There are at least two answers to the question of what a modern village is. The first is the one that illuminates the current reality. And the second answer is the dream of most Russians about what it should be, a real modern village. That village where it would be nice and comfortable to live, I wanted to be a family and plan the future of a whole kind.
The bitter reality of rural life
The modern village is one of the most painful places in the Russian economy. This is evidenced by those abandoned villages where they survive, and to be precise, helpless old people vegetate in poverty and decline. Hectares of overgrown with weeds fields, destroyed cultural monuments shouting about it: churches, old buildings, dwellings of historical figures. This is indicated by rickety and faded tablets with the names of once prosperous settlements, standing on the sidelines of downed and practically unused roads. Yes, the bitter sight is a modern village …
People sometimes go to cities for money, leaving their homes
The inability to earn a living drives youth into cities. Deserted villages become unprofitable, they close outlets, medical posts, post offices, vehicles stop their work. All this only adds to the problems of local residents, because behind the most urgent - bread, salt, matches, medicines - people have country paths to get into the snowstorm, and in the rain, and in the heat in a larger village several kilometers away. The Russian village, especially the small one, is simply dying out. In some villages, they even "cut off the light", that is, they cut off the supply of electricity …
And in our village - the light! True, there is no Internet …
In larger villages, the so-called "bushes", which are the administrative village centers, which were formerly called village councils, things are a little better. It is there that schools still exist, post offices and branches of Sberbank work, in some places there are discos on weekends in clubs - houses of culture, there are first-aid posts. Another Russian village boasts a library and even a small kindergarten. Naturally, this provides the population with some jobs, provides income, and this keeps some of the residents. Yes, and the ability to purchase products, receive some kind of medical care, and identify a child in school also plays an important role. Pensioners, who are still in force, keep a small courtyard there, have the opportunity to support children and grandchildren.
Is it good to have a house in the village?
An ignorant person will be surprised: how can one "whine" about unemployment and hunger while living on our nurse - the earth? If you have hands, you will earn a living! But optimism here will be redundant. Life in the village is impossible without at least any small cash receipts. After all, before you get returns from the land, you need to dig it up, purchase seeds, fertilizers, etc. From a small area you will collect a little, but you will not dig a large area with a shovel - you need to hire a tractor. Yes, and eat something before the harvest. And the collected fruits, again, by themselves will not turn into a voiced coin - somehow they should be transported to cities, paid in the market for a place, sold. And, to be honest, all the money raised is hardly enough for the purchase of firewood and coal, the current repair of the home, the payment of electricity, the purchase of winter clothes. And therefore, for 10 years, village people walk in old padded jackets and hemmed felt boots, saving on the necessities, living in rickety huts, yanking buckets of water with a rocker and drowning the bathhouse “in black”. Such a joyless life in the village may seem exotic to the city dweller, but it is constantly very difficult to exist in this nightmare.
And in our village there is gas! And still - a water supply system!
Even at a higher level is that modern Russian village, in which the main roads are paved, gas is laid, houses with central heating and sewage are built. True, these structures were erected for the most part even under the Soviet regime, since today in the countryside only “wealthy” businessmen build houses privately, who suddenly decide to settle in an ecologically clean area. Very often, such a modern Russian village can offer residents jobs. Basically, you need to say thank you to those businessmen who risked taking responsibility and opened a livestock center in the countryside, either rented land and sowed it, or organized collection of products from the population, or opened points for processing this very product.
There are no other children
Another "business" is interesting, which today is very common among the villagers. It consists in issuing guardianship over children from orphanages. The state pays such families a good salary for each child brought up for education, and this is in addition to the child allowance for food and clothing, which is equal to the cost of living. The duration of the contract is included in the length of service of the parents. Of course, not everyone can afford to do such a thing, but practice shows that many families go for it. Indeed, in addition to financial support, guardians receive enormous moral satisfaction from the knowledge that they are doing a noble work - they help orphans to find a family.
Problems of the modern village
It is easy to protect rural residents from a multitude of troubles and misfortunes, if only one task is solved - the employment of residents. The state government wants the new village to be created by the hands of the villagers themselves. Therefore, today the district administration gives out loans and subsidies for those who wish to start their own business, thereby stimulating the revival of villages. However, not everything is so simple here. Firstly, an age limit has been established, which reduces the number of those who are ready to take this opportunity. Secondly, you can get a loan or a subsidy only after passing the compulsory courses that you need to attend away from your place of residence. And leaving the compound unattended for a villager is often tantamount to signing a death sentence. So the problem remains unresolved.
The head on the shoulders and labor will rub all misfortunes!
The difficult task of reviving the village is facing ordinary people. But the Russian people have always been famous for their ingenuity. Judging by fairy tales, a soldier could cook cabbage soup from an ax, and Fock - in all hands of the dock - could alone remove a huge stone from the road. And now, a smart head helps many out of nothing to create a miracle. Craftsmen in villages and villages master the old forgotten crafts, surprising the whole world with their masterpieces. Wicker furniture and felted boots, lace tablecloths and shawls and clay toys, souvenir mugs and handmade woven rugs, handmade carpets and forged products - there is nothing to list! The new village is a village where residents were able to recall long forgotten, to profit from old crafts.
Come to the light, get your wallet!
There is such a new village, for example, in the Shigon district of the Samara region. In recent years, a beautiful holiday, the Salt Fair, has begun to be held in Usolye. Everyone prepares for it in advance. Singers and bards rehearse new songs, poets compose poems, dancers prepare incendiary dances and round dances. Both needlewomen and craftsmen try - their crafts will take the main place at the festival. And guests who are sure to come to the fair will not leave empty-handed. Surely someone will make new acquaintances, sign an important contract for the wholesale purchase of handmade products. That will replenish the wallet of the villagers!
