Russia is the New America
In my article The Coming Downfall of Russia, I pointed out that our culture of freedom and fun - things like Beer, Boobs, and BBQs - is what makes our economy so formidable.
But I see that Russians, despite considering Americans nyekulturny (uncultured), have picked up some of our morally degrading activities.
Beginning in 1972, when Pepsi-Cola became the first foreign product sanctioned for sale in the U.S.S.R, the Russians have embraced American products and Americanisms.
Would you believe cheerleaders in Russia? Click on any panel for a larger view.
to Robert Amsterdam]
Here is a YouTube video of Russian rapper Timati (1). Young Russians have no problem shopping for hip-hop clothing at dozens of ECKO stores in the former Soviet Union.
The Russian government, worried about the spread of American influence in culture and music, two years ago drafted a law to make emo and goth music illegal (2).
If Russia weren't such a poor, backward country, there would be tens of thousands of American consumer-ready products and retail outlets available for its citizens. The problem is that port facilities are limited; transportation is scarce and expensive; corruption is rampant; bank clearing facilities practically non-existent; and its citizens have very little real cash.
For example, McDonald's opened it first restaurant in 1990 and because it couldn't use rubles anywhere else in the world, it bought Russian real-estate and thus became the largest corporate landowner in Russia (3). You may find it interesting that the busiest McDonald's restaurant in the world is not in America but in Pushkin Square. McDonald's has 235 restaurants in Russia, each serving twice as many customers as in the US.
Pepsi solved the problem with all those rubles when it bartered exportation and Western marketing rights to Stolichnaya vodka in exchange for importation of Pepsi-Cola into Russia.
Other American companies will likewise have to figure out similar exchanges if they hope to enter the FSU market.
I haven't figured out what Hollywood gets back. Movie theaters in Russia (as elsewhere in the world) are swamped with American action films.
Because American products are considered of high quality and prestigious to own, a cursory glance at Russian advertisements shows a heavy reliance on American words even though sometimes written in Cyrillic script.
Music, film, clothes, fast-food, drinks, it won't be long before Russian cities will look just like any other American city. Of course, if Russia seriously wants to become a world power, it would do well to establish English as its national language. The most successful countries in the world have a large percentage of its population who speak English: Germany 56%, Netherlands, 87%, Sweden 89%, Belgium 59%, Denmark 86%, Switzerland 61%, Singapore 71%; while in Russia barely 5% speak English [Wiki].
There are almost as many people in India speaking English as in the US - how much outsourcing do you think we do with people who only speak Hindi?
Of course, simply speaking English alone does not automatically guarantee success; however Russia, even without its former territories is still the largest country in the world with many times more natural resources than the US. Despite its poor infrastructure, Russia is the second largest exporter of oil, not far behind Saudi Arabia. Imagine what it could accomplish if most of its citizens spoke English.
ENDNOTES
(1):
World Hip Hop Market, 15 Jan 2008, Rap Music Tries to Gain a Foothold in Russia
It’s midnight in the mirrored changing room of a night club on Novy Arbat. A posse of dancers and backing singers waits patiently for Russia’s best-known rapper, Timati, who is due to perform at a corporate Christmas party.
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As Timati makes his entrance, wearing a headband, a black beanie and sunglasses, the mood changes. The group runs up to him, performing a handshake choreography of various clicks, angles and slaps until the rapper feels that he has greeted everyone adequately.
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Timati, whose real name is Timur Yunusov, may be the closest that Russia has to a rap star. He was born in Moscow to a wealthy, ethnically mixed family — his father is a Muslim and his mother is Jewish. His privileged background enabled him to spend three years studying in Los Angeles.
...
And Timati is certain that Russia loves hip-hop, “Just last week, 50 Cent was packed; Beyonce was sold out [in October],” he said. “When Shaggy came here five years ago the seats in the cinema were less than half full. Interest in this music is definitely increasing.”
For more info on Russian rappers click here.
(2):
Moscow Times, 17 Jul 2008, Black Bangs, Piercings Raise Eyebrows in Duma
Dressed in tight jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and skull-adorned Vans, Ayedonitsky, 22, looks more Brooklyn than Moscow. But he and his band, MAIO, are part of the country's burgeoning emo scene — a subculture coming under increasing government scrutiny.
Teens sporting emo couture — black bangs, eyebrow piercings, pinned shoulder bags — have become a ubiquitous sight on the Moscow metro and at popular youth hangouts like Pushkin Square and the All-Russia Exhibition Center.
But State Duma deputies, Public Chamber members and social conservatives have hammered out legislation aimed at heading off the spread of emo culture, which they describe as a "dangerous teen trend."
The Duma last month held a parliamentary hearing on a raft of proposed amendments contained in a document called "Government Strategy in the Sphere of Spiritual and Ethical Education," a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times.
Among other measures, the proposed legislation calls for heavy regulation of emo web sites and for banning young people dressed like emos from entering schools and government buildings.
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Like many youth trends in Russia, emo culture is a Western import. Born out of 1980s "emotional hard-core" rock in Washington D.C. (and undergoing a rebirth in 2000), emo culture arrived in Moscow in 2003 after droves of young Russians began downloading foreign music on the Internet.
(3):
OCA, MCDONALD'S BECOMING LARGEST CORPORATE LAND OWNER IN RUSSIA
The busiest McDonald's restaurant in the world is not in America but thousands of miles away in Pushkin Square. The store serves 30,000 customers a day, as busy as on opening day, January 31, 1990. The menu is essentially the same as in the United States, with the addition of cabbage pie among other traditional Russian food items.
The Pushkin Square restaurant is important as well because it is the jewel in a growing real estate empire that ranks McDonald's among the largest corporate landowners in Russia.
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McDonald's real estate venture began in the early 1990's, when it had no way to convert the rubles that customers paid for its hamburgers and milkshakes into another currency. The company spent the rubles to buy farmland and put up office towers, a distribution center and a factory in the Moscow suburbs --- which became known as McComplex. In 1993, the company built its first office building, just two blocks from the Kremlin. Tenants like Coca-Cola and Upjohn moved in.
More property was added as McDonald's opened new restaurants, buying many of the restaurant properties because loans are not easily available in Russia to run small businesses, including the franchises that McDonald's sells in other countries.
Russian basketball cheerleader photos courtesy English Russia.
