In this article, I want to share my own subjective view on the processes taking place in Russia over the past 30 years.
By the mid-1980s, an "ideal storm" arose in the USSR, which ultimately led to its disintegration:
• oil prices plummeted;
• The Soviet Union was stuck in the Afghan war, putting the entire Arab world against itself;
• during the years of Brezhnev's stagnation, the ruling elite finally degraded, the elite of the USSR "matured" to become a legitimate rich man;
• Ideology was fall apart, when citizens saw imported goods and movies; it became increasingly difficult to inspire them to the superiority of the socialist system.
In late 1991, the Soviet Union broke up into 15 independent states. And although the power in Russia was formally replaced, there really was no change in the elites. There just happened some changes inside. Former "convinced" communists began to call themselves democrats.
Russian Federation was headed by the same party nomenclature that was under the USSR. At the same time, they somewhat rejuvenated the composition of the government, attracting young and "brave" people. These young reformers acted the following with the Russians: imagine that you need to teach a lot of different people swimming in a short time. There is nothing easier! Take them on a barge on the sea 1 km from the shore, and flood the barge. But to all who are on board, show the direction of the coastline. Some of the successful "swimmers" were even grateful for such a valuable lesson, some of them became millionaires. Well, those who "drowned" will not say anything us...
Another of the "merits" of the new (old) government in Russia was the almost complete absence of monitoring the law and order. The inheritance remaining from the Soviet Union was divided into parts according to the principle "whoever had first, he ate". At the same time, the "lucky guy" could then was killed by competitors. This went on for almost 10 years, until the strongest finally won. The strongest were the offspring’s from the KGB and the leaders of major criminal groups. In the late 90's these people have already firmly entered the state structures.
The separatism was a painful topic for the country, accompanied by loud terrorist attacks, and then two full-fledged internal wars.
In all of 90th years in the world market was very low prices for oil. Because of this, Russia from the sale of hydrocarbons received a relatively small profit, which made it possible to simply keep the extractive companies afloat. In 1998, the price of a barrel of oil dropped to 10USD, with finance becoming quite low, and the authorities decided on defaulting - the country's refusal to pay debts. After default, the exchange rate of the national currency fell 3 times.
In 1999, the old and sick leader of the country, decided to voluntarily leave the post, but at the same time, he chose a successor - a representative from the KGB - Vladimir Putin. The beginning of his leadership (still in the role of chairman of the government) coincided with a string of high-profile resonant terrorist attacks (9/11 precursors in the US), as well as destabilization of the situation in the south of the country. However, the new leader tried to react to them quite harshly, having conducted a successful military company in Chechnya. As a result, Putin easily won the presidential election.
It seemed that the new politician copes well with the inheritance that he inherited from Yeltsin. In the country has become more law and order, more stability. And although the resonant terrorist attacks continued, a positive trend in the fight against terrorism was visible.
In addition, in Russia after the default, the situation in the economy improved. The depreciation of the national currency benefited producers, especially exporters. Production grew, unemployment fell. The growth of the oil price supported the economy. By mid-2000, the price had grown 3 times from the lows of 1998! And this growth continued steadily until the summer of 2008. Western countries have begun to give loans again, not so much to the state as to companies (both public and private). Over the years, Russia's external debt has grown to 700 billion USD.
Over the years, it seemed that the economy had grown stronger, and Russia itself had finally "risen from its knees." Most of the Russians binds a change in the economy with the president and his team. Ordinary people did not really understand the relationship between the price of a barrel of oil, the default, the collapse of the national currency, Western loans and the growth of their own well-being. People who were in power successfully used this, gradually picking up yourself all the important assets in the country. Russia has become a leader in the growth of the number of billionaires, and most of them turned out to be persons close to power. At the same time, the gap between the rich and the poor is growing every year. The first get richer, and all other segments of the population become poorer. The middle class is disastrously disappearing. The government, however, blames the Western sanctions.
In 2014, world oil prices fall 2 times. And the national currency is collapsing the same rate. The Russian economy demonstrates the strongest dependence on energy prices, which has only grown over the past 20 years!
Currently, most media in Russia are controlled by the state. Only the Internet remained free. And then recently more and more often there are attempts to cover it up. In addition, people who get paid for laudatory reviews about the government appear on popular sites on the Internet for communication. These people also in every possible way "troll" critically inclined citizens. In the Russian parliament, now, in fact, there is only one party - a sort of successor to the CPSU. And then it completely submits to the president of Russia. Real opposition is not allowed to the elections. Their leaders are denigrated in the public eye, setting up criminal cases against them. Some are killed, as, for example, the former deputy chairman of the government Boris Nemtsov.
In the media under the control of the state, the confrontation with the United States is inflated in every possible way. They blame all our problems in the economy occur solely because of hostile actions by the US administration. And most ordinary people believe this, believing that only the current president can save Russia from collapse.