Russia

What comes to mind when one thinks of Russia? Does one think of the heavy and mind altering books of Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy or Pushkin or Gogol? Or the staggering intellect of chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov? Does one hear the majestic compositions of Stravinsky or Tchaikovsky? Or does one think of the people themselves, these proud Russian people, with their quiet but superhuman strength- their ability to live through unimaginable hardship, and survive?

Russian troops raise the flag of victory over the city of Berlin, 2 May 1945.

The strength of Russia’s character, and the richness of Russia’s intellectual culture, is easy to see. The city of St. Petersburg alone has 221 museums, 2,000 libraries, more than 80 theaters, 100 concert organizations, 45 galleries, and 62 cinemas. And the standards of Russian education are among the highest in the world. The typical 16 year old Russian student is doing mathematics work which most students in the West only begin doing in university!

One should remember that while Russia is rich in culture and intellect, Russia is also super wealthy in material terms. Russia has the largest natural gas reserves of any country in the world, and Russia is the world’s second largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia. Moscow has more billionaires than any other city anywhere- in fact Moscow has three times more billionaires than New York City- and Russian people are modern, and love to have fun! They love McDonald’s!!! The biggest McDonald’s restaurant in the world is in Moscow; it has 700 seats. Try to imagine that- a McDonald’s with 700 seats. That’s a lot of hamburgers.