Within Russia, too, dramatic changes occurred as the economy underwent major restructuring. Guided by foreign advisors, the new regime used "shock therapy" to convert the centrally owned and managed socialist economy into a free market system. In the process, state assets were sold to well-connected "businessmen" at bargain basement prices in one of the biggest giveaways in human history. Insiders gained a fortune; just about everyone else experienced a dramatic decline in living standards that lasted for years. However, recently, thanks in part to the revenue from oil exports, a new urban middle class has begun to emerge, even as dreadful poverty persists, especially among the elderly and in rural areas. A younger generation—urban, well educated, often well traveled, and able to access information easily through the Internet—nurtures expectations for an enhanced role in public life and respect for legal rights.