Present day Siberia is a far cry from how it used to be just a couple generations ago. Modernization has made living in the region much easier than it used to be, and raised the quality of life of the inhabitants.
Combine that with the fact that it's a huge region of gorgeous wilderness with a great degree of isolation from the troubles of the rest of the world, and it isn't hard to imagine natives being reasonably satisfied with their lives. If you had the chance to live comfortably up in the hills or mountains of a National Forest and to not much pay attention to what was happening elsewhere in the world, might you not be tempted?
It's also worth pointing out that most of us in the West probably know Siberia best for the brutality of the gulags which were established in the region, rather than for the region itself being terribly unpleasant. If you're okay with living in a vast and cold forested region, with all the benefits and detriments that entails, it's not really all that different than living in places like Scandinavia or the backhills of the Rocky Mountains.
Present day Siberia is a far cry from how it used to be just a couple generations ago. Modernization has made living in the region much easier than it used to be, and raised the quality of life of the inhabitants.
ReplyDeleteCombine that with the fact that it's a huge region of gorgeous wilderness with a great degree of isolation from the troubles of the rest of the world, and it isn't hard to imagine natives being reasonably satisfied with their lives. If you had the chance to live comfortably up in the hills or mountains of a National Forest and to not much pay attention to what was happening elsewhere in the world, might you not be tempted?
It's also worth pointing out that most of us in the West probably know Siberia best for the brutality of the gulags which were established in the region, rather than for the region itself being terribly unpleasant. If you're okay with living in a vast and cold forested region, with all the benefits and detriments that entails, it's not really all that different than living in places like Scandinavia or the backhills of the Rocky Mountains.