Major Floods, More Cracks in Russian Society
Modern societies have a fundamental social contract. It comes down to this: even in closed societies like Russia, we can expect some response in case of a significant emergency. It’s spring, not just the season of mud but also the season of floods. And boy, are these floods spectacular.
So first, let a Russian explain how Russia is failing spectacularly:
“Russia is investing money in the Ukrainian front. Accordingly, the ass is bare, there is nothing to cover it with.” Political scientist Oreshkin talks about why it is so difficult for the country to cope with the flood.
The governor of the Kurgan region called on residents to immediately evacuate from the right (low) bank of the Tobol River. The region, following the Orenburg region, may be seriously damaged by floods.
Political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin told MO why the country is suffering such serious losses from the annual natural phenomenon.
“The system of priorities, which is supported by Putin’s Russia, and before that by Soviet Russia, is concentrated on the fact that resources — material, human, ideological — from the vast territory of the country are drawn to the center, and there they are used for some mega-important sovereign task . Be it the conquest of Europe, the conquest of space, the transfer of the flow of Siberian rivers to Central Asia… Something so great. As a result, there is no money left in the regions and they are very dependent on the center. Contempt for one’s people, contempt for the territory is reflected in the fact that the territory is not ready to withstand a crisis attack .”
This situation has been going on for several generations, says Oreshkin.
“So we limp, while telling ourselves how great and powerful we are. But we can’t cope with the flood, we can’t cope with the sewage system, we can’t improve the standard of living, we’re struggling with alcoholism rather weakly, it doesn’t matter with health care, and so on. Two scales, two systems of priorities. People try not to think about it, but now they are indignant — their housing is flooded, what are they supposed to do now? The water will go away, but the houses will remain damp. How to live there?
The political scientist compared the spending of the Putin regime on the war and on helping its citizens.
“Restoration (after the flood), according to official estimates, will cost 40 billion rubles. Waste money for the Russian budget. The war costs 30 billion rubles a day. The entire cost of this natural disaster is several days of war . And these days we already have… Russia is investing money in the Ukrainian front. Accordingly, the ass is bare, there is nothing to cover it with.”
Yes, some of this is due to a lack of cash. Some of this is not investing in the services meant to deal with this. Some are the ever-popular Russian corruption. This is about one of the dams:
The destruction of the dam in Orsk began precisely from the foundation laid 10 years ago on fallen trees: with increasing pressure, water began to ooze from under the dam. And then in four sections the faults went up — they created gates through which streams poured. They tried to quickly bury them. But this could not be done due to its narrowness, says forensic expert Oleg Dyukarev. According to an expert who wished to remain anonymous, technical specialists, and therefore the authorities, understood that after a certain level of water, that is, pressure on the base of the dam, it could begin to collapse. In addition, the dam project included a clause on the conclusion of an insurance contract for liability to third parties in the event of a dam failure. The amount of compensation in case of damage to the property of individuals is up to 750,000 rubles, legal entities — up to 1 million rubles, but local residents were not warned about the danger in time — Forbes.
Now the question is, where did much of the money spent on this civil project go? I also assumed it was the Soviet era; it goes to me for thinking it was old, suppose. It was built during the post-Soviet era, and let’s say a lot of mice did get very, very rich.
So when authorities blamed mice for undermining the dam's base, were they referring to those getting the contracts? That’s cheeky, which brings me to how this looks like a larger crack in the ice.
First, the screencap points to at least a citizen or two talking about independence from the Rodina. This points to a larger crack. So, let’s go into a tad of speculation based on Russian and Mexican history, only as closed societies.
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