Why do I keep doing this (staying up deadass late in this case the past few days mainly reading manga or granted some other rabbitholes like learning more about BPD). Anyways I’ll get caught up with some people more uh… yeah working on it o7

Now you’ve gone and got me excited for the parade of all things.

I’m glad it was a good day!!!

IDK, if you ask me, anyone who has the means ($ and/or skillset) could easily live affordably and with a higher standard of living in Russia (including in regards to safety) compared to much of the US. When you measure by actual purchasing power parity (PPP) Russia is 4th largest in the world, in terms of actual wealth (infrastructure, production, resources) rather than capital and in particular rather than hyperfinancialized speculation like is rampant across the west, the fact is that Russia is actually pretty decent as far as things go, and hilariously they’ve started further re-industrializing and investing in their country (and not just for the “war economy”) thanks to the sanctions and blatant theft of their assets. I suppose if someone wants specifically “McDonalds” brand McDonalds and all the other western treats™, it might be unavailable, cost a little more, and/or require jumping through a few hoops (though domestic Russian industry, Chinese, and other BRICS brands are happily taking their place).

Honestly, it’s pretty interesting, and the western dismissal of Russia and assumptions that things are dismal like as if it’s back in the days of shock therapy is pretty similar to the dismissal of China and some other global south countries IMO (particularly in regards to the actual wealth/quality of life clearly experienced).