“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
Russia stinks, the dirty commies!
Bob, I feel sorry for the Russian people who have to live under Putin’s tyranny.
If Trump is re-elected, the good ol’ USA won’t be far behind in this race of the oligarchs/kleptocrats to destroy everything that makes a society work. Trust your resident Cassandra on this.
Deb, I totally agree with you. Democracy is on the ballot in 2024.
Well at least we can’t be paranoid — not in an age that spawned Putin and Trump — we really are being persecuted.
Dan, I’m appalled at the politicians that don’t want to support Ukraine. If Putin doesn’t get stopped there all of Europe is in danger!
Does Trump align himself with them because he owes them something or he admires them. I am darn sure they don’t admire him.
Patti, I’m sure Putin sees Trump as a useful tool. Look at all the chaos Trump and his followers have caused!
Putin is, and always has been, pure opportunistic evil. Trump is his comic opera counterpart, just as opportunistic, power-hungry, and self-serving, but less intelligent. The difference is that Trump feels he can no wrong because he is Trump. while Putin just doesn’t give a shit.
Will we make it through the first quarter of this century? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
Jerry, sadly some Russians love Putin…just like they loved Stalin. And like those two, Trump’s love of dictators and authoritarian regimes doesn’t bode well for the U.S.
Russian (and probably almost no non-Russian residents of the current Russian state) shitkickers like Putin, much as US shitkickers like Trump. My definition of this term refers to those who think it’s fun to kick excrement, as opposed to composting it or otherwise doing something healthy with it, and particularly if they can kick it onto other people who in one way or another dare to differ from them.
Todd, some people just idolize strong leaders…even if they’re psychos!
I think of Putin much of what I think of most of the other fascists who have sought and too often achieved power around the world (small-f, since only the Italians have had a true Fascist party and still do, and in the driver’s seat). MAGAts are our most obvious homegrown correspondents, though sadly there are others.
Boris Yeltsin was drunk and stupid enough to let Putin run things for him from early on. Yeltsin thus falls between Boris Johnson and Trump as an example of a mayor or other too-prominent figure in a country’s largest city who decided to let rampant boardroom looting and courting stupidity rule in their countries, with the assistance of useless remnants of the past (such as the Electoral College in the US).
Todd, Russia has been one of the most ill-governed countries for centuries!
Alas, not they alone.
Yup. Legacies.
If anybody thinks there are similarities between Trump and Putin, all I can do is quote Mt. T, “I don’t hate them, I pity the fools!”
OK: notable differences?