Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddahaid
Granted. The good old US has many places where a form of socialism is endemic. There are people who use the system of welfare permanently, with no intention of ever working to support themselves, and this has been handed down for a generation or two. The safety net for hard times is being gamed to the detriment of all and sticks in the craws of many who have worked hard all their lives. The claim of social inequities is growing thinner, as a basic education is guaranteed by the state, and many of these lifers will not even try, while many others just as poorly off , will gladly work to better their lives and their children's lives. The state is hard put to correct this as there is a moral obligation to help the poor, and some are simply unemployable. How do you tell from a bureaucratic point of view who is who.
Buddahaid
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Yea ok. In modern day Russia there are more billionaires then there are in any other country in the world, or there was awhile ago. So clearly some people are very well off. But a lot of people are also at the bottom of the barrel, kids living on the street, elderly people many of whom went through WW2 as young kids etc. struggling for a pension. Alcoholism not even being seen as something that should be treated is culling the numbers of Russians and the birth/death rate of Russians is declining.
So there is free reign for a certain type of capitalism, and the majority has to suffer. It's kind of like the Czarist rule, few at the top and a lot in positions like serfs etc. It's a volatile situation from the start but as long as Russia is where the west wants it to be nobody seems to be interested in making Russia a more humane country.