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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Annals of Russia's Demographic Crisis

Facts about Neo-Soviet Russia's Health:

  • In the first six months of 2005, the Russian population fell by half a million [LR: And that's only the lowest possible number, the one provided by Kremlin data; the actual number is quite likely far higher]
  • By the middle of this century Russia could lose up to half of its people, according to Russian government stats [LR: If we used actual stats rather than those provided by a government presided over by a proud KGB spy, the picture would be even more dire. The same holds true for all the data to follow.]
  • Life expectancy for men is 56 years, the same as Bangladesh
  • Ten years ago, the life expectancy for men in Russia was 63 [LR: Still much lower than in the West, and in Vladimir Putin's 8 years in office there has been no improvement]
  • The World Health Organisation says that at a conservative estimate more than a million people will have died because of AIDS in Russia by 2020 [LR: When was the last time you heard "President" Putin mention AIDS?]
  • Every other newborn baby is diagnosed with a disease at birth
  • There are more abortions every year in Russia than babies are born
  • Thanks to ill-health, 10 million Russians are infertile [LR: Think about that -- 10 million Russians can't make children, and among those who can more choose to abort than give birth. What does that tell you about the country they live in?]
  • A quarter of the population lives below the poverty line [LR: And that's "poverty" as defined by Russians, not Westerners; in Russia, the average wage is $2.50 per hour, and the minimum wage is $0.25 per hour]
  • Paradox #1: Despite all of the above, Moscow has more billionaires than any other city in the world [LR: The same situation as in Tsarist Russia; Russians have learned nothing from their own history or the horrors of the Bolshevik revolution]
  • Paradox #2: Despite all of the above, although Russia's population is in freefall, they're still throwing people out. Thirty thousand Meshket Turks have recently had to seek asylum in America, having been forced from their homes in the south of the country by discriminatory laws and racist attacks. [LR: And they're still favoring their government with 70% approval ratings in polls, the ultimate proof of Russian barbarism and stupidity]
Those facts and more were reported by Britain's Channel 4 in a program called "Death of a Nation." Click through the link to watch video excerpts and read more about the show. A reader notes:
When I read about it, I thought it would just show a lot of poverty and not focus on any real issues about what is uniquely wrong in Russia. I was wrong. The most dramatic thing was when he went and visited the Meshket Turk people in Krasnodar. Their situation seemed exactly like black South Africans in the apartheid era. Now 30000 of them are apparently being expelled from Russia and being taken in by the USA (so the people said themselves). It is worth seeing the posts to the forum on the subject on the website. Anyway, during the filming the crew were accosted by drunken neo-facist cossack police who said they had no right to film there. They were then taken away in extreme fear to the house of the officer and given hospitality with large amounts of alcoholic drinks, after which the officer collapsed in a drunken stupor. Later at the police offices, the crew were given moonshine vodka, whipped for fun, and found a copy of one of the police officers' favorite books - Mein Kampf. They then whent to the inauguration of the same police officer as colonel, which would put him in charge of hundreds of police. Perhaps it has been shown somewhere at some time in America. It is a pity it has not been put on the You Tube.
The greatest horror of all, of course, is that despite all these egregious, undeniable failures, the Russian people still chooose to favor "President" Putin with stratospheric approval ratings, do not require him to participate in debates or to run in contested elections. In other words, they are committing suicide (again).


6 comments:

Penny said...

Those aren't the stats for a very happy or healthy country. Can't blame those behaviors on outsiders.

It's the aftermath of 70 years of Communism; the demographic, economic, social and psychological toll that you'd expect. You can bet today's stupid little latte lefties in the west aren't spending a second examining the reality of this train wreck.

Putin's oil revenues aren't translating into a solidly expanding middle class, technological innovation, or entreprenuerial skills. It's just thug money going to his cronies and a few scraps for the little people. Same old state pilfering like the USSR.

No one is going to rescue the Russians but themselves, so far their choices have been the same old suicidal paradigm that continues to erase them.

Anonymous said...

The full video is available on Google Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9106762987895287402.

Anonymous said...

And yet despite this tragic decline in population, the FSB thinks that the West wants to use biological weapons to make Russians sterile....

Thanks for the post and the commenter's link to the video, which we have posted up.

Penny said...

I saw that too, James. They might as well blame their demographic demise on body snatchers from outerspace.

It's back to the good old days of the USSR with these folks. Blame for domestic failures were assigned to foreign interventions.

Some things never change and Russia sure hasn't. I don't think that democracy as we know it can ever get traction there.

The world's best hope is that they fade away without doing too much damage to others.

Unknown said...

"The same situation as in Tsarist Russia"

Nice. Bolshevik's propaganda in use here. Keep swinging b&g.

Anonymous said...

RE: It's the aftermath of 70 years of Communism; the demographic, economic, social and psychological toll that you'd expect.

Kim Zigfeld's pet "Penny" speaks with the authority as if he had worked as a doctor in the USSR. This is La Russophobe's hallmark to speak what they do not have a slightest idea about.
The truth is the opposite.
When communists were in power in the USSR had a stste run health care system which was not luxury and very well equiped but was free to everyone. Soviet doctors enthusiasticly did their job and had impressive acomplishments. In the USSR they did not have not only AIDS but even fresh case of siphilis to show to the medical students. Most of the infectious diseases were successfully eradicated,(difteria, trachoma, typhus). The state run programs to protect motherhood and childhood. Life expectansy was 72 for women and 65 for men, child mortality about 17. So, all the bad things mentioned in the article about morden Russia public health situation are the results of the advent of capitalism.
What health care one may expect in the country that was ruined and robbed by all kind of capitalist thieves in 1991-2000 and now just started rising up from that "knockdown"?
The richest capitalist country the USA still have healthcare which the lower middle class people like small business owners or emploees who do not have isurance through thir employment can not afford. Look:
Medical bills are the most common reason for personal bankruptcy in the United States, and it is estimated that roughly 45 Million Americans have no health coverage.

http://www.solarnavigator.net/geography/united_states_of_america_usa.htm