NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6624865

Moscow - A Russian region of Ulyanovsk has found a novel way to fight the nation's birth-rate crisis: It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate.

The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes.

Ulyanovsk, about 550 miles east of Moscow, has held similar contests since 2005. Since then, the number of competitors, and the number of babies born to them, has been on the rise.

Russia, with one-seventh of Earth's land surface, has just 141.4 million citizens, making it one of the most sparsely settled countries in the world. With a low birth rate and a high death rate, the population has been shrinking since the early 1990s.

Hmm. Didn't know they had that low of a population (knew about the surface area).

This follows on the heels of that youth celebration where they encouraged them all to fuck like rabbits.

This almost sounds like a NationStates proposal...

would you give your people the day off to get pregnant?

Maybe they could look at helping the 30000 children who die each day through starvation, disease and malnutrition...

What's more fun to you:

Lowering the death rate

or

Raising the birth rate

Well, when the vast majority of your land is like North Dakota, or colder, sparseness of population is to be expected. When your government -- or organized crime, depending on where you are in Russian society) cares more about lining its own pockets than its citizens, sparseness of population is to be expected (though more for reasons of pointlessness than climate).

Sorry, but encouraging more babies in a nation having trouble caring for so many of the ones it already has reeks of mindless populism and irresponsibility.

EDIT: Russian children are regulars on the world adoption circuit.

What a horrible idea.

I don't have anyone to get busy with. :(

I don't have anyone to get busy with. :(

In Russia, the State gets busy with you!

would they let me in to help with this plan

EDIT: Russian children are regulars on the world adoption circuit.
Of course, they are the only foreign white children likely to be left to adoption.

would they let me in to help with this plan

Something tells me that the women in a depressed part of of Russia wouldn't exactly be choice.

Something tells me that the women in a depressed part of of Russia wouldn't exactly be choice.

Ummm, yeah.

http://www.howtomarryarussianwoman.com/RussianBride1.jpg

Ummm, yeah.

http://www.howtomarryarussianwoman.com/RussianBride1.jpg

That's a scary looking woman.

Ummm, yeah.

Depressed was the key word there.
I'm sure that chick is some mobster's wife who he uses to cheat American men out of money with that whole "mail order bride" thing.

That's a scary looking woman.

Bad pic. How about this one?

http://www.howtomarryarussianwoman.com/RussianWomen1.jpg

Or this?

http://russianbridesrussianbride.sbn.bz/womensBIGPhotos/Russian_Brides_fotos.jpg

Ok, the swimsuit is strange...

http://russianbridesrussianbride.sbn.bz/womensBIGPhotos/Russian_Brides_fotos.jpg

Ok, the swimsuit is strange...

dam swear it was painted on from where i was sitting till i move near to have a look

GetMarriedNow.com!?!?!?

That's brilliant. :p

Bad pic. How about this one?

Meh. Like most Russian women, they appear to be missing a chromosome or two.

GetMarriedNow.com!?!?!?

That's brilliant. :p

Think of the money...

Of course, they are the only foreign white children likely to be left to adoption.

What's the implication there? My own parents adopted my Korean sister. The front page of yesterday's local paper (www.heraldnet.com, should you doubt me) featured a story about three Hatian girls being adopted. Plenty of brown babies get adopted.

Wait. Unless you were saying that Russia is the only "white (or "first world" or "Western" or whatever) nation" who has a need to have its children adopted...which was my point...:confused:

Meh. Like most Russian women, they appear to missing a chromosome or two.

Yeah, but glowing in the dark obviates the need for expensive night-vision cameras when filming sex for porn sites.

I haven't heard much, but the stereotype (and I use that as an example because there's a reason stereotypes exist) is that Russian brides tend to be a bit...bitchy and entitlement-prone when they come to the US.

Anyone here know of that or have any experience with friends or brides to share to dispel that notion?

Meh. Like most Russian women, they appear to missing a chromosome
...the 47th one.

I haven't heard much, but the stereotype (and I use that as an example because there's a reason stereotypes exist) is that Russian brides tend to be a bit...bitchy and entitlement-prone when they come to the US.

Anyone here know of that or have any experience with friends or brides to share to dispel that notion?

I expect it might have to do with what they think they can get away with given who usually marries mail-order Russian brides than any defining feature of Russian women.

I know an engineer friend of my stepfather married a Russian woman by mail-order, but she was actually very well-educated (law degree from University of Moscow, IIRC, which is a bit like having a Harvard Law Degree here) and quite nice. She didn't particularly want to work, but she seemed to enjoy housework and raising their daughter, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure that my stepfather's friend was making money hand over foot anyway.

All the problems in Russia now are because Communism fell.

I haven't heard much, but the stereotype (and I use that as an example because there's a reason stereotypes exist) is that Russian brides tend to be a bit...bitchy and entitlement-prone when they come to the US.

Anyone here know of that or have any experience with friends or brides to share to dispel that notion?
The father of a friend of mine tried to do the mail order bride thing. Ended up getting cheated out of a bit of money.

All the problems in Russia now are because Communism fell.

Since 1917, yeah.
Damn Bolsheviks.

Since 1917, yeah.
Damn Bolsheviks.

DID YOU KNOW?
That by the time the Bolsheviks became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, there were no Bolsheviks in it?

DID YOU KNOW?
That by the time the Bolsheviks became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, there were no Bolsheviks in it?

That's kind of what I was referring to...