I saw a quote on Twitter from a government report about how the countersanctions worked. I didn’t believe it, so I went to check.
It’s true: the analytical center of the Russian government is telling us this—beef has become too expensive for Russian citizens, so they are switching to cheaper foods.
Beef is now a “niche expensive product.”
Beef, CARL.
It’s 2016. Russia has “risen from its knees” (a common Russian political slogan about national resurgence) and is threatening the West. We’re in a confrontation with America, you see. We’re paying to restore Palmyra. Thirty percent of budgets go to military spending.
And people, excuse me, can’t even afford to eat properly. Beef has become an expensive niche product.
Maybe in the next government report they’ll recommend listing beef under “desserts and treats.”
Incidentally, the same report also contains this gem: the “countersanctions” had no negative consequences. Prices merely went up, suppliers changed, and consumers paid for all of it. Absolutely no negative outcome at all:
Here’s another example of “no negative outcome”:
A decline in the quality of consumption, including because people have started eating adulterated or counterfeit food. And then there is “significant non-market production for personal consumption,” which translated into plain Russian means: people are once again feeding themselves from their garden plots. Planting potatoes.
I’ll put it this way: restoring Russia’s greatness is impossible unless all the country’s citizens can afford to eat beef.
There is no greatness without beef. And an orchestra playing in Palmyra won’t help with that.