Russian Men and Why You Need to Avoid Them at All Cost (Part 4)

If you want to know more about Russian men, you have to understand their background, the cultural landscape that actively contributes to their development. And there is only one place that makes them the way they are: the social environment. In Russia, there is a saying "the apple never falls far from the tree". Russian men are like apples, they are products of Russian society, with all its faults and evils.

In this post we are going to present some data on Russia as a nation, closely examining the conditions that shape its citizens' beliefs, views, and customs. 

In the global race for political and economic power, where does Russia stand, compared to the rest of the world? 

The answer is obvious, see for yourself. 

More after the jump.

So, what do we know about Russian men so far? 

Many of them drink, smoke (the post is in the making), smell, they are male chauvinists, they are not particularly smart due to severe iodine deficiency, they beat up their women, and, on top of it all, all of them are incredibly ugly. 

But, in all honesty, all these qualities do not make them that bad. After all, many men around the world drink and smoke, some of them smell and some of them are ugly. So what is it about Russian men that makes them any different? This brings us to our next postulate:

6. They are way behind the times, in more ways than one.

There are 195 countries in the world. Some of them are more advanced, some of them lag behind. There are three different ways to measure progress: economically, politically, and socially.

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As for economy, which is currently in deep recession with no hope in sight, in 2014 Russian GDP per capita was around 25,000 in international dollars. That puts Russia on the same level as Hungary, Malaysia, Lithuania, Seychelles and way below countries such as Greece, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

Source

That would be okay if we didn't know that Russia is the #1 oil and gas exporter. Source

Russia exports more oil than Saudi Arabia or the U.S.

That also would be okay if we didn't know that there is a huge disparity between rich and poor in Russia. So... obviously the economy is not diversified enough and is not doing too well for a European country. Actually, the economy is not doing to well for a developed Asian country either.

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Let's look into social progress. Social progress can be measured in terms of meeting basic human needs, such as nutrition and basic medical care, food and shelter. But it also measures access to communication, basic knowledge, personal rights, as well as tolerance and inclusion. As we can see, Russia trails behind most European countries (and even some Asian) in this category:

Source

According to Social Progress Index 2015, Russia is #71, somewhat between Moldova, Venezuela and Bolivia, way below Ukraine, South Africa, Philippines, and even Belarus! There are clearly no other countries in Europe that would be socially worst off by every single category. 

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As for political freedom, let's examine how free Russia is in terms of political rights and civil liberties. Even though most people probably understand, Russia does not have any political freedom, it would still be interesting to compare Russia to other countries in the same region. 

Source

According to Freedom of the world, Russia has never experienced freedom. 

This is what political freedom in the world map looks like:

Source

In case you are wondering, everything in green is listed as free, everything in yellow partially free and everything in purple... you guessed it! Not free!
If we look at the map even closer, we can see the obvious pattern: being closer to the equator means less freedom. Longer shorelines, the proximity to the ocean provides more freedom (iodine?). The only country that stands out and does not follow the pattern is Russia. It should be in the green zone, yet it isn't. Which obviously means: it is next in line. Yes, we believe that Russia is destined to get more political freedom in the future.
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According to Index of Economic Freedom 2015, Russia is "mostly unfree". Other countries in the same subgroup include Swaziland, Tajikistan, Gambia, Ethiopia and Egypt. Just think for a second: in terms of its economy, Russia is as free as Gambia! Need we say more?

As for Press Freedom Index, it is a "difficult situation", just like Cambodia, Burundi, and Cameroon.   Source No wonder Sergey Brin thought that Russia was "Nigeria in snow"! Actually, he was wrong. According to Freedom of the World, Nigeria has more political freedom than Russia.

So, let's sum up these findings:

Russia is behind economically, politically, and socially. Russian economy is resource based, and Russia is THE ONLY EUROPEAN COUNTRY that has never had any political freedom. However, since the press is not free to tell the truth, Russian people will never find out about how repressed they really are. As we already said, ignorance is a bliss!

Now, what does it tell you about Russian men (and women, to be completely objective here)?

Can Russians be progressive and modern if they, as well as their parents, grandparents and even great grandparents lived in a socially and politically restricted country, if Russia was ALWAYS behind the times in terms of every possible aspect of development?

There is only one answer: NO. You can't make a silk purse out of sow's ear. 

But, unfortunately, there is something about Russian men that is even worse than that. We will examine this aspect in our next post.