a pretty scary place, to be honest. Is it really as bad as this makes it sound? How does a whole country get to be so sociopathic?

jacquesm 14y ago

A fish rots from the head.

stcredzero 14y ago
Reminds me of these reddit comments about Russian girls: http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_something_something_russian_girls/c7untbu http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_som... http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_something_something_russian_girls/c7uo8om http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/16bl5l/something_som...
- jacquesm 14y ago
  I'm not sure how these comments have anything to do with the way Russia is being run these days.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    "How does a whole country get to be so sociopathic?"
    - jacquesm 14y ago
      Consider me dumb but I still don't get the relation with Russian girls. I know quite a few of them and they don't strike me as particularly sociopathic. If you mean to say that such generalizations are not applicable then yes, of course not everybody in the country is like that, but at the same time I doubt you'd see young people throwing themselves in front of cars in order to be able to sue the drivers in many other countries. And that kind of behaviour has its roots in how the country is run, and most Russian people would agree with that. At least, my Russian friends do. People with skills in demand abroad leave in droves, the Russian mob is firmly in control and they can only be that way because the authorities are about as corrupt as they come. Compared to other countries that have managed to get rid of the so called communists former Russia and its component states have it worse than any of them.
      - stcredzero 14y ago
        > Consider me dumb but I still don't get the relation with Russian girls. I thought you were saying that sociopathy from the top can effect the entire society. However, you have specific mechanisms in mind having to do with the workings (or not) of law enforcement.
- danabramov 14y ago
  Is this meant to be sarcastic or serious?
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    Not meant to be entirely serious, but I do think that seeing lots of sociopathic behavior in society does affect interpersonal behaviors.
    - danabramov 14y ago
      Um, perhaps. And what exactly does this have to do with Russian girls?
      - stcredzero 14y ago
        Oh sorry. Thought they were part of society.
- arrrg 14y ago
  Keep that sexist crap contained on Reddit, don't spread it around here, sexist.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    Wow, I must've really hurt your feelings in the other thread. Delighted.

coldtea 14y ago

Well, some people think the same about the US from stories they hear.

ryusage 14y ago
That's fair, and that's partially why I'm asking. I know many have the impression that the United States is incredibly dangerous, to which I would say that's only really true in very specific areas - generally the poorest areas where people are desperate. This sounds really widespread, though. I've never heard of people in the US carrying around weapons purely in case of road rage, for example.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  > I've never heard of people in the US carrying around weapons purely in case of road rage, for example. I've had a friend of mine in Texas give me specific (un-solicted) advice on how to have a gun for protection in case of road rage. (Involving what features not to get, because you don't really need them and they make juries think you're a gun nut itching to shoot someone.) Also in Texas, once I got out of the car at an intersection so I could let the people in the car ahead know they didn't have their headlights on. I told my friends this had happened, and they all told me, "That's a good way to get shot!" I've also been advised to have a steel pipe in the car, since it's useful as a "cheater bar" to get more leverage on the lug nut wrench as well as for self defense.
  - cobrausn 14y ago
    Personal anecdotes? How about some real numbers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage A 2007 study of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas concluded that the cities with the least courteous drivers (most road rage) are Miami, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. The cities with the most courteous drivers (least road rage) are Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle, and Atlanta.[11] In spite of this, in 2009, New York, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul were rated the top five "Road Rage Capitals" of the United States.[12] In other words, any big city. And (from what I can tell), deadly incidents are not that common.

at-fates-hands 14y ago

I remember watching some reality COPS show with John Bunnell and they went to Russia to follow some of the detectives there. When the Russians would bust drug dealers, they would take their drugs and give them to addicts who informed on them. Pretty crazy stuff.

philwelch 14y ago
That's a great inventive to turn informer! It's perfectly logical, in a certain horrible kind of way.

xentronium 14y ago

This is a complex question. 1. Article is mostly based on CHP community posts and comments. Their data is strongly skewed toward scary stuff (which is the only type of content that is posted there) 2. There are several categories of horrible things that can happen to you, but mostly you can avoid them. However, sometimes you can't, and sometimes it's batshit crazy. For example, couple of months ago, some road crash with some heated argument happened in St. Petersburg. One of the participants of that argument died from five knife wounds to the chest. Investigative Committee alleged that (sic!) the man committed suicide (google Grigory Kochnev). You can't make this shit up. 3. Russians themselves are mostly fine, but corruption is on super-high levels and these people are not sent as alien agents from space. Saltykov-Shchedrin, great Russian satirist, wrote more than a hundred years ago: "If I were to doze off and re-awake in a hundred years and someone asked me what is happening in Russia, my answer would be unhesitating: people are drinking and stealing". 4. If you are to visit Russia as a tourist, you are reasonably safe. But I'd never advice anyone to open business in or relocate to Russia. Unless you want to deal with truly kafkaesque things every single day.

ryusage 14y ago
So is the article just picking out a few isolated incidents and painting a completely unrealistic picture of driving in Russia?
- pavel_lishin 14y ago
  I realize that I'm just throwing more anecdotes into the "NOT DATA" bucket here, but the last time I visited Russia I was driven around by my grandfather and uncle. It was probably one of the most terrifying things I've ever experienced on the road, and I've had a tire blow-out in a Ford king-everything truck, as well as losing power-everything in the same truck, both times going 70+ mph on a highway.
  - ryusage 14y ago
    What specifically made the driving in Russia so terrifying? Was it the kind of things the article was talking about, or something else?