YouTube content creator Sergei from “Vasya in the Hay” 450K followers
YouTube content creator Spencer from “SB Mowing” 3,2 million followers
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..” Henry David Thoreau
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Good Thursday morning beloved sentients. Today I am taking a brief respite from my non-stop coverage of the now 54 day Trump/Iran Quagmire. I want to do a bit of background into two societies that are on opposite ends of this conflict. The United States of America and Russia.
These two societies are uniquely captured on two YouTube channels that I subscribe to and watch regularly. There are interesting similarities and differences between these two channels that I want to examine for insights into modern culture and human welfare in two highly divergent countries. Are Russia and the US really all that different when you get past the ideologies and military alliances? Let’s see.
The first YouTube Channel is a Russian one called “Vasya in the Hay”. Apparently this phrase means something akin to “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”. Another phrase would be “A fish out of water”. Vasya means some kind of king in Russia and “the hay” means country…”King of the hay”?
Sergei travels by car around the old Soviet era villages outside of Moscow and visits the people still living there in ancient houses while the infrastructure decays around them. He uses the money he makes on his channel to buy groceries and other necessities for the people he interviews. His camera operator captures the desperately poor villagers in shocking scenes of poverty and uncleanliness, mold and rot are the normal environments–where children huddle in their unheated apartments in unkempt beds against the winter cold. Sergei sometimes orders wood, sometimes brings a fridge to store food…sometimes even builds a whole new “tiny home” for a disabled person.
The second YouTube Channel is an American business model–one where the young man “Spencer” operates his own mowing business and makes money by doing mowing in his community of Wichita, Kansas for “free”. Spencer sets up cameras around an apparently abandoned [or not] property with overgrown grass, weeds and trees. Then he brings it into immaculately manicured shape–using fantastic high tech mowing and and landscaping equipment–all the while filming his work. Then he uploads the video and makes thousands of dollars per video which certainly covers his expenses and includes a tidy profit. He also sells “merch” [tee shirts and hats] on his channel and has “sponsors” which add to his profit.
Spencer also meets and helps the people living in or around the abandoned homes. There are not as many children involved in his videos and the people are not quite as desperate but there are deep stressors in their lives–unemployment, isolation, aging vulnerabilities, grief, addiction. Spencer even found an injured cat in the deep grass he was just about to mow. He lifted up the cat to examine it in front of the camera and cried when he saw its infected injury. He took it to a cat shelter and then started up a “Go Fund Me” to cover the costs of the cat’s rehabilitation and to help out the animal shelter.
As a former [retired] social worker I see elements of social work in both the men’s approach to their Channel content. They have different styles but both seek to help out the common man. They never explain what’s behind this drive–they just “do it”. Sergei gets into finding out what makes his “clients” tick…he interview neighbours. Interestingly, the person behind the cash register at the local grocery store is generally a “fount of knowledge” about what’s going on in the community. This person often directs him to potential “clients”–people not doing so well–that Sergei then goes to visit.
One of the great stressors in Russian society, according to Sergei’s videos are the government payments to people to have large families. This results in the worst people having large families…living in poverty due to laziness and addiction–with the children running around the tiny hoarder apartments. Recently he got directed to a three-room apartment where a woman in her 40’s had nine children and was pregnant with her 10th. Her “husband’ was a couple of decades younger than her–she proudly told Sergei. Her 14 year old son was already a father himself. All this because the government gives thousands of rubles to people who have children because of their declining demography. Those people are often “only in it for the money”.
If the government set up a formal social work system and removed children living in such conditions that would be a step forward, IMO. Another issue that’s clear in Russia is alcohol addiction. It is rampant. I don’t know whether Alcoholics Anonymous has ever penetrated Russia but it should and soon! IMO AA is the ONLY tried and true remedy for alcoholism–because it relies on peer support.
Spencer of SB Mowing OTOH never goes into the homes. And there lies his problem. He never sees the total picture. What he sees on the outside, with backyards piled high with rubbish and garbage cans filled with bags of poop–is quite enough for him. I was thinking that as part of Spencer’s Sponsorship program he could bring in a remediator, an organizer and a “stager” of abandoned homes to deal with the inside. Sometimes Spencer gives his clients money to fix this or that. I don’t agree with the idea of giving cash to clients–I believe vouchers would be much better put to use–and not diverted to drugs/alcohol. Spencer IMO should give his clients a voucher to get their homes whether abandoned or lived in–professionally cleaned and organized. It is sad to think these people are left with beautifully landscaped yards but the inside is still a hideous hoarder haven. I have seen Spencer’s videos where large, healthy males are wandering around in the background while Spencer mows their horrifically unkempt yards. What’s THAT all about?!
Sergei also gives out cash to his clients and I also disagree with this approach for him. One thing about the Russians–they still have a lot of pride. The offering of money to them is insulting to most–no matter how poor they are, Again, they should be re-directed to programs, services and therapy for issues such as addiction such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Sergei also comes across a lot of clients with untreated physical disabilities like spinal scoliosis, tooth decay and untreated facial deformities. He does take them to the appropriate medical professions to get them treatment and this is his greatest strength. Again, the main problem in the abandoned villages of Russia is unemployment.
Below are two links to two videos–one from Sergei’s channel and one from Spencer’s. Please watch these and see if you detect the things that I have observed about the society and the content creator’s approach.
Greencrow continues: Sergei and Spencer take risks dealing with this segment of their societies. People with mental health issues can lash out in unpredictable ways. Both men apparently think their channels are worth taking these risks.
Gun violence especially, is just under the surface in American society. Here is a report just from yesterday:
Female marine and PBS employee, 25, allegedly shot and killed outside home by estranged husband
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Sergei has been in some dicey situations and one of his close volunteers “Dimi” who went with him on many visits to clients was murdered and his body left in a remote field.
What these two channels say about their respective countries is a whole other post and one I likely will NOT be doing. I can make some general point form notes
Russia is cold and does not have termites–but does have flies and mold in the winter due to faulty heating systems, frozen water pipes and no public maintenance systems.
America has termites that are eating away at the abandoned homes. In Kansas there are high winds and tornadoes that cause extensive damage at times
Russians have more apparent alcohol addiction in the rural areas. OTOH, in America the addicted usually migrate away from the rural areas to the cities. Unemployment and general laziness abounds in the US–with people sitting in their hoarded homes all day eating take out and watching TV. A glaring anomaly in Wichita, Kansas is the number of abandoned homes built in the last two decades. some streets have only three occupied homes out of 10. This says something very significant about America but I’m not sure what.
For more insight into the larger picture of the two societies–and other societies all over the globe, please read the following article from RT just published today. It announces that RT is preparing an Index of “well-being” that details how each country is doing in several categories–including Standard of Living, societal violence/homicides and birthrate’s. Some of the preliminary findings are surprising.
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Who will survive in the new world? RT’s new special project offers exclusive insights
RT presents the Social Well-Being Index, a new way to measure whether societies can sustain themselves, protect life, and remain cohesive
https://www.rt.com/news/638967-social-well-being-index/
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Greencrow concludes: I applaud Sergei and Spencer for their valuable social work. I hope my readers will visit their channels and subscribe to/”like” their videos. This is how they get rated and paid by YouTube. Both can get thousand$ for each video–some of which they return to those they serve. Remember–all their work for their clients is done entirely for free. Who does that???!!!
Stay tuned.
Greencrow as the crow flies 