Notes on Russia 04: Spartan Russia

I made three business trips to Russia for a total of approximately six weeks.  These notes are reflections on some of the events I experienced.

I was looking for a word or phrase to describe what I sensed in Russia while traveling there on a few trips.  This eluded me for some time.  “Backward” is too harsh of a term; it seems that many Russians are desperately attempting to upgrade their country’s infrastructure and manufacturing base.  “Third World” is another term that does not quite fit, since Russia has many occidental influences, the middle class seems to be getting larger, and the educated generations from the ages of about 35 and lower tend to have a respectable command of English, apparently for ease of international business dealings and travel. 

The proper word to describe what I was thinking is “Spartan.”  Another related word of similar sense is “sparse.”  I see a lack of convenience everywhere.  Things are done if they are necessary, yes, but some things are not done, even when it would make things much more efficient.  For example, one will notice the driveways of some businesses covered with ice four inches thick for several months; a little bit of salt – calcium chloride – would make walking and driving less hazardous and more efficient.  One may attend business meetings with people in buildings with extremely tight quarters with people almost falling on top of each other; one would think that a properly sized building would allow for better work performed, and proper meeting rooms (white boards, conference phones, larger tables for spreading out plans, etc) would allow a better exchange of information and better communications. 

On the contrary, perhaps we in the Occident have it too easy.  Russia is definitely not in an era of decadence, as we are in the Occident.  The Occident is falling apart economically, socially, and spiritually, while it appears that Russia is coming together after more than a century of very bad luck.  Perhaps this characteristic of Russia will be a large contributor to its future stability as the Occident collapses over the next 50 years.  We in the occident will have no choice in the coming decades to become more Spartan in any case.  The Russians with more experience in a Spartan lifestyle will perhaps be instructive to us by demonstrating to us a few ways to hold the pieces of our civilization together as we descend into the abyss of post-decadence.