Russia has also seen an influx of swarming corporate pirates, many from our own stateside towns, slavering over the wealth of Russia's abundant natural resources. I've seen too many of my American compatriots come into Russia looking for easy pickings rather than partners. Granted, the Russians may have made some bad choices. But this is the land that gave us Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Chekov, Dostoevsky. It is not a nation of dummies, and we'd better be wary of thinking so.
Freedom can be an abstract too easily lost in the fray.
Three-fourths of the respondents chose order. Many Russians are blaming their new freedoms for a surge in crime and economic insecurity. It is saying something else, something we Americans should easily understand. And America is certainly no stranger to demagogues exploiting the public's discontent. I can recall weeks at a time in Moscow's gloomy winter when I could not find eggs nor orange juice, even with a pocket full of hard currency and my American Express charge card.