Hyperbole much? It’s GDP the last 2 years dropped due to oil prices plummeting but Russian GDP is expected to rise next year. Your comment about public health, drug and STD relevancy are true in Europe, Canada, and the US as well. The rule of law for small and medium business has long been since dead in the US and TPTB get away with anything they want (The Clinton’s as prime example) and who knows where all of the $4t+ our fed gov spends every year really goes.
And sanctions and a few others things. But yes, that leads me to my next point. Russia produces oil and gas. And basically nothing else. The country outside Moscow and St. Petersburg is a disaster. Putin has mismanaged the economy to the point where it is even less diversified than it was in the past. It's bizarre and completely unnecessary in a country filled with natural resources, educated people and infrastructure. But hey, bad government can screw up anything.
Your comment about public health, drug and STD relevancy are true in Europe, Canada, and the US as well.
Not remotely on Russia's scale.
The rule of law for small and medium business has long been since dead in the US
Now you're just being silly. In Russia people are routinely shot dead by armed gangs for opposing local politicians with no system to bring the perpetrators to justice. It's gangster government in the most literal sense.
You can't be a small government conservative and embrace a government that murders its citizens.