People fight, don’t sleep, demonstrate, and starve.
In the past few years the Russian people have completely lost any control over the Duma (Russian Parliament), and other branches of government that are supposed to represent the nation.
Russia's elderly survive only because of their government pensions, paid monthly. The average pension in Russia is about $80 dollars a month. At the same time the price of a new Levis pair of jeans varies anywhere between $150-300; an oil change for a little Japanese car (Honda or Toyota) goes for $80-120. So practically the retired elderly in Russia are not supposed to travel or buy new clothes. They aren't even supposed to buy good quality food products (a gallon of orange juice from concentrate in Moscow goes for $5).
Many forget that these people worked dozens of years, 50-100 hours a week, building the industrial might of the Soviet Union. All privately owned corporations were not created until after the fall of the USSR. The nationally owned Soviet properties were re-registered and became "private";. However, the new owners and "CEOs" have nothing to do with the process of creating wealth and corporate development in the first place. (See the upcoming article on Russian privatization).
All the elderly retirees lost their government benefits this January. Some American media outlets wrongly reported that it was healthcare that was taken away. Not really - retirees still theoretically have health benefits - but for an appointment with a doctor you are supposed to take $20-200 in cash for a bribe, a.k.a. present. The major benefit taken away, besides free art shows and museum admissions, was free public transportation.
Relatives and grandchildren are the only joys left for many old war heroes and retired workers. The elderly in Russia don't travel and don't purchase anything significant (see the Russia Blog post about the veterans), they travel and visit their loved ones not far from home. Not anymore. The government is trying to move on from the Soviet heritage of "free" benefits into the era of Capitalism. However it keeps on messing up the calculations. All the benefits were replaced with 100 rubles reimbursement ($3), while a one-way train ticket from Moscow to the nearest town in suburbs goes for $2. Tickets from Moscow to St. Petersburg (barely 500 miles) go for $20-100.
In January there were old retired folks demonstrating in the streets of Russia; in May there were professors and academics; in June there were nationally recognized heroes. As of today, the heroes are on a hunger strike. Among the starving heroes are Afghanistan veteran Valeri Burkov, cosmonaut Evgeniy Kirushin, and one of the leaders of the anti-terrorist operations in Chechnya Rais Mustafin. They will be joined by others, and they are speaking for 600 Heroes of the Soviet Union.
One of their demands is not just reconsideration of the benefits legislation, but also the drafting of the new laws that will create public non-profit organizations that will overview and advise government branches. How ironic is that: the victims, the Russian people, are trying to fight the government by asking that very same government agencies for more legislation against themselves!
The starving heroes will be drinking water and juices to survive. Hopefully they'll understand the irony as soon as possible and get back to the grocery store for real food (well maybe it's better to say - food they can afford).
As of today, with almost no functioning policy groups, the Russian people will have to get their government's attention by desperate protests. Last week about 300 prisoners had to slash their wrists to get the government to do something about their small prison cells. The prisoners sleep in shifts (because everyone doesn't fit on the floor at the same time), tuberculosis spreads through prisons with 95% humidity and temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
