You get mauled when you wake a sleeping bear. Sweden did it in the eighteenth century. Napoleon’s France did it in the nineteenth century. In spite of history, Hitler’s Germany did it again in the twentieth century. All invaded Russia, made huge advances, and then had their armies decimated in a winter war as the sleepy giant awoke and unleashed its massive armies. Russia faces a different enemy in the 21st century though, one immune to the winter and massive armies… in fact one might say that alcoholism thrives in this environment.
Facing a national crisis, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has for the second time this year announced a government crackdown on alcohol abuse.
“Alcoholism has become a national disaster,” the Russian leader told Pravda in a story published Wednesday. Data compiled by the Russian government shows the average per capita consumption of alcohol is about 4.75 gallons each year, more than twice the amount the World Health Organization categorizes as dangerous. Only 40 percent of this year’s high school graduates are expected to live long enough to receive a pension, government data indicates. ~ UPI.com
After my earlier post on this topic, a reader sent me this article stating that over half of all Russian male deaths aged 15-54 in the last decade were alcohol related. That’s mind boggling!
The enemy is alcohol, cunning and baffling caring not if it rouses the sleeping bear knowing that now it’s drunk and can’t get up.
