© Robert ParryA busy tourist scene in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Our five-week stay at our home in the Russian countryside was approaching its conclusion when I got an email from a friend in France asking me to comment on
an article in
The New York Times entitled "Russia's Villages, and Their Way of Life, Are 'Melting Away'."
The article surely met the expectations of its editors by painting a grim picture of decline and fall of the Russian countryside in line with what the author sees as very unfavorable demographic trends in the Russian Federation as a whole. The fact that his own statistics do not justify the generalization (a net population loss of a few thousand deaths over live births in 2016 for a population of 146 million) does not get in the way of the paint-by-color canvas. Nor does the author explain why what he has observed in a village off the beaten track in Northwest Russia, in precisely the still poor region of Pskov, gives an accurate account of country life across the vast territory of Russia, the world's largest nation-state.
As the author notes, the main source of income from the land of the town he visited was - in the past - linen. That cultivation turned unprofitable and was discontinued. Consequently, the able-bodied part of the population has been looking for employment and making their lives elsewhere (a process internal migration common all over the world, including the United States).
The author fails to mention that linen production is not a major agricultural indicator in Russia today, whereas many other crops are booming. Linen goes into the lovely traditional handicraft tablecloths and napkins sold to tourists at riverboat landings, and that is the extent of demand.
Comment: The author's stance on the hypocrisy of taxing an already burdened population for a commodity many consider essential, all to shore up a failing government's budget are understandable.
Still it is amazing how one can be up in arms about taxing a true health hazard like soda, but not a peep about the equally onerous taxes on tobacco, which (if you can find the studies) has been shown to have many health benefits.
The Health & Wellness Show: The Truth about Tobacco and the Benefits of Nicotine