Russian Problems

The Russian seizure of Ukrainian ships needs to be understood.  It could be anything from ignorance to malice.

I have had a number of friends who have emigrated from Russia.  I worked with Dr. Kick Deguberev at Washington University Medical School in 1971. Nick was from Kiev and fought in the Russian cavalry in World War II on horseback.  Nick went on to get a PhD in Russia and was doing medical research in St. Louis Mo. Nick was a tough old bird and was an enormous help to me. Years later, I learned a lot more about Russia’s role in winning World War II.

I have a friend in Cobb County who emigrated from Moscow and owns a manufacturing company in Atlanta Metro. He told me how similar our US media was to the Russian media. They both use the same phrases when reporting the news.  He has produced a number of YouTube videos demonstrating the use of these phrases on dozens of US TV news reports and it’s hilarious. He reports that the Russian media is tightly controlled by the Russian government. They see the same lack of free press in the US, because it is controlled by the liberal media corporations.

My daughter and her family took in a teenage girl who had emigrated from Russia and she lived with them for several years. She was very cautious and suspicious from her experience in Russia and her time living with my daughter’s family and 3 younger boys was an important experience for her.  She has since married and still stays in touch with my daughter’s family.

I also have a number of friends who have emigrated from former Soviet Union countries to the US.

My friend from Uzbekistan says that Russians are suffering from depression fueled by alcoholism and drug addiction. He reports massive corruption at the local level with Police demanding extortion payments from family businesses. He immigrated to the US because the business climate changed to poor with an election of the wrong leaders.

He believes that Russia should get credit for removing the Nazi Army from Russia in World War II and I agree.  He believes that Russians are “fighters” that will throw rocks and sticks when they run out of bullets. Having viewed the documentaries on World War II, I am impressed with the coordination of the Russian advance with the Normandy landing. But I believe that allowing the USSR to take over Eastern Europe was the big mistake that caused the Cold War of 1945 to 1989.

I would like to see an increase in the private sector in Russia, particularly in agriculture, mining and forestry. With half of their land mass in permafrost, all that’s left to do is mine minerals.  There is no reason why Russia cannot manufacture goods for their own needs. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia

Russian history supports the narrative that Russians are tough fighters that don’t tolerate invasion or oppression. Unfortunately, the Russian government appears to be paranoid and aggressive.

Russia is essentially a culturally European country that was isolated from 1917 to 1989. Russians came from Scandinavia and fought off the Mongols and Chinese and established their territory to become the largest country on the planet.  They were ruled by the Monarchy until 1918. Russians suffered their own expansion, the invasion of Napoleon, World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution and the establishment of Communism.

Their economy is currently based on oil and gas exports and they need to make their 6.6 million square mile land mass more productive and expand their private sector economy. During the Communist regime Russians often said: “They pretend to pay us, so we pretend to work”. Private ownership is the key to higher productivity. All governments would be wise to privatize everything.

Russia appears to have escaped the global warming hoax and remains a sovereign country, which is more than I can say for Europe. Besides our Western Civilization past, I believe Russia opposes global governance under the UN as outlined in UN Agenda 21. They know that all economies are national and the UN cannot be trusted. They have reinstated the Catholic Russian Orthodox Church and should be moving to expand their private sector economy.

I have a friend from church who early-retired from IBM and married a woman from Romania.  He moved to Romania and worked with their education system. They visited Atlanta each year and we saw them on these visits. They had 4 children we were able to see grow up. They moved to Atlanta for a year, but moved back to Romania because their schools were better. Romania’s economy remains abysmal.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader