Mark Steyn

"If there’s one thing Russia could use, it’s more Russians. The country is midway through its transition from ‘superpower’ to ghost town. Russian men already have a lower life expectancy than Bangladeshis — not because Bangladesh is brimming with actuarial advantages but because, if he had four legs and hung from a tree in a rain forest, the Russian male would be on the endangered species list. By mid-century, vast empty Russia will have a smaller population than tiny Yemen. The decline in male longevity is unprecedented for a (relatively) advanced nation not at war. Russia has extraordinary rates of drug-fuelled Aids, hepatitis C, heart disease and TB, all of which are mere symptoms of an entire people unable to pull themselves out of self-destruction."

JB here: Life in the formerly godless Russia has been and is horrific. They may no longer believe in the salvation via communism, but they haven't yet turned towards any other salvation than salvation by alcohol, drugs, unfettered sex and lifestyle irresponsibility. Under Communism, you didn't have to practice personal responsibility; the State dictated who you were and what you should be about. Now with the State no longer in control the Russian people have not yet figured out who they are and what they should be about. They are as lost as they can be. God help them.