A rare insight to the way "politics" works in Russia, especially with Putin as the top dog!
"Russia itself, although no longer the hobbled post-Soviet country of just a few years before, was still in transition. The power vertical -- the political system in which all power flows to and from Vladimir Putin -- was still under construction, a relatively easy task given Russians' bewilderment at the version of democracy they experienced in the 1990s. Any real opposition in parliament had been routed in the previous two election cycles, and yet there were still burblings of discontent.
Hence, Nashi. Formed to engage an otherwise apathetic youth luxuriating in new oil profits, the group protested and agitated, it spoke of "sovereign democracy" and Russia's territorial integrity, it terrorized opposition journalists. Its members were brainwashed, yes, and they certainly weren't going to do anything -- the Kremlin guards the levers of power closely -- but they were well-trained and they were keenly political. Even though the Kremlin was just gesturing at issues politics, in other words, at least they were gesturing.
Six years later, the country has far more on its plate than a sanctimonious U.S. president: monumental corruption, creeping stagnation, mounting ethnic tensions, a breakdown of safety oversight for civilian transportation systems, a stumbling reform of the rapidly decaying military, continued insurgency in the North Caucasus, continued dependence on resource extraction, an atrophied industrial sector, moribund and corrupt education and health systems. There is a lot of work to be done, and therefore, a lot to talk about.
And yet, somehow, with only four months to go until the Duma elections, and seven months until Russians elect a president, we are not hearing anything about it. All we get from the two supposed candidates for president is how and when they will make the decision to even run. Since they haven't announced even that, speculating on the issue is the only issue this election season. Even at this year's Nashi youth retreat -- not perhaps a bastion of substance, but at least, in past years, a chance to bang on about solving the country's problems -- the emphasis was on things accomplished, not on future tasks. And youth politics more generally have devolved into a parody of a latter-day Britney Spears video. One would be a fool to even suggest a comparison between Russia and the United States, but shouldn't even a simulacrum campaign season have at least simulacrum campaign issues?
We don't even have those. Instead it's a fake party here, a staged election stunt there, and all around the ceaseless chatter of anonymous sources "tipping off" journalists that Putin has finally made up his mind one way or the other.
Until Putin announces his historic decision and some level of reality on this very unreal question enters the campaign, we can either spend our time tearing our hair out guessing and twisting -- or we can relax, forget about the mess that is the Russian economy and political system, and enjoy the fluff that has come to replace even the mirage of an election campaign. Because there is lots to be done. We can, for example, ogle the nubile young loyalists, we can watch in amazement as Putin, on his third scuba dive ever, magically pulls up a sixth-century Greek urn (and happens to have an archaeological expert right there to identify it), and we can marvel at the refreshing honesty, the release in acknowledging that, much to the relief of Russians rattled by their brief, post-Soviet taste of democracy, that finally, there are no more politics in Russia."
Continue reading here.
"Russia itself, although no longer the hobbled post-Soviet country of just a few years before, was still in transition. The power vertical -- the political system in which all power flows to and from Vladimir Putin -- was still under construction, a relatively easy task given Russians' bewilderment at the version of democracy they experienced in the 1990s. Any real opposition in parliament had been routed in the previous two election cycles, and yet there were still burblings of discontent.
Hence, Nashi. Formed to engage an otherwise apathetic youth luxuriating in new oil profits, the group protested and agitated, it spoke of "sovereign democracy" and Russia's territorial integrity, it terrorized opposition journalists. Its members were brainwashed, yes, and they certainly weren't going to do anything -- the Kremlin guards the levers of power closely -- but they were well-trained and they were keenly political. Even though the Kremlin was just gesturing at issues politics, in other words, at least they were gesturing.
Six years later, the country has far more on its plate than a sanctimonious U.S. president: monumental corruption, creeping stagnation, mounting ethnic tensions, a breakdown of safety oversight for civilian transportation systems, a stumbling reform of the rapidly decaying military, continued insurgency in the North Caucasus, continued dependence on resource extraction, an atrophied industrial sector, moribund and corrupt education and health systems. There is a lot of work to be done, and therefore, a lot to talk about.
And yet, somehow, with only four months to go until the Duma elections, and seven months until Russians elect a president, we are not hearing anything about it. All we get from the two supposed candidates for president is how and when they will make the decision to even run. Since they haven't announced even that, speculating on the issue is the only issue this election season. Even at this year's Nashi youth retreat -- not perhaps a bastion of substance, but at least, in past years, a chance to bang on about solving the country's problems -- the emphasis was on things accomplished, not on future tasks. And youth politics more generally have devolved into a parody of a latter-day Britney Spears video. One would be a fool to even suggest a comparison between Russia and the United States, but shouldn't even a simulacrum campaign season have at least simulacrum campaign issues?
We don't even have those. Instead it's a fake party here, a staged election stunt there, and all around the ceaseless chatter of anonymous sources "tipping off" journalists that Putin has finally made up his mind one way or the other.
Until Putin announces his historic decision and some level of reality on this very unreal question enters the campaign, we can either spend our time tearing our hair out guessing and twisting -- or we can relax, forget about the mess that is the Russian economy and political system, and enjoy the fluff that has come to replace even the mirage of an election campaign. Because there is lots to be done. We can, for example, ogle the nubile young loyalists, we can watch in amazement as Putin, on his third scuba dive ever, magically pulls up a sixth-century Greek urn (and happens to have an archaeological expert right there to identify it), and we can marvel at the refreshing honesty, the release in acknowledging that, much to the relief of Russians rattled by their brief, post-Soviet taste of democracy, that finally, there are no more politics in Russia."
Continue reading here.
Comments