Thread by @petite_michelle

A THREAD.
Russian attitude towards money (and work).
Based on my personal observations on- and offline.
Important because some westeners still think russians share their attitudes. They never did.

Russia is a deeply hierarchical country - what a simple person cannot allow himself to do, say etc, a person with money and power can. And if those from the bottom BEHAVE, they will get their punishment sooner or later, so most of them chose not to behave.

Earning money in russia HAS NOTHING TO DO with how qualified you are. You have to know the right people, be with good relations with them and think the way they do - to be part of the gang literally.

In soviet times you should also be an active communist party member. Now - a member of United Russia party. Your skills played literally no role in this. Positions were shared with relatives, lovers etc..

Being a qualified talented individual in such system means only one thing - you will get THE MOST of the workload, the least pay, zero promotions, and the one to blame for all the mistakes made by those "with contacts".

It means work effort is seen as something shameful, something only those of the lower class do and the motto "hard work always pays off" is laughed at in russia. Working is not a value in russian culture, but finding "idiots who will do it for you for free" totally is.

This is why professions as teacher, doctor etc are very low paid and absolutely not respected in russia - it's truly hard work that requires personal effort and high qualification.

Officials of higher rank get both hate and envy as they have what everyone in russia wants - money without any real effort.
So don't be surprised if you see a lot of organizations like FBK gathering donations without any real measurable result - it's another way of enrichment

in russia - grifring and scamming. You say what people want to hear, create a cult around one leader and here you are - pretty well off somewhere in Europe. But of course, if your father is an oligarch (Pevchikh's dad is an oligarch), you get a boost.

You will never see a russian being happy his kid got his first job at a local store - real job experience is not in value among russians, getting money for just having a position - totally is.

This thread is inspired by this post "don't offer me a normal job" good russian, who was asking for donations only.

I was shamed by russians for earning my money the honest way - by working as a cashier as a teen, giving private lessons while being a student at the Uni, and going to work in a local bank as a simple clerk (it changed pretty fast btw), for working honestly, literally.

Still, I am shamed by uneducated russian for teaching Estonian in my own company - why wouldn't I hire some fool to do it for me? They never consider the fact I LOVE doing what I do.