[extropy-chat] fun in Russia with the new `capitalists'

[Robert J. Bradbury]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003, Damien Broderick wrote:

> http://www.nypress.com/16/45/news&columns/cage.cfm
>
> Robert or other informed Russophiles might care to comment on the accuracy
> of this scorching piece.

I would say there is a fair amount of accuracy in the article.

In the early '90s the question was how to dismantle the
Soviet Union.  That lead to the development of the oligarchs.
That the process was corrupt is most likely true.  Western
economists played a key role in the dismantlement process --
I don't think at the time they understood how shrewd a
Russian could be at "rigging" things.  In theory the
average Russian was supposed to end up with shares of
the important state assets.  In practice they did not.

In Russia the sociology is all about "power".  They really
are still living with a mentality that is 100 years old,
i.e. the czar is effectively a god.  Now-a-days one simply
has a few more czars.  When the czars come into conflict
with each other something has to give.

I am still amazed with the fact that Putin is the leader
of Russia.  He came out of nowhere -- for him to be the leader
there has to be a *lot* going on behind the curtain
which we are unaware of.

So to live/work in Russia one either figures out who the power
brokers are and attempts to gain their favor (the situation
in any typical "organization") or attempts to cut ones own
path with the associated risks and benefits (this is the
case with Khodorkovsky) or does ones best to maintain a
low profile (this is the case with the average citizen).
These behaviors may be true in other societies but they are
*significantly* magnified in the former Soviet Union states.

I'll leave out an opinion on the Neo-cons and the comparison
between the process in Russia and the current political state
in the U.S.  However based on past experience of the deficit
spending of the Regan era and comparison with the Clinton
era I would state that the U.S. population will let the
Republicans/neo-cons only go so far with respect to tax
reduction before they go the other way.  My bets would
be on Hillary in 2008.

In contrast, in Russia there is a lot more going on that
one cannot see.  Putin has effectively turned independent
media (at least with respect to TV) back into government
news outlets.  So there is no transparency.  One could argue
that they tried to do this recently in the U.S. with respect
to F.C.C. regulation changes towards allowing increased
ownership of media outlets (if one views "big" media corps as
going along with the party line) -- but the public (and congress)
didn't let them get away with this.

All I have to say is watch and learn.  It may be essential for
ones survival in the future.

Robert