Really the extent of this not bothering to look at the basic facts of the matter when it comes to foreign reporting on Russia and probably lots of other places quite amazes me. It is simply untrue that Russia has "cut the last vestiges of Soviet benefits," no matter if that is becoming the accepted version of events abroad. As a matter of fact Russia has made almost no changes to the Soviet benefit system, as can be seen very clearly by simply bothering to read the friggin' law or even opening a Russian newspaper. The monetary allowance is small, but that is because the state has little money duw to the massive tax evasion, not because of cuts to the benefits system. Similarly, I keep reading how lots of Russians can't afford to go to a university. MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY IS FREE. THEY HAVE A TELEPHONE. Why don't people just call the goddamn university. Hell its academia, you can probably even find somebody who speaks English there. My ex-girlfriend put herself through college and she earned $200 a month. What WILL cost you money is if you want to get into a high-demand field like economics or law with resticted numbers of students, because you may well have to pay a bribe. It has nothing to do with tuition costs. Enrollment in higher education has increased by more than 150% since the Soviet collapse because education correlates with income today -- a real change from a country where entry-level factory workers earned double what a grad just out of university earned. But that would disrupt the metanarrative, so let's just ignore that, shall we?
Rant over.
--- Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> > Recipient Amount (rubles)
>
> ... per what time period? How much is a Ruble these
> days?
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