Alcohol's not the only thing harmful to your health.
Of course, I should have known better... this is the Baltimore Sun, after all. The article was a poor excuse for an apology for Soviet Communism... with a secondary slam at alcohol (despite the lack of positive correlation between alcohol and the cited Russian problem of heart disease). Now that they've demonized tobacco, alcohol is next in the left's sights, I'm sure.
Anyhow, I tried to excerpt pieces of the article that revealed the true leanings of the Sun's author. It was not difficult to do, there was so much to choose from.
And I should have pointed out that an examination of the graphical data shows that the age expectancy actually rose in the late 80's, no doubt with the anticipation of change in the air.
Following the fall of communism, and all the unanswered dreams, the expectancy merely fell, dramatic though it was, back to the original declining trajectory that dated back to the mind 1960's.
My theory is that the Soviet Union valued women as an economic asset moreso than a family asset. By this I mean, her value to the State was paramount over her role in the maintainance of a stable family, insofar as it was possible to have a stable family in such a repressive system. Abortion was encouraged, because it kept a woman working, and it enhanced her economic value to the State. Birth rates fell, and may now be at disastrous levels. They may be at levels which cannot further sustain Russia as a nation.
That being said, I have argued against abortion, and against homosexual marriages with the reasoning that a nation has a compelling, indeed survival motivated, interest in supporting stable families. It is from stable families that the future of the nation is derived. It is from stable families that the doctors, police, scientists, farmers, teachers, and other adhesive occupations ultimately depend. A nation which places artificial or economic value on the child producing segment of its population deserves ultimately, oblivion.
I am not arguing for the DENIAL of the rights of women to fairly compete for ecomonic or political goals.
There is nothing wrong with alcohol, BUT alcholism is a major problem in Russia. All you have to do is live in Moscow for a few months to see that alcoholism is literally killing people in large numbers.
Alcohol's not the only thing harmful to your health.
btrl
Wouldn't it stand to reason that if the population was decreasing that the need for engineers, doctors and scientists decrease also in direct proportion???