>It's year 1992. >You have almost 150 million citizens with GDP per capita bigger than Poland and almost as big as Czechoslovakia. >You're biggest country in the world with soil that is rich in natural resources. >You still have plenty of soft power, with nations of Europe wanting to befriend you and nations of Asia to join you. >Your hard power is undisputed and there's no force that is realistically threatening you.
>You could improve economical situation of your citizens just by selling natural resources to foreign countries. >You could brain drain eastern Europe, south Caucasus or Central Asia... >...or if you're more nationalistic/racist, you could increase your demographic just by attracting your own population that lives in foreign countries by making comfy conditions in the motherland. >You even could make your own version of Singapore at Baltic sea and take benefits from it, rather than supporting it with funds all the time.
What the fuck happened? 3 decades have passed - why Russia isn't 150-million-strong, multi-continental version of Norway, or at least bigger and more civilized version of Arabic Emirates, when all the ingredients were there? Instead it isn't even capable of defending Armenia against Azerbeijan or make literally any impact on Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan. It lost it's hard power (or rather illusion of it) in this stupid war in Ukraine and even before the war it lost it's soft power by bullying everyone. In matter of very few years it's citizens will have to steal or prostitute themselves to survive, like generation of their parents did when they were young - and that assuming there will be any citizens of Russian Federations (if it doesn't fall apart). I'm literally counting the days til russian trolls will leave /pol because government will cut the funds.
Was it destined to fall before our eyes?
Who is to blame? Americans who didn't wanted strong ally against rising China? Jews because they are Jews? Russians themselves?
Yeah, what happened someone explain? It's a gigantic mystery? Anybody have any idea how Russia went to shit? It's unexplainable? for the life of me I can't think of the answer and why it all went to shit? really can't think of anything? what the fuck happened? I mean damn? big huge question mark? what happened bros? anyone? anybody out there figure it out? huh?
Adam Jones
Long answer short, corruption.
Leo Evans
tl;dt - mongol rapebabies with low social cohesion that can't escape the grip of psychopathic leaders that never wanted to leave a lasting improvement
Eli Ward
Good thing America isn't monkey brazil tier we sure showed them right fellow mutts?
Jace King
At no point in History was Russia's wealth comparable to the rest of Europe. It was always decades if not centuries behind other European powers There really was noone to blame but their own political leadership
Easton Perez
If Oligarchs invested the wealth left by USSR instead of gimping industry to buy more yachts Russia might have been an ok-ish country
Russia has been a failed state since at least the mid 80s, but it got worse after the collapse of the USSR, which was as jewish as its creation.
All of their state industry that kept most people employed and fed was sold for a fraction of its value to ((bankers)). Most thing state funded (healthcare, developpement projects, schools , infrastructure...) got cancelled for years. previously non-existant problems like drug use, prostitution, aids, violent crime became normalized.
In 6 years (between 87 and 93) the Russian fertility rate went from 2.3 to 1.4. 1990s Russia also suffered the worst peace time drop in life expectancy ever recorded in an industrialized country, with close to 10 million excess deaths (not accounted for by demographic trends) due to drug use, alcoholism, malnutrition, violence, suicide, lack of healthcare.
In less than a decade they went from a decaying superpower that was still competing with the US to an Africa tier shithole. The only reason they survived was because of gas and petrol sales. It's not a coincidence if the entirety of the heavy equipment Russia uses in Ukraine is Soviet made or designed, because they haven't produced shit since.
Aaron Reyes
Also their army's budget was slashed by more 95% in the 1990s, it was so bad that soldiers were exchanging weapons and stolen equipment with criminal gangs for food.
Evan Baker
Poland was corrupted as well in 90s and even 2000s. My parents started import company in early 90s - in 2004 (when Poland joined EU) they started doing everything through Germany because polish customs officers still were enforcing their bribes. It took another decade for things to settle down to bearable levels. But Russia already was at level of central European ex-communist countries in early 90s. Imagine current GDP per capita of Czechia but with 150 million people - it was achiveble. Now multiply it with amount of income from selling natural resources (I've read somewhere that it's up to 70% of Russia's income directly or indirectly) that these countries are lacking and you have economic superpower.
If leaders are to blame (which I agree), then why Russians still have such cult of personality and support their president? In best years of Putin's presidency rise of russian GDP was still less than what Poland had in last 30 years straight - and we still hate every and each government that was in power in these years (even most popular PiS never reached 1/3 of votes - and voter turnout in Poland almost never reaches 50%, which means only 15-20% of people actually supports it's government).
Nolan James
>be russia in 1992 >do well >vote a Western puppet >the West collapses your country yes, they would have done better if they wouldn't have trusted the (((West)))
Just look at the baltics, they are the best western slaves and what did they get out of it? They have the biggest depopulation program world wide. They produce more refugees than any warzone. A third of their population left. All their industry is dead. But hey... they get some gibs..
Or look at Poland. WTF does Poland even produce or accomplish?
Brody Baker
The differences with other Ex commie block countries in Russia was that their transition to capitalism was much more abrupt cause the mutts wanted to completely annihilate the country, think of it as an economic nuke.
As an example; while state owned assets in other countries were progressively and sustainably privatized to in term become more productive. In Russia they were purely and simply stolen by Yeltsinites and wall street bankers to then be dismantled for scraps.
Russia today is still below its USSR peak in terms of gdp per capita by purchasing power parity.
Brayden Baker
That's what I'm talking about. Why are Ivans like yourself in foreign countries instead of going back to Russia to build it's GDP? >Or look at Poland. WTF does Poland even produce or accomplish? Littlebit of everything (pic related). Diversification is sign of healthy economy, so it could've been worse.
Communism, not even once. East Germany is still trying to catch up.
Carter Cox
Why aren't you successful? I tell you: Because Slaves are not innovative, not clever enough to form a successful community because of deep distrust and mental blockades. No matter which of your countries, you all have big inferiority complex. Your people lacking of capability to think big. You only want to become big, but you don't know how in real.
It has a positive component, because people which stay instead of migrating can accept the current state than Germans or whatever successful ethnic group. We Germans always want the best, your people are satisfied with less.
Joseph Price
>mutts wanted to completely annihilate the country If Americans used Yeltsin's crew to destroy Russia before it recovers, why didn't they did the same to China? I was doing business with Chinese in pre-Xi times and I refuse to believe their top officials where uncoruptable by mighty dollar-makers. I also refuse to believe Americans didn't saw China rising.
Easton Martinez
>Germans so smart! So smart they support politicians who sold themselves to slavic-mongol rapebabies!
Dude I've been to Germany many times. I know you. You aren't clever or innovative. Even your most know leader (Hitler) was austrian Jew, because you're not nation of leaders or anything like that. You're only obedient and disciplined with pinch of autism and with 80million-strong nation and few decades of peace in the center of Europe it's enough to prosper.
Jose Adams
It's a combination of China and America not really being enemies until recently, cheap imports from China being a net positive for America/America being too dependent on Chinese manufacturing. The US truly not being able to anticipate China's rise until too late (Chinese GDP was still poojeet level in 2006). And America trying but not succeeding in doing so (Americans heavily lobbied chinese leaders to adopt Russian style shock therapy but they ended up refusing and pursuing their gradual liberalization depite coming close to budging several times).
Hudson Murphy
Corruption! Western businesses tried working in Russia but soon discovered that the legal system is corrupt with a huge bias to native Russians.
Open a coffee shop in Moscow. Team up with a native and agree that you will pay for the shop and he will run it, splitting profits equally. He stop sending money, you sue. Courts favor him as a Russian and he never send you any more money and you no longer have legal control of the shop. He just legally stole your business. This happened over and over until no one wanted to do business in Russia.
China and America were enemies since Korean War. I know there was warming up relationship and Kissinger, but if anything that should teach USA, that warming up relationship with Russia would be beneficiary as well. When communism fall apart, it was ideal moment.
Adam Hernandez
Also remember that Americans had a 45 year long cold war with Russia not China.
China was ironically, despite being communist, closer to the US than it was to America after the 1959 sino-soviet, having several armed skirmishes. Mao litterally built up the entire Chinese army to be fight Russia not America.
The peak of sino-russian animosity was when Russians approached the mutts to ask if they could nuke China in 74 (which the mutts refused)
Samuel Ross
the Left is intrinsically economically illiterate and doomed to fail
Sebastian White
The US would never allow Russia to not be a shithole even if it wanted to be. NATO has been around for decades past what it was created to do, and as a result has dragged the world back to the time of it's creation. The US government planned terrorist attacks on its own civilians when Russia put missiles on Cuba.
Ryder Powell
It was an ideal moment to approach Russia but the Mutt leadership decided to take part in petty revenchism, they wanted to make Russia to suffer for the cold war. (Kind of like what the entente powers did to weimar Germany after WW1.)
Bentley Allen
*make Russia suffer
Matthew Fisher
>3 decades have passed - why Russia isn't 150-million-strong, multi-continental version of Norway, or at least bigger and more civilized version of Arabic Emirates, when all the ingredients were there?
Because your state, the EU and your master USA have told you so.
I have no problems in Russia, I am happy.
Russia is different from all countries in that your standard of living, happiness, and so on depends solely on you. Yes, of course a lot of people might say "damn it, why doesn't the government give a shit about its citizens? Trite because we don't give a shit about the government either.
We have a kind of "deal." We are free of each other. We don't interfere with them, they don't interfere with us. You're free. And how you live, what your salary is, what your standard of living is, hangs solely on your shoulders. Of course, it would be nice if the government would help the people with the difficulties they can't solve on their own. However, we had a choice, either the government controls us, or we become whores like the EU. We decided on a third one, not to get in each other's way, to live our lives, and in case of any serious problems, to band together and solve the problem.
Adrian Johnson
closer to the US than it was to Russia*
Josiah Diaz
>Also remember that Americans had a 45 year long cold war with Russia not China. Meh. Vietnam War was huge thing for Americans and it was basically proxy war with China.
It seems USA and Russians started warming up relationship before fall of communism (pic related), but it was just about keeping enemies closer than friends?
