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Makes things sound desolate and hopeless. But the residents of provincial cities like Kazan would tell a different story pointing to new subway lines, a new air
by memracom 13y ago
Makes things sound desolate and hopeless. But the residents of provincial cities like Kazan would tell a different story pointing to new subway lines, a new airport terminal, new rapid transit from the airport to the city center, new highways, new apartment buildings, etc.
A foreigner will say, but St. Petersburg is an important port city. How could the main road link between the port and the capital be in such a sorry state? The answer lies in the Russian way of doing things. Russia has an excellent train network, and goods mainly travel from the port to the capital by train. Roads serve those areas which are not important enough to have trains, so when you take a road trip in Russia, you are choosing to travel off the beaten track in the back of beyond. Charming and full of natural beauty, but also full of poverty just the same as you would see on an indian reserve in the USA. Only the natives live in such places in Russia, clinging to the traditional way of life of their ancestors. You look at these people and see white faces like those of you and your neighbors and you are confused because you are used to seeing brown faces on the aboriginals. But in Russia, the white faces ARE the aboriginals, living in this land since before the end of the Ice Age 12,000 years ago when all of Europe was under a thick sheet of ice.
Russia is a very big place, and the government cannot afford to spend its money everywhere and anywhere. In order to make Kazan and Sochi into modern cities that are productive and desirable places to live, they have to neglect some other places. In a vast territory that means that most of the villages are neglected. But there are lots of people who like it that way because they want to live in the forest, breathe fresh air, collect mushrooms and berries, etc. It is their traditional way of life since time immemorial.
- D_Alex 13y agoOMG you are so full of bullshit. >in Russia, the white faces ARE the aboriginals Also in Germany, France and Norway. >the government cannot afford to spend its money everywhere and anywhere Of course not, they have to focus spending on facilities exclusively used by the elite... right? >there are lots of people who like it that way because they want to live in the forest, breathe fresh air, collect mushrooms and berries, etc. And not have hot water, electricity or access to ambulances. 'Cos to have that, plus fresh air and berries is just wrong.
- tinbad 13y ago> Russia is a very big place, and the government cannot afford to spend its money everywhere and anywhere. Is that how you justify pumping 50 billion in olympics that they shouldn't have in the first place?
- lostlogin 13y agoOr assassinating opponents, locking up dissenters, bashing (figuratively and literally) gays and generally using state force to break human rights.
- userulluipeste 13y ago"Is that how you justify pumping 50 billion in olympics that they shouldn't have in the first place?" Well, it's not that it didn't happened before. Greece was the olympics host a few years ago, and spent for that billions of euros. Greece!
- tinbad 13y agoIn some ways the Greece culture and politics can be compared to Russia's. In most cases they cannot however. What's interesting about the Olympics example is that the amount is 3 times more than the previous Olympics. And I can assure you that that is not because everything is 3 times more expensive. The majority of this funding ended up in the pockets of corrupt politicians and their business friends, not reinvested in things like infrastructure, providing jobs and uplifting the economy as a whole. This is exactly where the article is spot on and why one of the most important roads in Russia is still an embarrassment of civil engineering.
- userulluipeste 13y agoI don't know about the costs involved and if three times the previous costs is justified, but that the corrupt politicians and their business friends are feasting on government projects is not a rarity either. Just to leave you an example: http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/11/dod-contractors-cost-nearly-3-times-more-than-dod-civilians.html http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/11/dod-contractors-cos...
- kutakbash 13y agoIs that, like, Russia Today channel on Hacker News?