I started driving in 1999. Though I do remember I paid bribes a few times, I honestly can't remember when it was the last time. But I do remember that it was my decision to, first, stay within the rules as much as I can, no self-cheating, and, second, not to pay bribes whatever happens.
After reading this Bribery is a wide spread and culturally ingrained. Its seems bribing very common and Russians as per below only consider it corruption when it become blatant. This is kind of unthinkable for most western countries though not to say we dont have corruption we do, but not to this extent. This is why we in the west see Russian as being very corrupt as you only see this kind of corruption in third world countries and Russia is not a third world country.
Evgeny Ryzhkov, Born and raised in Russia
Because it is very corrupt country. You see, salaries in Russia outside of Moscow and several other regions like St. Petersburg, Ural or Siberia are really damn small. I would say, that if you get over 12k$ per year you can consider yourself lucky. At the same time, you are expected to live like you live in a first world country - have a housing, a car, travel abroad, get some other luxury goods. To get enough money to satisfy these needs you can expect most of the people with at least some sort of power to try to force your hand towards giving a bribe:
You were caught by the road inspector speeding? You can pay a fine or you could pay a bribe half as much. If the offence gets serious enough to get you into court or gets you a driving ban, you probably won't even think about going legal;
Your child gets old enough to think about kindergarten? Well, to receive a place you would oft need to wait several years or pay a bribe;
You need to get a medical examination for some reason? Well, you could spend a whole day in lines, or you could give a small bribe;
You've skipped most of the classes in a college/university and now you're about to become a dropout because of that? Talk to some profs to see, if you can "work something out".
And the list goes on and on, and there's a very slim chance to report this stuff. And would you honestly want to do so? Because the essence of bribing is that it's usually a win-win situation for the participants. And it only gets to blatant extortion when both participants understand that it will be impossible to prove or that the official could easily avoid a punishment.
Russia corruption is getting worse, and the anticorruption measures are not doing much except punisher those bribing and targeting anyone critical of the government.
Since the annexation the collapse of the Ruble and economic contraction meant, wages are worth far less with more government officials looking to bribes for money then ever before.
Corruption has penetrated all levels of government and most other aspects of life in Russia. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, corruption in Russia is worse than in many African countries. In 2012, Russia was tied for 133rd place (out of 176 countries) together with Comoros, Guyana, Honduras, Iran and Kazakhstan. On the other hand, compared to Russia, the 2012 rankings of the other three BRIC countries are much better: Brazil (73rd place), China (80th place) and India (94th place). A notable worsening of this ranking for Russia – from 90th place to 126th – occurred at the beginning of Vladimir Putin’s second term as president; a drop of 36 places in only one year.
Yet another reason for corruption is that Russia’s judicial system is highly dependent on the government and subject to influence by its senior officials. Many court decisions are dictated by the executive. In cases where officials are convicted of accepting bribes, they usually receive conditional sentences. Severe sentences are reserved only for those who openly criticize the authorities.
The anticorruption measures have brought unexpected results: there are far more convictions of people who paid bribes than of officials who took them.
I guess, by independent law-enforcement system he means the system which is doing better job in terms of equal treatment of ordinary people and guys with big money (or right connections). And which would better protect small business from attempts to use "administrative resource" against them.
Independent law means more or less the same as 'rule of law'. That is, law courts and the judiciary at large function without the executive interfering with proceedings. (This hasn't been the case in Russia at least since the Revolution, but if we ignore that, it never even existed before.) It's otherwise known as part of the trias politica: law making, executive, judiciary.
Don't know about the whole Russia, but as an individual I don't really care. I've never followed the event anyway.
We won - cool; we lost - doesn't matter; we're holding it - fine as long as it pays off; we're banned from it - okay, it won't distract us from focusing on something else; we aren't banned entirely but some particular sportsmen are - who were those folks anyway?
As to the rest of your posts, it's hard to me to translate them into questions (which they should be since it is an "Ask a..." thread), as they are a little bit too much of Soviet style in its worst.
Bribery is a wide spread and culturally ingrained. Its seems bribing very common and Russians as per below only consider it corruption when it become blatant. This is kind of unthinkable for most western countries though not to say we dont have corruption we do, but not to this extent. This is why we in the west see Russian as being very corrupt as you only see this kind of corruption in third world countries and Russia is not a third world country.
Evgeny Ryzhkov, Born and raised in Russia
Spoiler:
Because it is very corrupt country. You see, salaries in Russia outside of Moscow and several other regions like St. Petersburg, Ural or Siberia are really damn small. I would say, that if you get over 12k$ per year you can consider yourself lucky. At the same time, you are expected to live like you live in a first world country - have a housing, a car, travel abroad, get some other luxury goods. To get enough money to satisfy these needs you can expect most of the people with at least some sort of power to try to force your hand towards giving a bribe:
You were caught by the road inspector speeding? You can pay a fine or you could pay a bribe half as much. If the offence gets serious enough to get you into court or gets you a driving ban, you probably won't even think about going legal;
Your child gets old enough to think about kindergarten? Well, to receive a place you would oft need to wait several years or pay a bribe;
You need to get a medical examination for some reason? Well, you could spend a whole day in lines, or you could give a small bribe;
You've skipped most of the classes in a college/university and now you're about to become a dropout because of that? Talk to some profs to see, if you can "work something out".
And the list goes on and on, and there's a very slim chance to report this stuff. And would you honestly want to do so? Because the essence of bribing is that it's usually a win-win situation for the participants. And it only gets to blatant extortion when both participants understand that it will be impossible to prove or that the official could easily avoid a punishment.
The question as I see it is: is Mr.Evgeny Ryzhkov, Born and raised in Russia, correct?
I think that while he was born and raised in Russia, he probably left it before he got enough experience in some of the matters he was talking about, and also was apparently raised by parents who did not emphasize the importance of impartiality of critical thinking application to him.
While I would agree that salaries in many regions are really small and $12k / year is good there, I would also like to point out two details he deliberately or accidentally omits:
First, as you know (and I know you know because it was I who told you), Russian prices are much lower than in most Western countries. So the purchasing power of every dollar is greater in Russia than in the countries it is compared to. So it is possible to conduct comparable lifestyle with less income here.
Secondly, whatever you have, there's always room to have more. That's where greed roots. It can be limited only on the personal level, and the cultural u-turn we had tells us that there shall be no limits, and the more you have the better it is for you. So people go to get the most they can and having power helps there.
That, not the misery of poverty, makes some people of power try to force your hand towards giving a bribe.
So while I think Mr.Ryzhkov is correct in identifying the problem, he's totally wrong in guessing its causes.
Also, if you look through the examples of bribery he provides, you'll see that in all of them there are cases of misconduct or poor planning on the side of "the poor victim of Russian corruption" and ways to avoid bribery by going the legal way.
Like, people might stay withing the speed limit +20 km/h, for which there is no penalty whatsoever, or go and pay a $20 fine if they were caught speeding at up to +59 km/h (I mean, come on, it's not that much to risk 2 years in prison if the officer reports your attempt of bribery - and neither it is worth the risk of being at least fired for the officer if you report him). Speeding up to +79 km/h results in a $30 fine if you got on automatic speed cam or 4 to 6 months of license suspension if you were caught manually by an officer. Speeding over +80 km/h costs $60 at speed cam or 6 months walk at the officer's. But when you speed that much you're either an idiot and shall not be allowed to drive, or you know what you're doing and what the risks are and be ready for that.
In case of kindergarten, it is known to be worth of thinking about as soon as the child is born, and it is not a secret. But it is not a problem if you registered on time. In Moscow, if you did register on time, you can pick 3 kindergartens you'd like your kid to go to, and then pick the one you like the best when the time comes to actually go there. But if you only start thinking about kindergarten at this moment... well, sorry, it's too late and you only can cross your fingers that there will be a group with an unoccupied slot for your kid - and that definitely won't be the best of kindergartens in your neighborhood (if it will be in your part of the city at all).
Anyway, people usually know they're going to have a kid at least about 9 months ahead, right? There's more than enough time to find out how to get to a kindergarten and actually get there with no trouble - if the parents aren't idiots, that is.
Regarding medical examination, well, socialist times are over, it's capitalism now, and it is for quite some time already. No money - no service. Nobody has to provide free comfortable service to anyone. But an extended medical insurance is about $1000 per year, and it is affordable - unless you're an elder, then you're doomed. Anyway, if you have the money for the bribe, you probably also have the money for the insurance, which would have allowed you to undergo your examination comfortably - if only you cared to buy it.
School skipper as a bleeding victim of corruption? Come on, you can't expect me to seriously discuss it.
So, Mr.Ryzhkov did not present any examples of unavoidable forced bribery, which would be the real trouble with the state system itself.
I mean, I do see the problem with the greedy and/or thoughtless and/or misconducting people in all those cases. But I fail to see the problem with the state that could be fixed by reforming the way it is organized.
Independent law means more or less the same as 'rule of law'. That is, law courts and the judiciary at large function without the executive interfering with proceedings. (This hasn't been the case in Russia at least since the Revolution, but if we ignore that, it never even existed before.) It's otherwise known as part of the trias politica: law making, executive, judiciary.
I'd say that the executive does not much interfere with the proceedings already. Well, at least I don't think it was the case in the story I posted earlier about my driver's license being suspended. Though, I guess, if I was (say) an opposition blogger, I could have yelled all over the Internet that it was done under direct orders from Putin no less.
No, I don't think the executive interfering is the major part of the problem. The biggest part of the problem is that in order to the "rule of law" to work on that big a scale, it first must start working in the individual heads. I mean, unless overwhelming majority of people know the borders of the law and control themselves in not stepping over, no police or judiciary (who by the way are also people, not angels) will be enough to manage to maintain the "rule of law."
I wish I knew how to at least get back to the USSR level of people's self control ...
I did once in my life, about ~15 years ago. It wasn't a road police though, but that "registration" thing, you know what I mean. And as I understand now, that was entirely avoidable.
The registration thing ~15 years ago? Oh, yeah, I know what you mean.
It was not a fun party even 10 years ago, at least where I went through it. But even then it was pretty simple already: take a day off, collect the papers, wait... wait... wait... submit, get the receipt, run to the bank and pay the fee... wait... wait... wait... wait... okay, it's end of business, office closed. Running to that bank that fast was unnecessary, walking would have worked quite the same. Call to work to take another day off. Next day starts with waiting, continues with waiting interrupted briefly by showing your car to the officer who checks the engine and body numbers, and after some more waiting you get your number plates and go off happily. Overall: 2 lazy days off when you enjoy your favorite book and lots of paper glasses of coffee, some pocket money paid to the state - and there you are. Boring, but cheap and simple.
~3 years ago when I last time registered a car it was all the same, but with waiting time reduced A LOT. The whole thing took about 2 or 3 hours start to finish (waiting still being 3/4 of that time).
No, I don't think the executive interfering is the major part of the problem. The biggest part of the problem is that in order to the "rule of law" to work on that big a scale, it first must start working in the individual heads. I mean, unless overwhelming majority of people know the borders of the law and control themselves in not stepping over, no police or judiciary (who by the way are also people, not angels) will be enough to manage to maintain the "rule of law."
I wish I knew how to at least get back to the USSR level of people's self control ...
Corruption dates back to the Soviet era; it had a significant black market and its advanced constitution was de facto a dead letter as its own judiciary ignored it. Rule of law or independent judiciary: if there were such a thing in Russia, there would be no politically inspired court proceedings - such as against a dead person, against opposition for 'corruption', against a Tartar film maker for 'terrorism'. This has nothing whatsoever to do what the people do or think, as they do not make law nor execute it. Nor do the people make corruption: they are the ones who have to put up with it.
Don't remember if I posted it already, but there is quite interesting article of American writer who visited Russia recently with his wife and described his impressions. It's available in both languages:
I can't say I agree with everything he wrote there, but some things he got pretty well. Like the guy swimming right beside the table "swimming is forbidden". And this moment is really funny and shows the difference in mentality:
We walk along a trail connected to the canal system, .... A bunch of Russian toughs who look like they got their fashion sense from the Jets gang in "West Side Story" smoke cigarettes and eyeball me. I do not smile and give them the best "don't f-ck with me" stare a man can give while pushing a stroller.
One of the hooligans starts to walk over towards me and I start to think of how I might have to fight the three of them all by myself.
Rat-tail haircut boy mumbles something to me in Russian without smiling. I snarl at him see, I am not smiling as he walks past me.
"What did he say?" I whisper quickly to my wife. What the f-ck did he just say?!?
My wife knows the look in my eyes and says quickly, "He says your son has lost his sock, and wants to make sure you know that in case he is cold."
I look down at my clenched fists, and I feel instantly ashamed.
One massive problem with Russia's agricultural sector which the government could solve but currently isn't is the spoilage rate for agricultural products. Last I saw it was around 1/3rd and to find spoilage rates that high you normally would ha e to go to the third world. Transportation, storage, and packaging systems are entirely deficient. Solve that problem and that is the same as a 1/3rd increase in production as far as end users are concerned but it would mean massive infrastructure projects of the type the Russian government has shown it can't do without massive systemic corruption driving up prices to absurd levels.
"The legacy of the crisis so far also includes such outperformers as the information technology industry, where output soared 28 percent last year, with pharmaceuticals adding 8.8 percent and chemicals climbing 4.4 percent. No breakdown by industry is yet available for this year."
I liked the "20% of Steve McQueen smile" thing. Being able to smile with your eyes, not your mouth, is an important skill here indeed.
And his dacha experience with those pics of him wearing ridiculous attic stuff no Russian actually wears unless to make a fun photo made me think about the largely mythical "Russian drinking" phenomenon.
I mean, guest in house means party, and party means drinking, right? The more exceptional the event is, the bigger the party gets and so gets the drinking. It is not like every day Russians get a foreigner in their homes, so every time it turns into the grand event, which requires grand drinking.
So, everywhere the foreigner goes in Russia, he is greeted as a guest and faces drinking. And because it happens everywhere he goes, he can't help but get an impression that Russians drink a lot. The fact that it usually only starts with him coming and stops with him leaving remains unseen. While because drinking follows the foreigner everywhere, the most drinking people in Russia are in fact the foreigners and their livers must be really good for that...
Yeah. Though I don't like the Ashan mega mall shopping, too, and try to go there when the least people are expected to be there. But it's hardly any different from my disliking any crowded place at all.
Edit: BTW, since you've been living in Canada for some time, is your Canadian shopping experience really different that much?
I liked the "20% of Steve McQueen smile" thing. Being able to smile with your eyes, not your mouth, is an important skill here indeed.
And his dacha experience with those pics of him wearing ridiculous attic stuff no Russian actually wears unless to make a fun photo made me think about the largely mythical "Russian drinking" phenomenon.
I mean, guest in house means party, and party means drinking, right? The more exceptional the event is, the bigger the party gets and so gets the drinking. It is not like every day Russians get a foreigner in their homes, so every time it turns into the grand event, which requires grand drinking.
So, everywhere the foreigner goes in Russia, he is greeted as a guest and faces drinking. And because it happens everywhere he goes, he can't help but get an impression that Russians drink a lot. The fact that it usually only starts with him coming and stops with him leaving remains unseen. While because drinking follows the foreigner everywhere, the most drinking people in Russia are in fact the foreigners and their livers must be really good for that...
Yandex beats Google in searching anything in Russian. I also provides map and navi (tracking traffic, jams, accidents and speed cams) service with Android based apps, which help if you're driving. If you don't drive, you can get taxi with it or watch your bus coming. Plus mail service with cloud storage including the option to generate external links to give to people so that they can download stuff you uploaded there, and news hub. Overall, yandex provides pretty much everything one needs to have in their smartphone.
Yandex.market is an incredibly cool thing deserving a bronze monument to its creator. This thing aggregates offers from on-line shops and lets you choose the best one.
Kaspersky was efficient when I used it but they got too greedy and I switched to something else. Also, it's only second to Norton in fighting the user for the control over the machine. I don't like it. But I heard from some IT guys that Kaspersky is good for corporate security.
Abbyy Finereader is the best OCR application I've ever tried. Not that I tried a lot, but I stopped trying once I had it because it made me happy.
Vk is extremely popular, but I don't have an account there. Ok is popular as well, and I have an account there, which I have not visited it for maybe 5 years already (and not going to in any foreseeable future), so I'm not sure what's going on there. But I am a bad example, I guess, as I also don't have accounts on FB, Twitter, Instagram and whatever else is out there, so I am a caveman in this regard.
Yandex beats Google in searching anything in Russian. I also provides map and navi (tracking traffic, jams, accidents and speed cams) service with Android based apps, which help if you're driving. If you don't drive, you can get taxi with it or watch your bus coming. Plus mail service with cloud storage including the option to generate external links to give to people so that they can download stuff you uploaded there, and news hub. Overall, yandex provides pretty much everything one needs to have in their smartphone.
I use google for internet search anyway, but for basically everything else, using Yandex in Russia is better alternative. Especially for maps.
And their taxi application is very good (though I never tried alternatives such as Uber). You can link it with your credit card and get taxi anywhere in Moscow in a few minutes, without worrying about cash, change and tips.
Vk is extremely popular, but I don't have an account there. Ok is popular as well, and I have an account there, which I have not visited it for maybe 5 years already (and not going to in any foreseeable future), so I'm not sure what's going on there. But I am a bad example, I guess, as I also don't have accounts on FB, Twitter, Instagram and whatever else is out there, so I am a caveman in this regard.
It seems, I am another bad example
Yes, Vk is probably the most popular social network among Russophones, lots of people use it in Belorussia, Ukraine and other former SSRs.
I mean even French and Czechs beat Russians in stats. And look on Sarkozy or Zeman after talk with Russians.
I think that some countries with good/cheap alcohol will be high because tourists, while some countres with home brewing tradition (vodka, rakija, slivovitz,...) will be lower.
Frankly, I don't know how they Russians drink vodka at all. Whenever I have a choice, I prefer something else. Say, Becherovka. Whenever I have no choice, I'd rather skip that one, and let them call me unpatriotic. And screw the stats.
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Being able to smile with your eyes, not your mouth, is an important skill here indeed.
