© all rights reserved 2011
CURRENT GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
Before starting on expenditures, always keep in mind that when
a budget item is allocated, 90% will go for bribes along the
allocation chain of distribution, and only 10% will go for the actual
intended project.
DEFENSE- There have been sharp funding reductions
from when this USSR budget item was at least 25% of the overall
budget, its largest segment. Bribery was much more tightly
controlled during the USSR and there was no capital flight allowed,
so government could, with fuller coffers, spend on defense freely.
Not any more. The government relies mainly on bribery and very
little on taxes from the poor, as well as on its gas/oil revenue
(assets that used to, mainly, belong to the criminal Khodorkovsky).
So now the defense budget is but a 1/10th or less than before. The
brass are not happy but there is nothing to be done except, salary-
wise, to extort salary from the pockets of the lower-ranked.
Equipment is now imported when there is no domestic
manufacturing that can keep up with high-tech. Contract service by
the rank-and-file was tried but that didn’t work (these folks are poor
going in, so screw-the-poor applies). Even now, there aren’t
enough men for their conscript system and almost all dread
serving, so there are crews that sweep cities and the countryside
looking for prospects, who are simply taken by force. Traditionally,
young soldiers have spent tremendous amounts of their time on
civil engineering projects, clean-up, and other low-cost dirty work.
There is no way of replacing this practically free labor force, though
cheap central-Asian laborers have begun to be imported out of
necessity. Most of the tanks and other infantry-based equipment
used in Georgia recently was made in the 60’s-70’s. Think-tank
types who want even fewer troops and more high tech have met
stiff resistance from the extant Soviet-trained brass. Expenditure
on space, rockets/missiles, etc., is growing. Weapons factories are
still exporting USSR-era ground equipment to Venezuela, etc., but
the income from this is negligible. Aviation sales look brighter
because of Indian partnerships but again the customer base is
limited; soon, China will dilute Russia’s impact in this field. The
largest percentage reductions have been in the Navy. This budget
situation is not strong now and isn’t looking good in the future.
WELFARE- The average senior citizen receives about
the equivalent of $250 per month, and that isn’t expected to rise
(Screw the poor). As the median age rises and the number of
recipients grows, so does the problem, but the government also
knows that with median ages of death being so low (58 for men, 65
for women), retirement won’t last so long, anyway. There are few
subsidies for medicine. Unemployment benefits do not exist for
workers at any age, so seniors often just keep working to the limits
of their capability. There are no sanitariums/convalescent facilities,
so the burden of senior care falls on the family, with no extra
subsidy. The institutional concept is practically non-existent in
Russia compared to other purportedly socialist systems in the west.
a budget item is allocated, 90% will go for bribes along the
allocation chain of distribution, and only 10% will go for the actual
intended project.
DEFENSE- There have been sharp funding reductions
from when this USSR budget item was at least 25% of the overall
budget, its largest segment. Bribery was much more tightly
controlled during the USSR and there was no capital flight allowed,
so government could, with fuller coffers, spend on defense freely.
Not any more. The government relies mainly on bribery and very
little on taxes from the poor, as well as on its gas/oil revenue
(assets that used to, mainly, belong to the criminal Khodorkovsky).
So now the defense budget is but a 1/10th or less than before. The
brass are not happy but there is nothing to be done except, salary-
wise, to extort salary from the pockets of the lower-ranked.
Equipment is now imported when there is no domestic
manufacturing that can keep up with high-tech. Contract service by
the rank-and-file was tried but that didn’t work (these folks are poor
going in, so screw-the-poor applies). Even now, there aren’t
enough men for their conscript system and almost all dread
serving, so there are crews that sweep cities and the countryside
looking for prospects, who are simply taken by force. Traditionally,
young soldiers have spent tremendous amounts of their time on
civil engineering projects, clean-up, and other low-cost dirty work.
There is no way of replacing this practically free labor force, though
cheap central-Asian laborers have begun to be imported out of
necessity. Most of the tanks and other infantry-based equipment
used in Georgia recently was made in the 60’s-70’s. Think-tank
types who want even fewer troops and more high tech have met
stiff resistance from the extant Soviet-trained brass. Expenditure
on space, rockets/missiles, etc., is growing. Weapons factories are
still exporting USSR-era ground equipment to Venezuela, etc., but
the income from this is negligible. Aviation sales look brighter
because of Indian partnerships but again the customer base is
limited; soon, China will dilute Russia’s impact in this field. The
largest percentage reductions have been in the Navy. This budget
situation is not strong now and isn’t looking good in the future.
WELFARE- The average senior citizen receives about
the equivalent of $250 per month, and that isn’t expected to rise
(Screw the poor). As the median age rises and the number of
recipients grows, so does the problem, but the government also
knows that with median ages of death being so low (58 for men, 65
for women), retirement won’t last so long, anyway. There are few
subsidies for medicine. Unemployment benefits do not exist for
workers at any age, so seniors often just keep working to the limits
of their capability. There are no sanitariums/convalescent facilities,
so the burden of senior care falls on the family, with no extra
subsidy. The institutional concept is practically non-existent in
Russia compared to other purportedly socialist systems in the west.
HEALTH CARE- There is health care available to all, as in the
USSR, but the quality of the care depends on what an individual can pay.
So, for the 92% who live in poverty, the level of care is sub-standard by
first-world norms. Even the small middle class must spend most if not all
of their income on essentials like housing, food, and transport. Costs are
higher in the cities, where all of the newer medical facilities are. The
clinics, mostly, that are in rural areas have exceeded their expected lives
and can offer only the most basic of treatments---this is where the majority
of the Russian population goes. About 75% of medicines are universally
recognized as fake, a big problem for patients and care-givers; most
doctors still live on the same salary range as the average citizen, or $300-
500/per month. Many specialized services that were offered in all major
USSR cities, like pediatric care, are now being discontinued because of
prioritized government spending which doesn’t benefit the poor, having a
very negative effect on women and children especially. Alcoholism
treatment has been changed into labor-camp style forced work programs.
These are some of the reasons why families, though desired, aren’t being
started. Russia’s abortion rate is the highest in the world and very few can
afford quality birth control pills; many women would not use them anyway,
viewing them as foreign to natural processes.
EDUCATION- This area has seen very few changes, probably
the fewest of any area in Russian life, compared to Soviet times. Funding
levels have not risen (adjusted for currency devaluations) and the majority
of what is allocated, after bribe-taking, has been used for the replacement
of aging infrastructure. So teachers have amongst the lowest wages of all
and they have the least amount of material (aging texts, etc.) to work with.
This area overall, like welfare programs, is basically the lowest priority
because almost all of the recipients are poor. To deal with this, as might
be expected, discipline and curriculums are rigid, and are identical
throughout the country. Interestingly, Russians consistently test in the
highest percentiles world-wide through the age of 12. By the age of 17,
unfortunately, test scores plummet 60-70 points to third-world levels.
Universities are becoming less and less subsidized, so diplomas for pay,
without consideration of academic skill, have become prevalent, even in
post-graduate study. In many cities, governments are considering parental
pay programs for secondary schools, heretofore unthinkable. This is
mainly because as more and more people move to cities from the regions,
there are waiting lists in the cities at schools due to a lack of facilities.
(*KEY*) This is a primary example of a major overall trend: though the
overall population is dropping and the birthrate is falling, there is growth in
the cities, which have provisions by being on transport lanes. This means
many rural schools stand empty and unused and that in the cities, there
are unplanned educational infrastructure shortfalls.
USSR, but the quality of the care depends on what an individual can pay.
So, for the 92% who live in poverty, the level of care is sub-standard by
first-world norms. Even the small middle class must spend most if not all
of their income on essentials like housing, food, and transport. Costs are
higher in the cities, where all of the newer medical facilities are. The
clinics, mostly, that are in rural areas have exceeded their expected lives
and can offer only the most basic of treatments---this is where the majority
of the Russian population goes. About 75% of medicines are universally
recognized as fake, a big problem for patients and care-givers; most
doctors still live on the same salary range as the average citizen, or $300-
500/per month. Many specialized services that were offered in all major
USSR cities, like pediatric care, are now being discontinued because of
prioritized government spending which doesn’t benefit the poor, having a
very negative effect on women and children especially. Alcoholism
treatment has been changed into labor-camp style forced work programs.
These are some of the reasons why families, though desired, aren’t being
started. Russia’s abortion rate is the highest in the world and very few can
afford quality birth control pills; many women would not use them anyway,
viewing them as foreign to natural processes.
EDUCATION- This area has seen very few changes, probably
the fewest of any area in Russian life, compared to Soviet times. Funding
levels have not risen (adjusted for currency devaluations) and the majority
of what is allocated, after bribe-taking, has been used for the replacement
of aging infrastructure. So teachers have amongst the lowest wages of all
and they have the least amount of material (aging texts, etc.) to work with.
This area overall, like welfare programs, is basically the lowest priority
because almost all of the recipients are poor. To deal with this, as might
be expected, discipline and curriculums are rigid, and are identical
throughout the country. Interestingly, Russians consistently test in the
highest percentiles world-wide through the age of 12. By the age of 17,
unfortunately, test scores plummet 60-70 points to third-world levels.
Universities are becoming less and less subsidized, so diplomas for pay,
without consideration of academic skill, have become prevalent, even in
post-graduate study. In many cities, governments are considering parental
pay programs for secondary schools, heretofore unthinkable. This is
mainly because as more and more people move to cities from the regions,
there are waiting lists in the cities at schools due to a lack of facilities.
(*KEY*) This is a primary example of a major overall trend: though the
overall population is dropping and the birthrate is falling, there is growth in
the cities, which have provisions by being on transport lanes. This means
many rural schools stand empty and unused and that in the cities, there
are unplanned educational infrastructure shortfalls.
