Dasvadania..isn't russian fun to say?

I know I haven't posted much, but EWWW!!! now that that's out of way I've noticed some interesting tidbits about the setting. From where I'm reading, Misha has just arrived in Absurdistan, which is a formally Soviet country floundering in Capitalism, as foreign corporations take advantage of cheap labor and large pockets of oil. But even in the flash-backs, there are other things t see, such as how the decrepid lifestyle of Misha and his father before he joined the Russian mob showed that the only way to escape the dreary post apocalyptic nightmare and post-soviet russia was in crime. The way he has described New York hails it as the promised land of sorts (I JUST realized the Jewish reference while writing this), especially a promised land of capitalism. Russia is represented as a "third world metropolis" and a bad example of capitalism thrown onto the masses. Absurdistan is even worse, but shows small pockets of improvement, such as the skyscrapers in Svani City. The atmosphere in general could be described as a modern wasteland trying to mimick the golden example of capitalism.