It is directly related. The quality of life/living standard directly correlates with peoples' life choices and stance towards moral values. I think that is apparently clear when you look at any country in this world. Substance dependencies are almost always a driver of criminal behavior. And when people have a miserable life and low education they could not give a shit about religion/spiritual issues or ethical values. Only when a society rises to and through a middle class is when people suddenly start thinking that there is more to life than food/sleep/fuck/shit. I get the impression that a majority of Russians rather go to bed hungry but in full support of Putin than pressing for reforms and changes. Russia is a shit-hole with a horrible infrastructure, no fair legal system, but people truly think Putin is their savior. Problem of lack of education?
There is an expression in Russian that translates "Russians need a czar". You have to remember that these people lived under the fist of someone throughout history. As a result, they don't do well with independent thought. When I was working there, I was the country manager of a large international company, and I saw it first hand the first month I was there. I went to the copier one day to get a presentation I had sent over, and there was no paper in the copier, so I opened the cabinet and found no paper in there. Went to the mail room, no copy paper. I asked the guy in the copy room why there was no paper, and he replied that "no one told him to order more." So I asked him who was supposed to tell him. He replied that anyone could tell him to, but no one did. So we sat down and discussed his role with questions like "do you think the company can continue to function properly if supplies run out?" At the end of the day, what I got out of it was that he was afraid to make any decision lest he get in trouble for it - even if that was for the good of the company. I saw many, many examples over the years, all of which I painstakingly spent time correcting. When folks in the company came to me with problems, I always asked them "what would you do if you were in my position?" They would think about it, and suggest a solution. I would solemnly nod and say "Ok then" and walk away. Sometimes this would have to be repeated with the same person, and the same exact question/issue until they figured out I was empowering them. But once they figured it out, they ran with it. They were handicapped socially, but that did not, in any way, make them bad people, drunks, thugs, etc.
funny story or you are just a good story teller, perhaps both. I get the point and probably agree from my more limited experience there (and I never claimed lack of being self driven turns one into a thug or drunkard). The people in the story are not bad people just because they are not thinking on their own. But it motivates someone to push the boundaries, and exceed them when there was an iron fist ruling people and that sort of control or provision is suddenly gone, and that is exactly what happened in Russia. Not just recently but for centuries (as far back as the 1700s) thugs were somewhat subdued under Lenin and then Stalin but blossomed each time when there was tight control present. And things got much worse after the Russian empire crumbled. Russians are opportunistic, perhaps more so than people in most other countries. And a life is worth a lot less in Russia than in other Western countries. Combine all the above and you have an explosive cocktail. That is exactly what you are seeing in many parts of Moscow and elsewhere in Mother Russia.
Russians also have a distinct lack of social graces we, in the West, find acceptable. But again, you'd find this in China as well, or other 3rd world countries. I can't tell you how many times I was running for an elevator to catch at our office building while Russians in the elevator stood expressionless, watching me as the doors closed before I could get there. Not once did they hold the door. One time I even yelled at them in English "you bastards!" Rudeness abounds there, but it stems from not stepping out of line. Historically, Russians who spoke out of turn or on something they weren't invited to got in trouble for it. ("Don't say anything" - from the time of the KGB when you never knew who was listening and would report you)