'A bad dj vu': Under the crush of Western sanctions, Russians fear a return to dark economic days

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The once bustling corner of Moscow’s central Tverskaya Street looked deserted on Wednesday, as Russia’s first-ever McDonald’s franchise – opened in 1990 in a move that symbolized the Soviet Union's opening to the West – shut its doors.

A large mural depicting a giant, Soviet-era medal – the Order of Victory, the highest military decoration awarded in World War II -- loomed over over the empty sidewalk.

“We are proud," reads a sign on the mural.

Less than a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered more than 150,000 Russian soldiers to invade neighboring Ukraine, Western sanctions leveled against Moscow have sent the economy into free fall. McDonalds and other American businesses have closed operations in the country amid outrage over Putin's decision to invade Russia's sovereign, democratic neighbor.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-bad-d%c3%a9j%c3%a0-vu-under-the-crush-of-western-sanctions-russians-fear-a-return-to-dark-economic-days/ar-AAVvAec

[EYESORE 9001]

1. Life will be hell without McD

I hope the Russian people recognize greater losses than stinking McDonalds as a result of pootie’s war.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Maybe if the ordinary Russians on the streets attack and pillage their top 1%ers, as well as...

Putin's palaces, mansions, etc., they will find all of the crap that they been lacking for decades, all stockpiled in these mansions and palaces. Russia seems to have far more of its share of 1%ers, a huge number of billion-dollar boats, etc., then the usual numbers that I see on news casts from other places (not Russia).

Seems like putin helped a lot of his buddies to the goodies when Russia broke up into pieces (and of course not sharing the proceeds w/ anyone else).

Karma can be a b****. Perhaps this is the start of a 2nd Russian revolution finally? putin and his thugs have been revealed to all in their putrid stench of stolen loot and money, to the common man and woman on the Russian streets, maybe this will make more Russians wonder about all of this? One can only have their heads buried in the sand for so long, and then they must come up for air.

[dalton99a]

4. +1. Putin basically divvied up everything that was owned by the state and gave it to the oligarchs

and to himself, of course

[dalton99a]

3. Consumer and industrial sectors will be impacted within months when they run out of parts

[LastDemocratInSC]

5. In those dark economic days, on a typical trip to a food store

a shopper would probably have a list of needed items but there was always a limited selection. At the meat counter you could ask for what you wanted but you always accepted what they gave you. Dark days indeed.

In the late 1990s our company hired an engineer from the former East Germany. His favorite after work activity was visiting the local Harris-Teeter and just walking up and down the aisles. He referred to it as a "food Disneyland".

[dalton99a]

6. +1. And bananas were a rare sight in East Germany

Grocery stores had them maybe once a month. For most East Germans, fresh tropical fruits were a rare treat. (And blue jeans were verboten.)

[keep_left]

7. There is an old Russian joke from the Soviet days...

A man walks into a store: "You don't have any meat, do you?". "No, we don't have any fish. The store next door is the one that doesn't have any meat."

The spy show The Americans had as a plot point the bribery of a Soviet bureaucrat with a bag of tangerines in a supermarket because they were so hard to come by in the USSR. Looks like those days will be returning thanks to Putin's adventurism in Ukraine.