“Symbolically, Putin’s most notorious crony, Evgeny Prigozhin, began his career as Putin’s personal chef. Prigozhin organized supples to the Russian military, a troll factory that churned out propaganda for Trump, and mercenary camps in Syria, Central, Africa, and Ukraine. Moving from the kitchens at home to military camps abroad was quick and easy for people like Prigozhin. Failing to pay taxes, flouting regulations and possessing unlimited resources, these princes of darkness preached and practiced a turbo-charged Machiavellian politics with the sole purpose of spreading their corrupt influence. They had no fear of the state because they were the state. Inept managers, they were efficient corrupters.” (p. 48)
Of course, none of us was surprised when a bomb aboard the plane Progozhin was on killed him (and 12 other passengers). Alexander Etkind’s slim little volume explores the essence of contemporary Russia. As Senator McCain once said, “Russia is a gas station pretending to be a country.”
Etkind shows how Russia’s dependence on oil rules most of Putin’s decision making.
“Ecologically, Russia was the fourth greatest polluter in the world; China topped the list but Russian emissions per capita were much higher. Russia’s ecological problems–smog in the capital and garbage in the countryside–stuck in the mind of anyone who had visited the country. Siberia had been extensively logged and ravaged by fires. Flaring gas torches and methane leaks create massive emissions.” (p. 20)
Russia is a dying country. Birthrates keep falling, the infrastructure deteriorates, the wealth goes to a small group of oligarchs who buy $100 million Yachts and party. A lot.
“The war forced hundreds of thousands of Russians, most of them young and educated urbanites, to leave the country. Expecting military mobilization and violence at home, they flew to Georgia, Armenia, Turkey or Kazakhstan–the countries that did not require visas. Most of them found themselves in a desperate situation, with no job, no money and no welfare support. Only the Kremlin applauded this displacement of the country’s young and productive subjects: the very same people who might take part in the acts of protests and resistance were removing themselves from the domestic scene. At this point, education, high culture and public life became mere nuisances for the Russian rulers.” (p. 62)
But as Etkind points out, this death spiral of Russian corruption makes Putin more dangerous. Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine both shows the ineffectiveness of the Russian military but also increases the chances Putin might resort to nuclear weapons. Russia Against Modernity presents an accurate picture of dangers we face. What do you think of Russia? GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — vi
Introduction — 1
Chapter 1. Modernity in the Age of Anthropocene — 3
Chapter 2. Petrostate — 24
Chapter 3. Parasitic governance — 40
Chapter 4. The So-Called Elite — 55
Chapter 5. The Public Sphere — 66
Chapter 6. Gender and Degeneration — 85
Chapter 7. Putin’s War — 102
Chapter 8. Defederating Russia — 121
Endnotes — 141
Index — 160
