> Health care and education are both free in Russia (not counting
> bribes/tips). In fact, the number of people enrolled in universities is
> about twice as high as it was in 1990.
Yes, and this is a genuine reason to be hopeful. I was just reading UNESCO's Education for All 2010 report, and the expansion of the university system throughout the industrializing world is astounding. Per capita they're still catching up to the US, EU and Japan, but the absolute size of the student population has mushroomed. The numbers are here:
http://slorgzilla.blogspot.com/2010/02/education-for-all.html
-- DRR