I was talking with a Russian student in VRChat recently. I could only understand bits and pieces of what he was saying (his English wasn’t so great) but I did pick up on his fear and anxiety
He said he wanted to flee to Argentina because he didn’t want to get drafted. He also mentioned the economy wasn’t great and a few other things I just couldn’t catch
It got me wondering what life is actually like over there right now… Is it as rough as he made it sound?
Uuuh, might’ve been a lib. They tend to scare themselves with their own propaganda. Like in 2023 when a shitload of them fled to Georgia, even though most of the ones who fled were in no danger to begin with.
If by “draft” he meant mobilization, there are no signs of a new one so far, and if he meant mandatory conscription for a year, those conscripts don’t get sent anywhere, so the scariest things are food and boredom.
Economy isn’t great, what with the sanctions and our moneybags’ unwillingness to industrialize, but I woudn’t call it a worse crisis than say 2014. That is to say things got more expensive in a way you feel, but life i still affordable. No ridiculous hyperinflation or anything. Housing market is shit. Not as bad as what I hear from the US, but shit. I also hear bad things about the car market, but I’m about as far from cars as a person that rides a taxi once a week can be.
I dunno, ask something specific, these “how’s life in x” questions are a bit loaded. Although I might not be the best person to ask some things, on account of being a loner by nature.
Edit: also, Argentina? Great choice.
When he mentioned the draft, I think he meant the one year mandatory military service, since he has to do it to get a job. He was rambling about the war in Ukraine and not trusting his government, saying he was worried they might restrict the internet like they do in China
Because I’m from Mexico he asked me about life here… specifically regarding affordability, poverty, and living costs. Then he completely switched gears to guns, saying that he was ok with shooting dangerous people in Mexico… I didn’t really catch what he meant. I gently nudged him to consider Argentina instead, since it’s a safer and cheaper option for immigration than Mexico
To be more specific, the question is: how affordable is life, what is the cost of living, and what is the reality of poverty and the everyday struggle, plus the relationship between the government and the people?
I gently nudged him to consider Argentina instead, since it’s a safer and cheaper option for immigration than Mexico
The Argentine economy isn’t doing so well right now and it’s only looking to get worse. They are better off staying in Russia. Russia is in a better position economically right now than most of the world actually, especially if a fuel crisis is on the horizon. I know the grass always seems greener on the other side, but believe me, Russia is one of the safest and most stable places you can be right now and for the foreseeable future.
saying he was worried they might restrict the internet like they do in China
They probably want to. But they don’t have the means as of right now.
Then he completely switched gears to guns, saying that he was ok with shooting dangerous people in Mexico…
Oh boy.
how affordable is life, what is the cost of living, and what is the reality of poverty and the everyday struggle
Depends a lot on whether you are renting a living space. People who rent aren’t many - I’ve seen estimates of 9%, 11% and 16% - thanks to many apartments being inherited since USSR, but most of those renting people are also young ones, who look at the housing market and see that even with the government’s help to young families(35% of mortgage compensation and it’ a 2% credit, if I recal correctly) many of them can’t afford to take credit for a new apartment, as those are overpriced af. And apartments in old buildings aren’t sold that often.
So, if you’re renting and work bottom of the barrel unqualified jobs, your budget is probably airtight and you have a credit or two. Starting a family would be near impossible under those conditions if not for subsidies. In some regions young families can get partial compensation of rent, if they can’t afford mortgage even with help, there is some money young mothers get and separate benefits for families with three children and up.
If you work a good unqualified job(you know, stuff that may require some experience in specific things, but no higher education) and don’t have to rent, stuff it’s already not bad. Qualified jobs can varry wildly.
Public transportation is good and universal healthcare is still kicking, even though there is defeinitely someone slowly choking it, so that helps.
But speaking of government workers, teachers and doctors get overworked and underpayed af. See the earlier comment about someone choking healthcare.
Poverty is there. Yay for capitalism. But it helps that if you own a living space, it’s pretty hard to lose it. You kinda have to try.
plus the relationship between the government and the people?
Since UR and Putin stabilized shit after the 90’s, it’s been a “we don’t make your life difficult, you don’t care what we do otherwise” sort of relationship. Since now the government has to make people’s life didfficult in certain ways, more and more people are becoming increasingly politically conscious at least. No party for “red” workers to rally behind though. CPRF isn’t very well trusted.
First of all, there is no sign that any general mobilization is imminent any time soon in Russia. They had to cut down on the incentives for voluntary recruits because more were signing up than the system can process (training, equipment, etc. are the bottlenecks, not manpower). I don’t foresee this changing so long as the current trajectory stays the same.
Secondly, Russia has always had a “draft” in the sense of a mandatory period of one year of service for young men, but this is not connected to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and there is no chance of these temporary draftees being sent anywhere near the fighting. You can also do other things instead of military service, for example if you are a student you get an exemption.
About internet restrictions, again this is a lot of paranoia and hysteria. Russia doesn’t have the capability or the political capital to implement anything like China’s system, and even if it did, it would not be the end of the world (arguably it would benefit them). The Russian government has handled the situation around Telegram somewhat badly going in without a proper plan and there was public outrage so they pulled back.
Lastly, about the economy, over the last four years Russia has seen higher economic growth than basically any country in Europe. It’s not all sunshine and roses because they still have a lot of people with liberal brainworms in charge of economic policies, and of course rural areas have been slowly declining for a long time, but the general trajectory has been positive. Recently there has been some slow down because of the obsession of the Central Bank with high interest rates, but this is also necessary to some degree to keep inflation from rising too high.
A lot of the issues are of course caused by the sanctions, but the sanctions are beginning to have less and less impact as Russia builds domestic alternatives and re-orients to Asia. Oil and gas prices rising right now are also a boon to the budget, but this is also something that will matter less and less as time goes on because Russia is diversifying quickly and fossil fuel revenues are already not as important to the economy as they used to be.
A lot of Russian liberals who hate Putin and consume a lot of Western propaganda will of course present everything in the most negative light possible, and they will fearmonger and doom, and that’s fine. Let them emigrate if they want. They will quickly find out that the grass is not so green as they thought on the other side. Especially if they move to Europe or South America. Many who panicked and fled in 2022 have already returned.
And with the impending fuel crisis caused by the US war in the Middle East, Russia will certainly be more stable than most other places in the world right now. Incomes are definitely not high outside the big cities, but you will always have cheap energy in Russia, housing (outside of Moscow and St Petersburg) is affordable, infrastructure is decent unless you’re out in the boondocks, and unless you’re trying to actively harm Russia or supporting Ukronazi terrorists the government will generally leave you alone.
There no draft lmao, normally if you don’t live in new territories you won’t even notice that Russia is in war. And yup, judging by that Argentine comment they’re totally a lib, so don’t even care about them xd
