The outgoing year is one of the brightest and richest in events in the 21st century. He was full of surprises, especially politically.
2016 Results
The results of voting on Britain’s exit from the European Union and the results of the presidential race in America led many to reconsider their views on the will of the middle class, and also showed how tired people are of tolerance. And at the same time, many old and not very secrets burst out in the coffers of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. For example, Hillary cost a scandal using a home mail server for official secret correspondence.
In the world of stars, the divorce of Brangelina, a couple who for many years was an example of a happy and beautiful family, became a sensation. It turned out that large spouses (Angelina and Breda had 6 children) very often had scandals, nannies changed like gloves, and Angelina suffered from anorexia and outbreaks of aggression. In the meantime, Jolie was engaged in family affairs, other famous actors delighted the audience with interesting new movies in 2016. Take the same “Deadpool” with Ryan Reynolds, who cannot be watched by children because of bloody and frank scenes, but whom thousands of adult viewers have fallen in love with for their magnificent, even black humor. Among the best films of the year were “Fantastic Beasts and Their Habitats” from the Harry Potter universe and “Doctor Strange” with ex-Sherlock Benedict Cumberbatch. Among books, bestsellers continue to be the most widely read books that have been awarded an adaptation. From the series, the Game of Thrones deserves a lot of praise, which year after year pleases the audience with dashing plot twists and unexpected deaths of the main characters.
In the field of sports, the most scandalous and politicized for many years was the Summer Olympics in Rio. The most discussed events included: the removal of almost a third of the Russian national team from the Games, the frank playing up of the organizers of the Olympics to American athletes (they were allowed to run the baton again because of a stick allegedly lost due to rivals), a joint photo of the athletes of South and North Korea. And the International Paralympic Committee also banned the Russians from participating in the Paralympics, after which Russia decided to arrange alternative games.
Forecasts for 2017
2017 promises to be no less generous in interesting news in the world of cinema (we recommend our list of the most anticipated films of 2017), politics and show business.
Of the expected car innovations in 2017, it is worth noting the domestic LADA XRAY Cross with an all-wheel drive version and the 2017 Kia Soul, which was included in the best SUVs and crossovers according to the Car and Driver version.
As for technology, in 2016 many high-quality phones were included in the ranking of the best smartphones of 2016, in the new year, the most anticipated smartphones include the Apple iPhone with a screen that completely fills the front surface (although this is just a rumor), as well as smartphones with 4K- display and contactless payments. Will gadget manufacturers be able to surprise us with new solutions, as they say, time will tell.
Rating of Russia in the international arena, expert opinion
This year turned out to be rich in the ratings of countries. We will pay special attention to the position of Russia in international ratings.
Russia's position in international ratings:
- 40 place in the ranking of countries for doing business (version of the World Bank)
- 52 place in terms of Internet freedom (Freedom House)
- 95 place in the ranking of prosperous countries (Legatum Institute)
- 126 place in charity ranking (Charity Aid Foundation)
- 8th place at the cost of gasoline (Bloomberg)
- 55 (last) place in the healthcare ranking (Bloomberg)
We asked experts to comment on this state of affairs and give our assessment.
Vadim Gorzhankin, head of the PR agency Red Word.
“In most ratings, Russia ranks clearly below those places that could be considered objective. At the same time, often the former republics of the USSR, supporting the course towards distancing with Russia and rapprochement with the European Union and the United States, demonstrate very impressive indicators. We are talking about countries such as Georgia, Estonia, Ukraine, etc. That clearly indicates the high level of commitment of many rating projects. This applies not only to ratings, but also to various awards. Suffice it to recall that US President Barack Obama became the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Although it’s not worth wondering, it should be so, given the current international situation. ”
Elena Rumyantseva, President of the Center for Economic Policy and Business, Doctor of Economics, Professor.
“International ratings are all the same subjective assessments, which depend on the information collected, the methods of its analysis, the level of competence, the knowledge of their authors and pressure, including by bribery, parties interested in high places or prevailing ideology.
In the context of corruption and the consequences of raider seizures that successfully worked in the Soviet era, at the beginning of the restructuring of enterprises, it is most likely that the context of the success of a business that has merged with corruption, which does not fail to provide unexplained preferences to competitors, will not be prosecuted with unnecessary checks, and will not be bribed by bribery - from small to large. Shocking due to underpayments of wages and targeted social assistance, devaluing the accumulations of millions of people and moral principles (eternal moral values), prevailing corruption takes even away from discussing the decline in living standards for the majority of the population within the country as currently insignificant for the development of the issue (in in its integrated form), while in international rankings the standard of living is constantly assessed from different angles in order to once again ensure that the data distorted by corruption is blocked.
Despite all reservations about taking into account the degree of subjectivity and objectivity, international ratings, at the same time, allow us not to stagnate in the face of the devaluation of the labor of millions of citizens and the presentation of unrealistic, very beautiful data on reality in various indicators, which, again, are not publicly evaluated in Russia and they are not comprehensively considered: the last place in the ranking of healthcare (and in Russia, according to propaganda, everything is fine with medicine, only citizens began to get sick more often, but the paradox is that Russian medicine is generally progressive in terms of its development, and in organization of medical care is ineffective), lower positions in the charity rating (and in Russia, according to propaganda, almost all public figures are benefactors in their intentions), but also a low level of freedom on the Internet - a powerful ideological resource alternative to corruption (not counting , of course, the threat of terrorist attacks, but in Russia for protecting the Internet from terrorism is not so positively unambiguous, efficient and ripe). 8th place in terms of gasoline cost is also a serious signal of a deterioration in living standards in the country, but also the result of planned actions, expressed in the application of ever new ways to withdraw funds from the population in favor of narrow groups - beneficiaries of such a redistribution of numerous financial flows. Therefore, in the ranking of prosperous countries, reaching high positions has not yet taken place, but it will not be able to take shape on its own, “by the pike command” without significant efforts by the competent parties. ”
