[jabajabadu]

Sadly, the criminal gang that runs Russia is not interested in the economic prosperity of its citizens. They want ordinary people to stay poor and isolated since this makes them so much easier to control. They fully understand (and welcome) the consequences of their actions.

[vmception]

Can you shed some more light on this? Russia has been an accounting game since the fall of the soviet union: underpriced shares, diverted revenue/dividend to insiders, lucrative resource or revenue generating assets sold opaquely and also underpriced

Does this end at some point? Where there are no more formerly state owned resources to pillage and convert to Euros/CHF/USD?

[lmilcin]

> Russia has been an accounting game since the fall of the soviet union

Again, the argument is that it does not matter. As long as the people in power are well compensated the general wellbeing of federation is of little consequence.

It is pretty simple. People who barely scrape by have no time, resources or focus to be fighting. They can't have too much or too little.