It is simply fascinating how we react to things. Gas is $4 a gallon. End of the world. Impeach the President. Let's look how life is in other places.
In Israel gas is just under $8 a gallon, in France a gallon of gas is $12, and in Turkey it is $16.
Leasing Toyota Corolla in Israel would cost you $750 a month with 3 year lease, and termination in the first year would require 3 months worth of cancellation fee (2 in your second year and 1 month in your 3rd year). Cost of living in Israel is about 50% higher than in the US, and taxes are about 60%.
Real estate, woo hoo... 2 bdr condo in an average building in an average neighborhood - $210,000.
Let's go to Russia. Moscow average one bdr. condo is the same $210,000. I know of a entrepreneur in St. Petersburg, who has an office in downtown St. Petersburg. He works with a lot of foreigners, and a lot of those come to his office. 80% of those were robbed on the way to the office in the subway.
A young computer genius, who was told many times to be very careful, rides a subway late at night. A group of young people enters the car, push their way past him. He gets to his hotel, and there is no wallet with $600 cash, green card, driver license, credit cards. He had it in the tightly closed rucksack under the laptop, nobody could do it in just second. His friends comfort him saying that the thieves might have even played a game or too on his laptop while checking for the stuff. Anyway, he is panicking. How would he get back? He would have to go to the consulate, maybe go to Moscow. Without the documents, chances of getting to the consulate are not great... No problem. They go to the subway station, find the police assigned to the station. The local guy walks to them and tells them that his friend from America was robbed, and that he knows that the police has the wallet. 3 officers look at them, then look at each other. Then one asks: "Massachusetts?". They guys confirm. "one stays here, one goes with me". Ten minutes later he comes back with the wallet. Everything is in ideal order, except, of course, cash. A $20 tip to the police seals the deal.
Of course, this is not the police who robs people. Police just allows them to operate on a strict set of rules. And everyone is happy. The guys do not report, the robbers got money, police got some money form them, and the tip from the victim. But he knows that restoring documents and flying back home would have been a disaster, if he did not get his papers. So, even he is happy.
If you come to Moscow, do not rent a car. You are guaranteed to bump into a nicely staged collision with a BMW within your first hour behind the wheel. Do you know how much they cost?
So, if you are coming from US to Israel, you feel the difference. And if you are coming from Israel to Russia, the difference would be even more pronounced.
Is this the worst? No so fast. Like in New York, where you would think that all taxi drivers are from Pakistan, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the illegal car service drivers are from the former Soviet Republic, and now a free country - Tajikistan. Sort of warm to my heart, I was born in Dushanbe - the capital of a free Tajikistan. So, how are things in Tajikistan, and why the men are driving in St. Petersburg, and their families are in Tajikistan?
It is very simple. 57% of the population is below the poverty line and on average make $417 per capita a year, so these men are working to help feed their families. Not new in the world. A nice twist to that is that there is not enough electricity in Tajikistan. So, they miss it in winter for up to 4 months. A city without electricity for 4 months??? Yep. So how are hospitals? They were getting it for 2 hours a day. What about patients. If they do not survive, they die... So, how they live? Life is not bad in the capital of the country. There is hot water, and there is gas for cooking and heating (it is darn cold in winter). 21 st century. In the evening I sit at my computer. Well they are using candles. So, if you go from Russia to Tajikistan, it is quite a difference.
Is that the end of it? Lets make another trip, not far from Tajikistan, but this time to Iran. Do not worry, they have electricity. Yes, the country is in dire poverty, but this is not what I want to tell you about. They are way worse than Tajikistan, where sick people die. In Iran healthy people are hung every day. 5-6 people hung every day. For those who are not aware, here's the link to the very disturbing video. Very -very disturbing.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/07/barbarism-in-ir.html
Just how different are the perspectives. From $4 a gallon for gas in US to public executions in Iran. But cheap gas.
Jon Zolsky, your Daytona Beach connection
www.BeautifulFlorida.com
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