Russia is often considered a regressive but powerful nation, both historically and in the modern-day. In fact, the economic category of the “second world Country” was the culmination of Cold War propaganda that targeted Russia. However, with a history of strong, authoritarian state direction and delayed industrialisation, perhaps the criticism of “backwardness” by the western world is justified. In spite of this, since the fall of the “iron curtain”, Russia has undergone a rapid social revolution. This article will examine how much have the living standards of Russia progressed and will compare it to its greatest rival, the USA.
The growth of the middle classes, consumer spending power and living standards have increased markedly under Putin with the embrace of state-directed capitalism. Notably, according to Anders Åslund’s book Russia After The Global Economic Crises, real wages soared by over 3 times and poverty and unemployment was slashed by over half. The latter was no doubt the product of the social care programme of Putin’s second term in which the 2005 National Priority Projects in which the wages and resources of education and healthcare sectors were boosted. In fact, state provision of education and healthcare in Russia is superior to many western countries such as America. Notably, Russia possesses a semi-regulated universal healthcare system and has a higher literacy rate at 99.6% (according to nationmaster.com). This displays the culture of a community still alive in Russia today (seen with the elements of Christian charity among the Russian orthodox church), despite the acceptance of the free market. The success of Putin is also likely due to the inevitability of an economic boom with the escape from communism. The free market markedly improved the state of agriculture in Russia with the abandonment of collectivised Soviet farms in the 1990s allowing an increase in productivity as individual incentive was restored. These had long since crippled the Russian economy, deriving from the “second serfdom” of Stalin’s collectivised Kolkhoz’s (comparatively, the small minority of private farms by 1941 had a much greater yield). Such agricultural self-sufficiency has allowed the food prices of Russia to be much lower, as seen with the average price of a bread loaf at $0.68 (according to nationmaster.com). This suggests the affordable cost of living in Russia, although consumer spending power pales in comparison to western nations, Russia doesn’t have the same culture of superfluous materialism rife in America. This indicates the steps away from backwardness and towards a society with a better condition for the poorest. However, despite the dramatic growth in Russian living standards, this is relative to its comparatively regressive state beforehand (as seen with the industrialisation figures of both Nicholas II and Stalin). Furthermore, whilst Putin has increased living standards, this was inevitable following the escape from communism (although inequality worsened initially under Yeltsin).
Whilst Russia is more economically self-sufficient and statist than America, rejecting the globalism and libertarianism of the west, it is still in many regards economically liberal. This is indicated by the Russian tax policy. On the one hand, this decreases the strain upon many Russian citizens, allowing better standards of living for the majority (with annual incomes up to 5 million Roubles (around £50,000) taxed only 13%). However, the gradation and top rate of income tax are abhorrently low with any income over that taxed at 15%. This would allow the wealthiest Russian oligarchs to pay a very measly contribution, allowing them to accumulate excessive levels of wealth at the expense of strengthening social care and essential opportunities such as healthcare and education. Putin’s description of the west in his 2017 interview with the financial times, “the ruling elites have broken away from the people” is ironically very befitting of his own nation. Corrupt oligarchies and crime syndicates have formed an impenetrable corporate ruling elite in Russia. Although the state support regarding public transport, healthcare and education may in fact exceed some Western countries, Russia is similarly guilty of disproportionate economic disparity and inadequate funding of essential opportunities. Furthermore, despite the token signing of the 2004 Kyoto treaty, Russia has financed its economic recovery at great cost to the climate. Between 2000 and 2016, the fivefold increase in gas and oil prices and the construction of oil pipelines boosted Russian exports vastly. However, many western nations are equally steeped in the usage of fossil fuels. This suggests that whilst Russia’s cost of living and state provision is superior to many western nations, they are equally guilty of disregard for the climate and neo-liberal corporatism. The West’s ridicule of Russia as economically “backwards” is often naïve and hypocritical considering their shared issues over damage to the climate and huge economic inequality.
Regarding personal freedom, Putin’s Russia’s level of censorship and social conservatism is vastly more backwards. The poisonous grip of the Russian orthodox church can be seen with the imprisonment of Pussy Riot over “sacrilegious” grounds following the protest performed inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The use of religious reasoning during what should be a legal secular trial suggests the social backwardness of Russia. In 2014, Cossack guards attacked the protestors with pepper spray and whips following a demonstration at the Sochi Winter Olympics. This is an almost Tsarist response to freedom of speech. The promotion of the Russian Orthodox Church has been enforced by Putin’s restored relations between the Orthodox Church and Russia. Furthermore, Putin has enforced a number of anti-gay propaganda laws (which is counter-intuitive for a man who gloats about the stabilisation of Russian population growth). In January 2017, Putin validated the Russian duma’s domestic violence reform (known as the slapping law) that permits domestic violence so long as it doesn’t incur hospitalisation. These laws, grounded in the irrationality of the past, reflects the stranglehold of backwards chauvinism on Russia today. While officially free speech is permitted, in reality, Putin’s will is largely enforced politically and political threats to Putin are often suppressed (as seen with the Novichok poisoning of Alexei Navalny – the Russian anti-corruption activist and opposition leader). Although not to Stalinist or Leninist extremes, Putin even has his own personality cult, depicting him as a tough Russian huntsman. This indoctrination of the Russian people, living under fear and religious conviction, is the reason for Putin’s resounding electoral victories. The fear and distrust of the corrupt and authoritarian Russian state has been highlighted by the Russian vaccination campaign. Polls in the Volga District for example put Putin’s approval ratings at 20 to 30%, indicating understandable distrust of a vaccine created by a state that specialises in nerve agents. In Russia, whilst freedoms may have improved, the liberal democracy set up by Russia’s 1993 constitution is merely an illusion. In reality, freedoms are curbed minorities repressed and the country is polluted with corruption.
Overall, whilst Russia’s living standards and level of state support are certainly not as backwards as the West would portray, this is compromised by Russia's dismissal of disproportionate wealth inequality and the environmental damage of the oil industry. However, these faults are ultimately shared by the same Western countries who accuse Russia of backwardness. Despite such western hypocrisy, Russia's heavy censorship and repression are more distinctly backwards, whereas the West prides itself on greater freedom.