ordeals

Almost every inhabitant of the planet at least once at some point in his life imagined that he was the most unfortunate person. Usually, such sensations are visited by those who are experiencing severe trials and harbor negative feelings.

Meanwhile, many who are prone to over-dramatization often exaggerate the seriousness of certain misfortunes. This is especially evident in extremely emotional people, as well as in everyone else - at certain periods of their lives (when extreme fatigue overtakes, in adolescence, during pregnancy, etc.).

At the same time, most of them still have no real idea of ​​​​what real troubles are - those in which it seems that all hellish forces have fallen with their power on the only representative of the human race. Individuals who experienced something like this would rightfully enter the impromptu top list of the most unfortunate people on the planet.

At the epicenter of two explosions

Tsutomu Yamaguchi would have headed it for sure. This Japanese "at the end" of World War II had a chance to visit the epicenter of two nuclear bombings at once. This, of course, is about the Americans dropping "Kid" and "Fat Man" (as these atomic shells were called) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the first of these cities, the young engineer was visiting friends, when early in the morning he saw unusually bright flashes in the sky, and a moment later he was hit by a wave of an explosion. Yamaguchi remained alive, but in fact all of his skin was burned. In the night that followed, everyone who was with him in the bomb shelter only heard that his cries of terrible pain.

In some unknown way, this unfortunate man got to the station in the morning and went by train to Nagasaki, where, naturally, he landed in the next explosion. . . Tsutomu spent a dozen years in bandages and until the end of his days was actually deaf in one of his ears.

Dede Koswar's disease

The accident ruined the life of the Indonesian Dede Koswar, worthy of "silver" in the rating of unfortunates. One fall in the forest at the age of ten - and suffering from incomprehensible "wooden" warts in all subsequent days. As a result, the man could not arrange both professional and family life. He can only watch as his lower limbs turn into some kind of branches.

Doctors find it difficult to accurately determine the illness of Kosvar. They see only the coincidence of two factors as the culprits of this situation - the presence of papillomavirus in an Indonesian and an immunodeficiency state. Doctors tried to simply cut off his warts, but they grew again.

It is virtually impossible for Dede to walk on such disfigured legs. His only income is demonstrating himself to the public as a "tree-man".

Unlucky Brit

The top three "winners" of this top list will be closed by the most unlucky Briton - John Line. During his not very long life, he had to go through about two dozen serious troubles. A fall off a cliff, three car accidents, a lightning strike, just to name a few. Misfortune began "hunting" for John since childhood. So, one day he fell off a tree at his grandmother's house and broke his arm. On the way from the clinic (after applying a cast) he injured the same limb, but in a different place.

Victim of hurricanes

An American bus driver Melanie Martinez could argue with Line in "unhappiness". Since 1965, her house (wherever she stayed with her family) has been attacked by hurricanes five times - and, of course, completely destroyed. And for the penultimate time, one of the specialized television shows helped restore Melanie's home. However, the house rebuilt by them - a real "candy" in terms of equipment and appearance - lived only until Hurricane Isaac.

villainous fate

The six most unfortunate people would undoubtedly include Yu Zhenhuan, over 95% of whose body is covered with dense vegetation, and the American forester Roy Sullivan, who was struck by lightning seven times.

This rating should be reviewed by anyone who is tempted to complain about the "villainous fate." Compared with the troubles of the above inhabitants of the planet, their own will seem only sweet and harmless tricks of Fortune.

Incredible Facts

If you think that you are unlucky or something goes wrong, trust me, there are people who are much worse off.

Some inhabitants of our planet are simply doomed to live with terrible defects, and there are those who can be called obvious outsiders among others.

And against their background, many problems seem insignificant and not so terrible. Take a look at this list of people.

1. Big lottery win

The whole village won the lottery, except for one guy. Every year on the eve of Catholic Christmas in Spain, large sums of money are played in the El Gordo lottery, which translates as "Fat Man".

The inhabitants of a tiny village called Sodeto celebrated their joint victory in the Christmas lottery for a long time. 70 families, with the exception of one single man, decided to buy lottery tickets and mark the same number, which, in the end, turned out to be lucky.

The total winnings amounted to 950 million dollars. This fabulous money was divided among all the inhabitants of the town. A happy accident made almost all the inhabitants of a small Spanish town rich in a matter of hours.

As a result, ordinary farmers, builders, as well as unemployed residents have become wealthy people. Each received several million dollars and thanked providence for taking the risk of participating in this lottery.

However, among all these lucky ones, there was still one unfortunate named Kostis Mitsotakis (Costis Mitsotakis). The poor guy simply ignored the opportunity to buy a ticket and mark the winning number with everyone.

Or, more likely, the women from the housewives' association who were selling the tickets forgot to knock on Kostis' door. As a result, he became the only one in the village who was left without a prize fund.

2. Lightning strike a person

It is said that lightning does not strike twice in the same place or in the same object. However, the American Roy Sullivan became famous due to the fact that lightning struck him as many as seven times.

A young National Park ranger in Shenandoah, Virginia, has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the person who was most often struck by lightning. This kind of record for the number of hits by a terrible element made Sullivan famous all over the world.

The chances of being struck by lightning are about 1 in 3000. And to get struck by lightning 7 times you need to really "try". The poor fellow, obviously, should be ranked among the unlucky. However, after so many lightning strikes, the American survived. Perhaps he is lucky?

If you think that after another trouble, Roy became more careful, then you are mistaken. He did not stay at home or avoid the weather. The last lightning strike caught the American on a fishing trip.

In addition to this trouble, Roy was attacked by a bear. However, being not even in the best physical shape, the American managed to cope with the animal and return the fish, which the bear intended to steal. This fishing, according to Sullivan himself, will be remembered for a long time. After all, in addition to the already familiar lightning, he was also attacked by an animal.

3. Stray bullet

Henry Zeigland could be called lucky, if you do not know the whole story to the end. Back in 1883, the young man broke up with his bride. From grief, the girl fell into a terrible depression, and after long tears and suffering, she laid hands on herself.

The elder brother of the unfortunate suicide promised to avenge his sister. He swore to kill Henry and, after tracking him down at night, shot the young man. The bullet flew near the face, but did not hit him, but got stuck in a tree trunk. Considering his sister's offender dead, the man fired the last bullet into himself.

However, Henry was lucky. He wasn't even hurt. Having received only minor scratches, the young man safely reached the house, after which he considered himself a real lucky man.

But the story didn't end there. Many years later, Zeigland decided to cut down the tree in which the bullet that had once been intended for him was stuck. The task was not easy, so Henry decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite.

As a result of the explosion, the released bullet flew right into the unfortunate head. Zeigland died on the spot. It was rumored that as if the bullet had been waiting for its victim all these years and at the most unexpected moment treacherously and vilely took revenge.

4. The hairiest person

Ladies, dissatisfied with the fact that their men are too hairy, probably find fault. Since there is so much hair on Yu Junchan's body, it's hard to imagine. This Chinese man is officially recognized as the hairiest man in the world.

As a result of a rare disease, almost 96 percent of the man's body was covered with dense vegetation. The poor man underwent surgery to remove hair from his ears, as his hearing began to deteriorate. And the doctors urgently had to intervene so that Yu Junchan would not go deaf.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that due to the abundant vegetation on the body, many take the Chinese for an animal. Hair does not grow only on the palms and soles of a man's feet. Experts have calculated that on average there are 41 hairs per square centimeter. Doctors call such a rare disease atavism.

However, the guy did not become depressed. On the contrary, Junchan decided to become famous due to his unusual appearance. On the website www.maohai.com, the hairiest man in the world posts his photos. Many people visit his page every day.

Thus, the enterprising and not desperate Chinese decided to "unwind" himself and become a new star of our time. It is also known that the dream of a hairy Chinese man is to marry a good girl and create a full-fledged family.

5. Unhappy woman

The most unfortunate woman lives in America. Melanie Martinez, native of Louisiana, in 4 terrible elements she lost 4 houses. Her last home was destroyed in 2005 when the infamous Hurricane Katrina hit the city. After that, Melanie got the title of the most unlucky woman in the New World.

However, the troubles in the woman's life were just beginning. The organizers of the popular American TV show decided to help the unfortunate. Her temporary dilapidated housing has been transformed beyond recognition.

A whole team of specialists worked throughout the week to ensure that her modest dwelling became a home suitable for normal life. About $20,000 was spent on making good repairs and equipping the house with the necessary appliances.

According to Melanie herself, for some time she even began to consider herself the happiest woman in the world. However, fate decreed otherwise, not allowing the woman to enjoy her new home for a long time.

On August 29, the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, another element hit the town. The ruthless hurricane Isaac demolished all the houses in the area, and he did not spare Melanie's new home either. Once again, a natural disaster caused the Martinez family to remain on the street.

The woman herself and her entire family were rescued by boat along with five cats and three dogs. Everything else was lost. Within 10 years, the woman lost five houses in five elements. However, Melanie herself considers it a miracle that she and all members of her family survived.

Perhaps the woman's salvation lies in moving to a town that natural disasters bypass.

6. Unlucky person

John Line was recognized as the most unlucky man in Foggy Albion. During his short life, the Briton got into car accidents several times, survived a lightning strike, fell off a cliff. In total, the man was on the verge of death 16 times.

A series of failures haunted Mr. Line from birth. He was the fifth child in a poor peasant family. He was born with a congenital lung disease.

Doctors did not give any comforting predictions about whether the baby would survive or not. However, thanks to special care and medication, the boy managed to get back on his feet. But a series of failures haunted him throughout his later life.

The first most dangerous moment for his life arose when the baby was barely a year and a half. The child found a certain bottle with a very strong disinfectant. Childish curiosity caused little Line to be taken to the hospital, where doctors performed a gastric lavage on him. Thanks to the prompt intervention of doctors, the baby was saved.

And as a teenager, he got into another unpleasant situation. The boy fell from a tree and broke his right arm. On the way to the hospital, the bus that young John was on had a serious accident, as a result of which the young man injured his left arm. When he nevertheless got to the hospital, the doctors stated the fact of a fracture of both limbs. I should add that it was Friday the thirteenth.

7. Man-tree - disease

Indonesian Dede Koswara was born a completely healthy person. But, at the age of 10, the boy fell in the forest and injured his knees. Apparently, a strange infection got into the scratches, after which warts began to form around the wound.

Then they slowly began to spread to the entire leg. And later, strange warts appeared on the boy's hands. For many years, the guy watched helplessly as his limbs were transformed.

The disease attacked the man slowly but surely. The warts undermined his health, exhausted all his energy and, worst of all, almost completely immobilized Dede.

He began to move with difficulty on blackened and heavy legs. The hands also refused to serve him. The Indonesian has become like a leper tree. The warts grew and began to resemble huge branches of trees, and Kosvara itself began to resemble an unusual plant.

A man's mysterious illness cost him his marriage, career, and independence. In order to somehow feed himself and not die of hunger, he had to join a group of touring artists. The circus number, in which an unusual patient participated, was called "a number involving a person - a tree."

It is known that the poor man suffers from two diseases: a common papilloma virus, leading to the formation of new warts in case of some kind of infection, and a rare immune deficiency, which allows viruses to spread faster in Dede's body.

Last year, Indonesian doctors used an electric laser to remove a huge number of warts. Doctors removed almost 4 meters of the surface of the body, infected with a strange disease. However, the warts soon grew back.

8. Hiroshima and Nagasaki - aftermath

Tsutomu Yamaguchi is officially recognized as the only person in the world who survived the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 6, 1945, the young engineer Yamaguchi ended up in Hiroshima due to circumstances. It was at this moment that the Americans dropped a nuclear bomb on the city.

Of the 350,000 inhabitants, 140,000 died instantly. Compared to the others, Yamaguchi suffered little damage. He received only minor burns to his body, and his eardrum was also damaged. The young Japanese spent the night in a bomb shelter, where the wounded moaned around.

The next day, Yamaguchi bought a train ticket to his hometown. It is worth adding that Nagasaki is located 288 kilometers from Hiroshima. At that time, both cities were important industrial and military bases.

On August 9, another nuclear bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, which also caused the deaths of thousands of people. Yamaguchi became completely deaf in one ear and suffered more severe burns to his body.

Over the next 12 years, he regularly had to change the bandages on his body so that the wounds did not ooze and become infected. From radioactive substances, like many Japanese, Tsutomu's wife earned a serious oncological disease for life.

However, she lived a long life and died in 2008 from kidney and liver cancer. Their son, also exposed to radiation at six months old, died in 2005 at the age of 59.

Before his death from stomach cancer, Yamaguchi became an ardent anti-nuclear campaigner. However, in all his life, the Japanese never spoke badly about the Americans.

9. Dynamite and a dog

One day, a young resident of Minnesota Harry Jenkins (Harry Jenkins) and two of his friends went fishing. The lake that the friends had chosen for fishing was completely icy. To quickly punch a hole in the ice, Jenkins decided to use dynamite.

When a block of dynamite was thrown in the right direction, the young people were horrified to see how their dog ran towards the dynamite, mistaking it for a stick that had been thrown for her.

In front of the frightened people, the dog picked up the dynamite and, despite the cries of the men, began to move towards them, happily wagging its tail. All three realized that they were in danger and things were worse than they thought.

Saving their lives, the friends ran in the opposite direction. The dog, taking everything that was happening for a fun game, began to chase after them. The men were within a hair's breadth of death. However, the blast wave did not overtake them.

The dog died, and the resulting crack in the ice where Jenkens' car had been parked began to grow until it engulfed the vehicle. The car went to the bottom of the lake.

The misfortunes didn't end there. To add to all Jenkins' misfortunes, the insurance company refused to pay out the amount of money that a car owner usually receives in the event of such a misfortune.

This collection really contains information about people who are simply haunted by failure. True, some of them can be called, at the same time, lucky, because they survived in these difficult situations.

Probably, the truth is told that there are lucky people who are lucky and who can get out of the water dry. And there are losers who do not even understand why they are being punished. Do you think this division into "lucky ones" and "losers" is fair?

Japanese survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

This man, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, was born and lived in Nagasaki. On August 6, 1945, he was in Hiroshima on a business trip. On this day, he was already about to leave the city, but on the way to the station he remembered that he had forgotten the documents necessary for travel clearance (do not forget, military time).

I had to return, but it was at this time that the US military dropped the atomic bomb "Baby" on Japan. The epicenter of the explosion was only 3 kilometers from Tsutomu Yamaguchi's hotel.

The explosion severely damaged the health of the Japanese. He was temporarily blind, deaf, and received burns on the left side of his body. The doctors were able to help him, and after a while he went to Nagasaki.

Well, on August 9, a bomb was dropped already on this settlement. Again, "Fat Man" fell three kilometers away from Tsutomu's work. True, this time he was not injured - he was lucky.

In 2009, the Japanese authorities officially recognized Tsutomu as the only person who survived both bombings. True, a year later Tsutomu died of stomach cancer, at the age of 93.

The only resident of the city who did not win the lottery

In 2012, residents of the small Spanish town of Sodeto bought lottery tickets. At that time, a nationwide drawing was held, and the winning amount was huge, about 950 million US dollars.

You can imagine, all the inhabitants of the town were the winners of the lottery, and each received some part of the prize. It is worth noting that there are only 70 families in this town, so there is no reason to be surprised.

Only the only resident of the city who could not / did not want to purchase a lottery ticket did not win. He probably still regrets it.

Cruise ship stewardess who survived the wrecks of the Titanic, Britannica, Olympic

In 1911, a 23-year-old girl, Violetta Jessop, took a job as a flight attendant on the Olympic, a cruise ship that is almost a complete replica of the Titanic. The Olympic collided with another ship that year. It was not the worst crash, and the stewardess managed to escape.

A year later, Violetta was already working on the Titanic, also a flight attendant. As we all know, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank. She was able to escape on a lifeboat with 16 other passengers, and was taken aboard the Carpathia.

And finally, during World War II, Violetta worked as a stewardess on the ship Britannica. This ship hit a mine and sank very quickly. However, Violetta managed to escape again on a lifeboat.

The woman lived for quite a long time, and died a natural death in 1971.

The most unfortunate Englishman

This is how the British media call John Calamity, an Englishman who constantly finds himself in difficult situations.

He's survived being hit by a car, lightning strikes, car accidents, and more. In total, there were 16 such situations dangerous to his life. All these cases undermined John's health, but he is alive and well. However, he really can be called the most unfortunate Briton.

"Wonderful" vacation in the Bahamas

Eric Norrie one unlucky day for him decided to go on vacation to the Bahamas. There he was overtaken by a shark while swimming. The shark bit off a large piece of his calf, but was driven off by Eric's stepfather.

Not having time to recover, Eric found himself in a new difficult situation - he was struck by lightning. Well, after (or during) the hospital, he was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Probably, such a rest is worse than any hard work. Although Eric is not discouraged, and continues to be cheerful.

In contact with

If you've tripped a couple of times, been hit by muddy spray from your car in rainy weather, or missed a train and think you're the unluckiest person on the planet, trust me, you're not! Today we will introduce you to some people with whom luck is definitely not friends. So here they are:

9. Poor Kostis...

Since 1771, the celebration of Christmas in Spain begins with the drawing of a money lottery, affectionately called by the Spaniards "Fat Man" (or El Gordo). The tradition is very strong and enjoys incredible popularity, it is a kind of national holiday. On the eve of the next drawing, residents of the tiny village of Sodeto (mostly farmers, builders, unemployed) purchased lottery tickets. All but one. Kostis Mitsotakis decided that luck would not smile on him. And he was right - all 70 families were among the lucky ones, the winning amount was $ 950 million!

Poor, poor Kostis Mitsotakis. Unlucky, so unlucky old man...

8. Lightning rod man

They say lightning never strikes the same place twice. Lie! Roy Sullivan, ranger (forester) of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia (USA), got into the Guinness Book of Records after he was struck by lightning seven times.

No living thing can survive an electrical shock of this magnitude, and Roy survived. The first time Roy was struck by lightning was when he was on the fire tower. As a result, his toenail came off. After the second blow, when the poor fellow was driving in a thunderstorm along a mountain road, he was left without eyebrows and lost consciousness. The third time lightning overtook Sullivan on the lawn near his own house. The result was a paralyzed arm. After the fourth incident, Roy always took a bottle of water with him - his hair was burned. For the fifth and sixth time, he again set his hair on fire and received injuries of varying severity. The last, seventh, incident occurred on a fishing trip. The old man just wanted to fish, but got burns to his stomach and chest. Hard!

Roy Sullivan died at the age of 71 - he shot himself in the stomach because of unrequited love.

7. Sinister bullet

Luck is a fickle thing. Today you can be on the verge of death and survive, and tomorrow you can die by an absurd accident. Henry thought he was lucky. No matter how…

It all started in 1883, when Mr. Zeiland broke off relations with his beloved. The girl's heart was so deeply hurt that she could not stand it and committed suicide. Her brother shifted all the blame for what had happened to Henry and vowed to kill him, no matter what it cost him. Having waited for the victim at the house, the avenger shot at Zeiland, he fell to the ground unconscious. The brother decided that the mission was completed and committed suicide with a shot from the same pistol. If only he knew how wrong he was - the bullet only slightly grazed his head, leaving a scratch on his face, and got stuck in the tree behind. Since then, Henry considered himself lucky. Until one tragic day, when he decided to cut down the very tree in which the bullet got stuck. The stem was very durable. Zeiland didn't come up with a better idea to destroy it with dynamite. Having installed the checkers, he blew them up and died - under the influence of the explosion, the bullet was freed from the wooden shackles and hit the poor fellow right in the head.

6. The hairiest man

Ladies, you never tire of complaining that your husbands are too hairy. And then what about Yu Zhenhuang, the hairiest man in the world. 96% of Yu's body is covered with hair, there are about 40 hairs per 1 square centimeter. Hair does not grow only on the palms and feet (more precisely, on the soles).

Such a rapid growth of "vegetation", according to doctors, is due to a rare disease that Mr. Zhenhuan suffers from, called atavism. Due to his excessive hairiness, Yu has already had to undergo surgery to remove hair from his ears, as his hearing has deteriorated dramatically.

Unlike most "unusual" people, the hyper-hairy man did not hide himself at home and be ashamed of his appearance, but posted photos on his own website. In addition, his immediate plans include becoming a prominent rock star in China and getting married.

Four hurricanes, 4 destroyed houses... It's a lot for one family, isn't it? Melanie Martinez, a Louisiana resident, is in some ways the unluckiest woman in America. Her house was destroyed four times: in 1965, 1985, 1998 and 2005. It would seem that luck turned to face the school bus driver, and Martinez became a participant in a reality show on home renovation. In just one week, the TV team turned Ms. Martinez's home into a real "candy". Everything about everything was spent 20,000 dollars. New kitchen, new furniture, new appliances. One 50 inch LCD TV was just worth it! Unfortunately for the hostess, her happiness did not promise to be long: on August 29, on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the house was destroyed for the fifth time by Hurricane Isaac. Martinez and her family narrowly escaped by boat, along with three dogs and five kittens.

4. The most unlucky Englishman

16 is an excellent number when it comes to age and not at all happy when it comes to the number of accidents that had to be transferred. It was from so many disasters that John Line, a resident of Great Britain, managed to get out alive. A lightning strike, a fall from a rock in a mine, three car accidents... This is not the whole list of troubles that the poor fellow had to visit.

Failure haunts John throughout his life. Born into a poor peasant family with five children and poorly developed lungs, he had little chance of a continued prosperous existence. At the age of 18, he was doing repairs in his grandmother's bathroom, feeling thirsty, drank water from the first plastic bottle he came across and miraculously survived - the container was not water, but a disinfectant liquid.

Later, at work, he was hit by a catapult: during the shot, a stone flew right into John's face and knocked out eight teeth. However, this is not the most famous incident that happened to Laine. As a teenager, he fell from a tree and broke his arm. After being in the hospital, where he was put in a cast, the guy went home and on the way managed to break the same arm, but in a different place ... Oh, yes, it happened on Friday the 13th.

3. Tree man

Indonesian Dede Koswara was born a healthy boy and everything would have been fine in his life (at least one could hope for it) if at the age of ten he had not fallen in the forest. Around the resulting scratch, many small warts grew, which eventually grew in all directions. The warts spread from her legs to her arms.

A mysterious illness cost Dede his marriage and career. For many years, he watched his limbs turn into the likeness of tree branches. Today, he barely walks on his swollen, mutilated legs. The only way for him to make money is to present himself to the public as a tree man.

According to doctors, the whole trouble of Kosvar is hidden in two reasons: papilloma virus and insufficiency of the immune system. Many people suffer from the papilloma virus, but the immune system helps to cope with it. Recently, doctors tried to help the unfortunate and cut off the warts using special equipment, but the formations on the skin reappeared.

2.Double nuclear strike

Tsutomu Yamaguchi can be attributed to the number of both lucky and unlucky people. On the one hand, this person is officially recognized as the only one who managed to survive two nuclear strikes (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). On the other hand, not everyone can cope with the pain that he could endure.

On August 6, 1945, the young engineer was visiting Hiroshima. Around eight o'clock in the morning, he saw massive flashes of light in the sky, after which he was instantly knocked to the ground by explosive force. At the time of the bombing, 140,000 out of 350,000 people died in the city. Tsutomu was among the survivors, he received severe burns to the entire surface of the body, was stunned. Yamaguchi spent the first night after the explosion in a bomb shelter, screaming in unbearable pain. There was crying all around, people were dying one by one. The next day, the engineer, stepping over the corpses, got to the train and went home to Nagasaki, the second industrial center of the country. Being less than two miles from the center, Tsutomu again saw bright flashes of light in the sky. A 25-ton plutonium bomb was detonated over the city.

After surviving two nuclear explosions, Yamaguchi was virtually deaf in one ear for the rest of his life, his skin covered in bandages for over 12 years. The engineer's wife died in 2008 at the age of 88 from liver and kidney cancer, and his son died in 2005 at the age of 59.

Yamaguchi was a passionate supporter of anti-nuclear campaigns, but he was never a supporter of anti-Americanism.

1. Deadly fetch

Imagine: deep winter, a frozen lake, two friends came to go fishing, they took a dog with them. To make a hole, one of the friends decided to use dynamite. The residents of Ackley, Minnesota (USA) will remember this day for a long time. Throwing the dynamite into the distance, the friends did not expect that the retriever Jerry would take the explosives for a stick, an attempt to make a hole in the thickness of the ice - for a desire to play with him. And the dog decided exactly that, and, with all his strength, rushed after the "stick", and then back - to give the trophy to the owner. Unfortunately, the outcome of this tragic-comic situation turned out to be sad. The unfortunate fishermen managed to escape away from the dog, they remained alive. The four-legged one was blown to pieces, a desired hole appeared in the ice, only much larger ... and a truck of comrades "went" into it to the bottom of the lake.

After the incident, the owner of the car wanted to get compensation from the insurance company, but both attempts were unsuccessful. The insurer categorically refused to pay anything, as the car drowned with someone else's help.

In section

Russian citizens have two firm convictions. First, they are the most miserable. Secondly, they do not have enough money to be happy. An American sociologist proved that the first statement is true, but the second is not. True, there is some good news. Our grief can be helped, if there is a desire.

For 30 years, under the leadership of University of Michigan professor Ronald Inglehart, the World Values ​​Survey (WVS) has been conducted. Within its framework, scientists explore civil society in hundreds of countries around the world. People are asked how happy they are, and also explore their socio-cultural values. Every year, the WVS publishes a “happiness index”, which is very popular with the world's media. Russia traditionally ranks last in this index. Our citizens feel as miserable as those in impoverished Nigeria and war-ravaged Iraq.

The most unfortunate people on Earth live in Russia. This is already a scientifically established fact.

“The level of happiness depends on the level of income - there are more happy people in rich countries. But in the Tambov region, the level of unhappiness was recorded at the level of India and Nigeria, which were much poorer, ”says Inglehart.

Since 1991, the level of happiness in Russia has been measured every five years. The results impressed the scientist so much that next year he will head the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, which is being opened here on a grant from the Russian government.

“Your country is a very interesting case,” the scientist admits. “Although, of course, I don’t wish anyone to be the object of such interest - after all, it’s the same as a doctor’s interest in a unique disease.”

"Social doctor" Inglehart knows what he's talking about: judging by the results of the measurements, Russia has fallen from a low level of happiness in 1991 to a completely impossible level. Moreover, such a speed and depth of decline has never been recorded - even in countries engulfed by war, epidemics and famine.

But even this was not enough - by 1996, the level of happiness fell even more. And one more thing ... A slight increase in it was recorded only in 2006. By this time, the country was bathing in petrodollars, vacations in foreign resorts had become commonplace for Russians, and Russian prices made stingy foreigners dumbfounded. At the same time, the happiness of the Russian citizens was as much as that of the Albanians.

Inglehart explains the Russian phenomenon by the stagnation and then the collapse of the USSR, the lack of democracy, etc., but generally admits that the answer is not complete. Still, the collapse of communism affected other countries, and even the former Soviet republics, many countries experienced much more misfortune and poverty, and such pessimism among their citizens is not observed. In essence, Inglehart came to our country to search for the reasons for the phenomenal unhappiness of Russians.

One of the explanations is the sociocultural values ​​of Russians. In 2006, WVS compiled a kind of cultural map of the world. All the studied countries (and this is 90% of the world's population) were distributed along two coordinate axes. One concerns cultural values: traditional - modern. Roughly speaking - "All for one" or "Everyone for himself." The second measures motivation: survival values ​​- self-realization values. Again continuing the generalization: "Better to live on your knees" or "Better to die standing up."

The results are as follows. The Scandinavians felt that it was better to die standing up, but every man for himself. The English-speaking world also preferred to die standing up, but about that, everyone doubted for himself. The Japanese and the inhabitants of Southeast Asia, who profess Confucianism, decided that everyone, of course, is for himself, but it is not at all necessary to die standing up. The inhabitants of Catholic Europe differed from the Confucians in only one thing: they are not sure that every man is for himself. The proud inhabitants of Latin America, of course, replied that they were ready to die standing, but all for one. The inhabitants of Africa and South Asia are ready to live on their knees, but again, all for one. In the post-Soviet countries, citizens preferred to live on their knees, but every man for himself.

Russia turned out to be the most “advanced” here - even the inhabitants of Africa are not ready to endure like the Russians, and comparable individualism was found only among the Bulgarians and Belarusians. It is clear that in a world where “everyone dies alone” and “you die today, and I die tomorrow”, it is difficult to be happy.

The second explanation lies in the discovery made by the group of Ronald Inglehart. It turned out that the saying “money does not buy happiness” is absolutely true. True, only from a certain level of income: when the country's GDP per capita exceeds 5 thousand dollars a year. Up to this point, increasing the level of well-being of citizens makes them happier. Moreover, with a GDP below 2 thousand dollars a year, only this can bring them happiness. If the level of GDP exceeds $15,000 per capita, then money cannot make citizens happy. “Bill Gates is hardly much happier than the average American,” Inglehart explains.

Russia is one of the countries where GDP per capita is about 15 thousand dollars. Therefore, we do not become happier when oil prices rise. “Prosperity only makes people happy in poor countries,” Inglehart explains. - If we were talking about countries like Nigeria or India, I would advise their governments to raise the economy. But already in countries like Portugal, with rising incomes, happiness grows slowly or does not grow at all.”

So much more than increasing wages and even pensions, Russia will benefit from greater equity in the distribution of income. “The greater the inequality in a country, the more unhappy its inhabitants,” says Inglehart. He also notes the need for democracy. But not so much in politics, but rather in everyday life. “A person who has freedom of choice is sure that he can change his life for the better, and this makes him happier,” the scientist says. And freedom of choice is not only and even not so much the election of authorities, but the opportunity to choose a place of residence, education, work, medical care, and so on. That is, we need transport accessibility for all regions, reform of education and medicine, reform of the registration system and many other reforms.

Finally, there is another factor that generally depends little on the authorities, but which is a good indicator of the level of happiness: tolerance. “Societies that are tolerant of people of other races, nationalities, religions, sexual preferences, and so on, are happier,” says Inglehart. “And the best indicator of the level of happiness is the attitude towards a woman.” This feature was noticed even before the scientist by the American writer Robert Heinlein. The health of a society can be judged by its attitude towards women, teaches the hero of his most famous novel, Friday. A society that humiliates women hurts.

However, one cannot ignore the peculiarity of Russian citizens, which economist Yevgeny Yasin calls "a high level of poverty." This phenomenon, one might say, is historical and is reflected in the very proverb about the orphan of Kazan, who, as is known from Russian history, received rich gifts from Ivan the Terrible for complaints. “It’s already written in our brains: bend down, don’t stick your head out, this comes from the Tatar-Mongolian yoke,” says psychologist Valery Gostev. It's still profitable to show off in Russia - these are the Russian citizens who give answers that surprise honest American scientists. However, this benefit is questionable.

First, it makes it difficult to see the real problems. The writer Varlam Shalamov in his famous "Kolyma Tales" wrote how prisoners, in order to go to the "hospital", feigned illness, without noticing that they were already terminally ill. We cry not about that, sociologists say. Russian society is being "atomized", all social and even family ties are torn, and people complain that there is not enough money, or even that a neighbor has more money.

Secondly, the same American psychologists not without reason believe that in order to become happy, you must first smile. "Pose of the mourner" sooner or later leads to the fact that a person really begins to believe in his misfortunes.

Result? Already during the first study in the Tambov region in 1981, Inglehart discovered an increase in alcoholism and an increase in male mortality - what is now recognized as a weapon for killing the nation. Note that we are talking about 1981, not 1991. That is, the "damned Democrats" have nothing to do with it. At first, we exaggerated a little, so that there was something to drink for. Then they believed themselves and added. Then the reality confirmed our correctness (and how could it be otherwise, because no one doubted the worst) - well, how can one not get drunk here. Then ... And then it may be too late: the heart of society, like the heart of a person, may not withstand, the scientist warns. Pessimism kills.

Perhaps it was the awareness of the authorities of such a danger that caused the fact that the Inglehart group was the only one in the field of social sciences to win a grant from the Russian government. The scientist himself admits that he is ready to give advice on the results of the study. “I don’t want a country with so many nuclear weapons to be cornered and filled with unhappy people,” he simply explains his interest in the project. Our interest is much higher, so it is worth listening carefully to the advice of a scientist. And for starters, try to at least learn to smile.