- 25 Jul 2020 12:09
#15109758
I used to think that Putin did a good job, and compared to Yeltsin, he probably did. But time has moved on. Today, Putin is cementing a state of corruption that will condemn the country to misery in the medium and long term. Russians are still fairly well off because of the fossil fuel revenues, but once the shift to renewable energy gains momentum, economies like Russia that depend on fossil fuels will be hard hit. When they have to start belt-tightening in earnest, there will be popular unrest.
The image of Putin as a strategic genius is totally false. He was just a mediocre secrete service agent with an alcohol problem before the oligarchs picked on him to serve as their front man.
Putinland is incapable of reform because it is deeply drenched in corruption. In the end, only an open society has the creativity to survive in the future. European society is the most open society which combines individual freedoms with social justice. As a common economic area, the EU allows the talents even from small countries to participate in European culture.
I understand that you feel uncomfortable with some aspects of modern life. But there is no way of turning the clock back and the past wasn't all that brilliant as it may appear in your imagination. You are too young to remember the repressive atmosphere of the post-war years. Believe me, you don't want that back. With all combined creative potential, we can manage what seem to you as insurmountable problems. Closed and corrupt regimes like Putin's cannot manage even with the pandemic.
Maybe you are going through a bit of a difficult period, but believe me, Europeans never had it so good, not just materially but in every aspect.
You are exaggerating. The UK isn't turning into a dictatorship. The political structures of the empire have frozen into a system that's incapable of reform. Maybe it would take a shock like the dissolution of the Union to produce the changes necessary for turning the UK into a modern state.
As you grow older, human relations change, some people die or disappear, new people appear. Life has always been like that. The old has to disappear for the new to appear. Holding onto the ghosts of the past, you are already half-dead yourself.
Political Interest wrote:Considering the state of the country when he assumed leadership in 2000 it is hardly surprising that Russia still has problems. It was on the brink of civil war. They used economic liberalism to try and increase living standards. It's a long road, they do not want central planning or state capitalism.
I used to think that Putin did a good job, and compared to Yeltsin, he probably did. But time has moved on. Today, Putin is cementing a state of corruption that will condemn the country to misery in the medium and long term. Russians are still fairly well off because of the fossil fuel revenues, but once the shift to renewable energy gains momentum, economies like Russia that depend on fossil fuels will be hard hit. When they have to start belt-tightening in earnest, there will be popular unrest.
The image of Putin as a strategic genius is totally false. He was just a mediocre secrete service agent with an alcohol problem before the oligarchs picked on him to serve as their front man.
Putinland is incapable of reform because it is deeply drenched in corruption. In the end, only an open society has the creativity to survive in the future. European society is the most open society which combines individual freedoms with social justice. As a common economic area, the EU allows the talents even from small countries to participate in European culture.
I understand that you feel uncomfortable with some aspects of modern life. But there is no way of turning the clock back and the past wasn't all that brilliant as it may appear in your imagination. You are too young to remember the repressive atmosphere of the post-war years. Believe me, you don't want that back. With all combined creative potential, we can manage what seem to you as insurmountable problems. Closed and corrupt regimes like Putin's cannot manage even with the pandemic.
Existentially though Europe is a hell on earth.
Maybe you are going through a bit of a difficult period, but believe me, Europeans never had it so good, not just materially but in every aspect.
The UK is fast turning into a dictatorship, there's out of control violence, growing inequality and it's a country where police officers can be dragged through the street at 40 mph. Social bonds between people and general camaraderie are deteriorating. Individualism is rampant. What sort of country is this becoming?
You are exaggerating. The UK isn't turning into a dictatorship. The political structures of the empire have frozen into a system that's incapable of reform. Maybe it would take a shock like the dissolution of the Union to produce the changes necessary for turning the UK into a modern state.
As you grow older, human relations change, some people die or disappear, new people appear. Life has always been like that. The old has to disappear for the new to appear. Holding onto the ghosts of the past, you are already half-dead yourself.