Tucker Carlson, after a trip to Russia, describes the country as an almost heavenly state, far from the image conveyed in the media. What is it really ?
Tucker Carlson: “Russia is a beautiful country”
Tucker Carlson returned from his recent trip to Russia amazed by what he saw. He compared Moscow to American cities:
“What radicalized, shocked and disturbed me was that Moscow, where I had never been, the largest city in Europe, is so much more beautiful than any city in my country. I had no idea about that…”
Indeed, compared to most developed countries, American cities are dilapidated, dirty and dangerouswith less efficient public transport systems and higher crime rates.
Singapore has a homicide rate of 0.1 per 100,000 people. New York, the safest big city in the United States, has a homicide rate of 4.8, more than fifty times higher than that of Singapore.
That said, Moscow is not a good choice for comparison. Despite the money that has flowed in over the past two decades thanks to the explosion in oil revenues, the city retains a sinister post-Soviet appearance.
Moscow’s only great quality is its metro, which is generally considered one of the best in the world and which is known for its beautiful resorts.
Russia: a safe country?
What about the crime rate? Officially, Moscow’s murder rate is 2.5, which would make the city about half as dangerous as New York.
But there is reason to doubt this figure, as there is evidence that Russia has misreported its murder rate under Putin.
Official statistics showa dramatic drop in the homicide rate in Russia since the coming to power of Poutine in 1999.
By the 1990s, Russia’s homicide rate had skyrocketed: in 2001, it stood at 30.7 per 100,000 residents, about 1.5 times the rate in Philadelphia, one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.
And this figure applies to the entire country, not to one large city or particularly violent region. In 2001, Russia’s homicide rate was more than five times that of the United States as a whole.
Under Putin, the official murder rate has seen an absolutely massive decline. En 2022, it stood at 3.7, which is lower than that of the United States.
But some believe that this decline is simply due to the fact that police are reporting fewer murders occurring.
Russia: a safe country?
If the Russian police are encouraged to under-report murders, it is above all because of political pressure exerted by Vladimir Putin himself.
In the 2000s, Putin made law and order a key theme of his administration and rhetoric.
This probably led to some improvement in public safety, but it also prompted police departments across the country to show fictitious progress.
The United Nations and the World Bank agree. Their statistics show a considerable drop in the number of homicides in Russia, but in orders of magnitude much lower than those announced by the Russian State.
This would make Russia about as dangerous as the United States.
Russia: alcoholism in free fall under Putin?
Other social trends in Russia under Putin were probably exaggerated.
In 2018, Putin’s health minister proclaimed that alcoholism in Russia had fallen by 80%.
But the World Health Organization found that per capita alcohol consumption in Russia only decreased by around 28% between 2000 and 2018.
IThere is no doubt that Putin’s crackdown on alcohol has significantly improved the health of the Russian population, but the problem of alcoholism remains widespread and likely contributes to the high level of violence in Russia.
Russia: a rich country?
Tucker Carlson was seduced by the beautiful neighborhoods of Moscow, but we must not forget that most of Russia is much poorer, dirtier and more violent than the capital.
In the USA, poverty is concentrated in city centers, so much so that the term “inner city” was synonymous with dysfunction, violence, and disrepair in the late 20th century.
Russia, on the other hand, follows the typical European model: the rich and shiny new buildings are concentrated in the city center, particularly in the capital, and poverty is relegated to the outskirts of the city.
In 2021, Moscow had a per capita income of 22,000 euros, while Moscow Oblast – the suburban region surrounding the central city – had a per capita income of only 10,000 euros.
While American suburbs are made up of vast expanses surrounded by manicured lawns and driveways filled with cars, Russia’s outlying regions tend to look more like poor towns in the American South or grim Soviet-era tenements.
It is important to remember that despite Russia’s economic recovery from the dark days of the post-Soviet 1990s, this country is still only a middle-income country.
Its GDP per capita is lower than that of its former satellite states Poland and Romania, and Western European countries like Italy and the United Kingdom are still much richer.
A country with a real quality of life?
The typical Russian simply enjoys a material standard of living much lower than that of the typical American.
Russians own fewer cars per capita than residents of Lesotho. Approximately 20% of Russians do not have indoor sanitation.
Much of the infrastructure date from the Soviet era and frequently break down, sometimes leaving Russians without heat during the Russian winter.
Life expectancy in Russia was about 6 years lower than in the United Stateseven before the war in Ukraine.
Russia: a country without inflation?
Furthermore, Tucker is completely wrong regarding inflation. Due to the war in Ukraine, Russian inflation stands at around 7.4%, despite very high interest rates.
This inflation rate is more than twice that of the United States.
A traditional country?
Americans, tired of being told about their high incomes, might wonder if Russians are materially poorer but spiritually richer than they are.
In fact, while 31% of Americans attend church regularly, only 15% of Russians do the same. Where 29% of Americans say they have no religion; in Russia, they are 42% and this figure continues to grow.
Nor are Russians more family oriented.
Russia’s marriage rate is similar to that of the United States – 5.3 marriages per 1,000 people per year compared to 5.1 in the United States – but the divorce rate is much higher, 3.9 versus 2.3.
And despite recent declines in U.S. fertility rates, Russian rates remain lower.
Overall, continued high rates of violence, alcoholism and divorce, as well as low rates of church attendance and child rearing, do not present the image of a close-knit traditional society that compensates for material poverty with supportive community ties.
Where does the Russolatry of the right come from?
A growing number of people from the American right and the French far right adhere to a kind of romantic Russophilia, in which they conceive of Russia as the antithesis of everything they dislike about the modern United States.
Because Putin receives support from the Russian Orthodox Church for his war, they imagine Russia as a Christian country. And since the European part of Russia has a homogeneous population, some members of the right think that it is a safe place.
But this fantasy is just that: a fantasy.
Real Russia has made real progress on social issues over the past quarter century, but ultimately, it is still a dysfunctional, middle-income, post-communist oil state.
The homogeneous, prosperous, powerful and Christian European country that right-wingers dream of simply does not exist.
The country that comes closest is probably Poland which, ironically, is Russia’s number one enemybut even then, the fantasy doesn’t really correspond to what we expect of her.
National greatness is not synonymous with quality of life
National greatness does not make a country a good place to live.
Putin has certainly done things to improve the lives of ordinary Russians, but his most important actions have all been about the rebirth of Russian power on the international scene.
He engaged in a series of wars, culminating in the current invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time, he transformed the entire Russian media into an engine of non-stop propaganda about the greatness and power of Russia.
After Russian decadence, American decadence?
We can also think that the United States also fell into such a trap, in the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st.
Deteriorating transportation systems, disintegrating families, housing shortages, endemic drug addiction and high levels of violence for a developed country. Like the Russians, the United States has a lot of national greatness, but not enough national effectiveness.
The daily reality of Russians is far from heavenly. Challenges such as violence, alcoholism, poverty and regional disparities paint a complex picture that tempers tales of newfound greatness. While some may fantasize about an idealized Russia, the truth is that, as in many countries, national greatness does not necessarily translate into a superior quality of life for its citizens.
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