<story><title>The Russia Left Behind</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/13/russia/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>D_Alex</author><text>&amp;gt;Frankly I&amp;#x27;m a bit tired of all the negative coverage of Russia by the NYT, The Economist and other respected establishments. I can drive through the Appalachians or towns in the South or Detroit and describe an &amp;quot;America Left Behind&amp;quot;- but we all know that those places do not represent the USA as a whole.&lt;p&gt;But... This is not about a cherry-picked stagnant area, this is about a main highway between Russia&amp;#x27;s two largest cities. It seems to be woefully neglected, while facilities used by Putin are done up to @#$%-the-expense standard. This is about the leadership of the country gone morally astray, and not caring about who sees it.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Russia has problems everyone knows that, ...&lt;p&gt;Oh well, that&amp;#x27;s allright then. No point actually doing something.</text></item><item><author>olegious</author><text>Interesting article but this is nothing new.  Russian villages have been dying for centuries- life was always better and easier in the cities.  Putting forward gypsies as examples of a &amp;quot;Russia left behind&amp;quot; is disingenuous at best- gypsies live in their own societies by their own rules all across Europe.&lt;p&gt;Frankly I&amp;#x27;m a bit tired of all the negative coverage of Russia by the NYT, The Economist and other respected establishments.  I can drive through the Appalachians or towns in the South or Detroit and describe an &amp;quot;America Left Behind&amp;quot;- but we all know that those places do not represent the USA as a whole.&lt;p&gt;Edit: Russia has problems everyone knows that, I would just like to see more balanced coverage- talk to the middle class that has grown in the cities, the startup people in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities, compare how things are today to how they were in the 90s.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>GabrielF00</author><text>Ever here the Bob Dylan song The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll? It&amp;#x27;s about a 1963 incident when a white Maryland farmer named William Zantzinger got drunk and started harassing a middle-aged black barmaid and hitting her with a cane. She collapsed and died and he got a six month prison term. In the early 90s Zantzinger went to jail again - this time for charging rent on shacks that were actually owned by the local government. These shacks didn&amp;#x27;t have running water and they were located 30 miles down the road from Washington, D.C.&lt;p&gt;Obviously the United States is not Russia and our leaders aren&amp;#x27;t kleptocrats. But they have been willing to ignore abject poverty for generations. I suspect that the dismissive, contemptuous attitude that many middle and upper class Americans have towards, say, the inner cities, would not be unfamiliar in Moscow or St. Petersburg.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Russia Left Behind</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/13/russia/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>D_Alex</author><text>&amp;gt;Frankly I&amp;#x27;m a bit tired of all the negative coverage of Russia by the NYT, The Economist and other respected establishments. I can drive through the Appalachians or towns in the South or Detroit and describe an &amp;quot;America Left Behind&amp;quot;- but we all know that those places do not represent the USA as a whole.&lt;p&gt;But... This is not about a cherry-picked stagnant area, this is about a main highway between Russia&amp;#x27;s two largest cities. It seems to be woefully neglected, while facilities used by Putin are done up to @#$%-the-expense standard. This is about the leadership of the country gone morally astray, and not caring about who sees it.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Russia has problems everyone knows that, ...&lt;p&gt;Oh well, that&amp;#x27;s allright then. No point actually doing something.</text></item><item><author>olegious</author><text>Interesting article but this is nothing new.  Russian villages have been dying for centuries- life was always better and easier in the cities.  Putting forward gypsies as examples of a &amp;quot;Russia left behind&amp;quot; is disingenuous at best- gypsies live in their own societies by their own rules all across Europe.&lt;p&gt;Frankly I&amp;#x27;m a bit tired of all the negative coverage of Russia by the NYT, The Economist and other respected establishments.  I can drive through the Appalachians or towns in the South or Detroit and describe an &amp;quot;America Left Behind&amp;quot;- but we all know that those places do not represent the USA as a whole.&lt;p&gt;Edit: Russia has problems everyone knows that, I would just like to see more balanced coverage- talk to the middle class that has grown in the cities, the startup people in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities, compare how things are today to how they were in the 90s.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>pandaman</author><text>That area had been stagnant[1] for at least as long as the USA existed.&lt;p&gt;[1]&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_from_St._Petersburg_to_Moscow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Journey_from_St._Petersburg_to_...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>