Once I got home after this trip, some friends
asked me to describe in few words each of the places we have visited. It did
not take too long for me to give an answer to that request for Moscow: the city
of contrasts…
On the train from St. Petersburg to Moscow, I
was wondering about how Moscow would look like. According to what I learned,
read and heard, I expected to be a city full of traces from the former system,
where equality in all spheres of life was an irrefutable statement. Nothing
is further from the truth!
We got
shocked with the big differences there are in Moscow. As an example, it is
quite common to see a car that only few people in the world can afford parked
close to an old Lada car from Soviet times. According to a survey from Forbes magazine 25 of the richest people in the world are living in the city. This can
be extended to the whole country, where Russia is the 3rd country in number of
billonaires. It seems to be an extremely unfair situation, when Russia is ranked in the 53th position in
terms of standard of living. I wonder why some people are buying foreign
football teams instead of investing money in their own country… I wonder also why people in the east do not have electricity or water while some people are wasting their money in the city showing off...
But Moscow is not only a city of contrasts when it
comes to money, but also in terms of construction. Some of the most beautiful
buildings I have ever seen in my life are located in this city. However, it is
not a surprise to find an extreme ugly soviet building close to those amazing
constructions. It is difficult to understand how these kind of atrocity were
allowed by former leaders.
Dozens of such examples could be mentioned to show the big and unfair differences in this country and specially in this city. Sad to see how none of the former ideas are valid anymore in the country where a system based on equality was established.
¡Iñaki, nice post! Though no pics. Have no comment. But I do regret there so much contrast between the apartment building we live in and the Kremlin ))
ReplyDeleteToo bad I didn't find out why you are so pro-communist while you were here.
Gulnaz
Nice post, my friend!
ReplyDeleteI understand how you feel trying to understand such contrasts... after all, I was born and raised in another country of huge contrasts.
The situation is very complex, but may also be briefly summarized in a few words: This is the unavoidable result of selfishness and meaningless self-pride!
Okay, a lot of pics now. ¡Cool!
ReplyDeleteGulnaz
Hi Gulnaz,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, I should add a few pics... Do not regret, your apartment was great, I wish I could have had the half of this during the whole trip... We really appreciated your hospitality!
I would not say I'm a pro-communist, but I like some smart ideas of the bases... However, often it was awful how they implement them...
Pedrinho!
ReplyDeleteAlways interesting to know the opinion of a wise Brasilian guy. I like the way you summarized it, it's a frank and straight forward way of describing the reality.
Unfortunately it seems to be similar in Brasil. I wonder if this situation can be avoided in such a big countries with such a big populations...
I think I need to continue with this analysis in Brasil Pedro, are you ready to host me?
Sure, Iñaki!
ReplyDeleteActually, you can go on with your analysis in South America, not only in Brazil...
But whenever you're ready, I'll be waiting to host you here!
hey man, nice post, i think Russia has still a long way to develop, not only in the economic – equality area but specially in the social one.
ReplyDeleteI dunno if I got the wrong impression when I was there, and of course I don’t want to generalize, but the ppl was quite rude and cold in general. I guess is part of their culture (history) and its about to know them better.
Cheers
JM
Nice post. However, I miss pictures of the "ugly" part in your post. That would help me to understand better the difference between the "two" Moscows.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Urkola,
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right, thanks for the point.
Even if the new pictures I posted are not the best examples of what I wanted to express, it can be useful to have an overall idea of the type of buildings I'm talking about. The main objective was to fit as many people as possible in few meters.
Even though it's not talking about Russian buildings, I found an interesting post in another blog about those Soviet apartment blocks:
http://smorgasblurb.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/the-tragedy-of-soviet-apartment-buildings/
Congrats for your blog. Had to be a great trip for sure! I like the way you tell about your adventure abroad, focusing more on experiences than in tourist attractions. Easy reading and cool pics, I would appreciate more anecdotes! Keep on travelling and writing, I'll also keep on reading the next posts. And... always take your sister's advices into account! xD
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your comment! I really appreciate new inputs from people that I haven't met so far. Yes, I had the same feedback about anecdotes from several guys, so thanks and I will include them in future posts. Actually there are many!
Keep giving straight and honest feedback as you did, even if they might seem hard for me. And yeah, I always take into account my sister's advice, she's a wise person! :-)
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteAs I imagined moscow based on what i heard from friends, I expected the same thing..., It's a good point of view you have there and nice analysis but I hope you will also write about more details and also how was YOUR experience as a Tourist or guest not only as a criticizer... I mean for example I heard alot about Moscow Metro or About food or drinks...,
Hi Babak,
ReplyDeleteGreat thanks for your comments. It is a pleasure to have you as a reader, always full of experiences and knowledge.
I had similar comments to yours, so I will try to change a bit the style of the blog and sometimes give a tourist point of view with experiences and anecdotes...
Cheers!
Great post Iñaki!
ReplyDeleteFigures about inequalities are indeed shocking.
“Communist/socialist” regimes across Central and Eastern Europe were just distorted reflections of a once valuable ideology. Back in the 19th century Marx predicted that the socialism and communism would evolve in wealthiest capitalist countries first – nothing can be further from reality, can’t it?
Why people are buying football teams while others live without basics as electricity? - Quite an ideologist question :-)
I believe it has to do something with the lack of respect towards public ownership and insufficient level of trust towards any government. Again based on my own country’s example that used to be part of the Eastern Block unfortunately the past decades of transition failed to overcome these problems. Many people feel that money paid for taxes (social security etc) are money put in a black hole from where they get nothing or really limited service back: hospitals and school with below the average facilities, bumpy roads, declining public security etc. Hence many of them try to evade taxing and accumulate their own wealth in a way that is not fully transparent for state.
The concept of public ownership has become seriously polluted over the years and would require many years or targeted government programs to make people believe that having something owned by all of us can be just as good and useful as owned by themselves.
Waiting for the Siberia post!
Péter
Uajaja, jendiak asko eskatzeizu blogean eh??? exijentek!!! Ni zuk azaldu nahi dezunakin konformauko naiz, anyway. Ta zalantzan bat izan ezkeo galdeuko. Adib.: desberdintasun guztien gainetik, jendia zoriontsua dala iruitu zitzaizun eo ez?? azken finen hortxe dao sistema baten arrakasta edo gainbehera nere ustez.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing dude!!!!
Olaiz
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteSo interesting your comment. Especially coming from someone who is living in a country that was part of system.
About your comment regarding taxes I think now in Spain is happening something really similar to what you have described for Hungary. Some years ago, when everything was working smoothly, nobody paid too much attention to where the public money was going. Actually we had one of the best health care systems in the world, and everybody was proud and happy about it. However, once the economy collapsed and started to affect the middle class pocket, everyone started to worry and complain about all those corrupted politicians. Now the debate is whether we were living above our real possibilities. People are starting to acquire private health assurances and tax avoidance is getting more and more common. It is sad that the irresponsibility of few people is having a great impact in the belongings of a whole society.
Thanks and interesting comment!
Apa Olaiz,
ReplyDeleteBa bai jendiak asko eskatzen du, baina hori seinale ona da. Hobetzen laguntzen det, beraz zuk ere hobetzeko alorrik ikusi ezkero komentatu egidazu mesedez!
Zure galderari erantzuna:
Ez zitzaiten iruditu jendia zoriontsua zanik. Guztiz kontrakoa egia esan. Eta ez det uste iritzi pertsonal bat denik, beraiek ere hori guztiz onartzen zuten. Bi dira orokorrean ez-zoriontasun horren iturri: zaharrenetan, azkeneko liderrak "traizionatu" egin zituztela uste dute, Gorbachov adibidez bere Perestroika-rekin. Honi ez diote buelta eman, eta orain ondorioak beraiek ordaintzen ari direla uste dute. Bestalde, bai zaharrenek bai gazteria, oso atsekabetuta daude gaur egungo demokrazia ezarekin. Gehienak ez dira bozkatzera ere juten, bozkaketa guztiak manipulatuta bait daude. Demokrazia ez da existitzen Errusian eta horrek azkenean eragina du gizartearen zoriontasunean.
Horrek ez du esan nahi, SESB-ren urrezko urteetan jendea gustora ez zegoenik, ezta gutxiagorik ere, nik bakarrik ikusi detena kontatzera mugatu naiz.
Espero det zure galderari erantzun eman izana.
Iñaki