Putin's Spell

A decade ago I met a russian old woman who sold Red Army items in a flea market downtown Budapest. She spoke a handful of languages (remarkable vestige of the Communist education), including English. I asked her about the situation in Russia. She said that before the fall of Communism she wanted Capitalism because, like everybody, she thought she would strive under it. But after Russia's turn to Capitalism, she went on, her situation had actually worsened and she had been forced to migrate to Hungary seeking better standards of living. It was obvious, she added, that most people were going to worsen their standards of living compared to their previous Communist ones (after all, the money for inequalitites had to come from somewhere) but nobody imagined that they would be the lossers (Human nature!).

That casual conversation took place during Yeltsin's governement. Now under Putin's rule, Russians have not only lost their wealth but also democracy. Putin has been fooling democracy for years now. He's suppressed freedom of press (in practice if not in policy), intimidated his opponents, severely increased president's power (at the expense of regional power), actively hindered international watchers, and appointed to crucial offices former militaries loyal to him. The list goes on and on.

Poor Russians, they've put up with so much. And yet around 30% of Russians want Putin to continue in office by circumventing the constitution. Something's wrong with Russia and the numbers do not give the answer (Russia has fallen from 2nd to 13th in economic performance in the post-Soviet region). Another sign that the world's future looks gloomy.