An Update on Putin

~ Clarissa

I know it’s completely useless but I will still quote this very good update on Putin:

Neither the Americans nor the Europeans seem to be in the same class as Putin when it comes to assessing power realities and crafting strategies. Russia remains a weak power with a poor long-term outlook, but its two greatest resources are the even greater weakness and incoherence of neighboring states like Ukraine and the fecklessness and moral posturing of the leadership of Europe and the United States. One would think that Western leaders would have noticed by now that caving into Putin’s demands doesn’t satisfy him but rather only emboldens him to demand more. One would have hoped that repeated exposure to Putin’s mix of clear vision, bold action, and lack of scruples would have led Western leaders to raise their game appropriately. So far there is no evidence of this happening. Putin is still able to outmaneuver and surprise the West, still able to inflict serial humiliations on it, and still able to out-think it.

Putin is a pretty stupid, uneducated fellow. His speech patterns, gesticulation and comportment betray very lumpenized origins. Yet even this idiot is managing to outmaneuver Obama, Merkel, and Cameron. Let’s hope that no dictator with a fully functioning brain appears on the world arena because, with the kind of leadership that we have, we’ll be royally screwed.

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Published by Clarissa

18 thoughts on “An Update on Putin”

    1. “I mean, he has done a pretty impressive job in some areas, let’s be honest.”

      – Can you give some examples?

      I’m also wondering how it is possible for somebody who considers himself a Communist to be supportive of Putin. Putin is an active promoter of the worst kind of crony capitalism. He is anti-any kind of social programs. He invested the entire pension fund of the country into the annexation of the Crimea. Last week he openly promised to cancel child assistance social programs to compensate his oligarch friends for the hardships of the sanctions. He is very aggressively promoting the inclusion of the Church into the affairs of state.

      Can you tell me what you like about him? I’d think a Communist would not be in favor of the above-mentioned things.

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  2. “Can you give some examples?”

    Sure. Of course you are familiar with the disaster that was Boris Yeltsin. Putin has brought the nation of Russia up from a second world country back to a world power by stabilizing the economy, and increased it’s prestige and power internationally via his aggressive (yet sensible) foreign policy. Western pundits can pretend Russia is “weak”, but let’s be honest we see what the west does to weak countries – They do what they want. Even though aggressive, his foreign policy (all the pro–western opinions aside) is very much less aggressive when compared the actions of the United States.

    That is all “big power” and nation talk, but I feel it is important. Of course being a “power” as a nation militarily and economically isn’t more important than the wellbeing of the people at the end of the day. The increase in the living standard of the average Russian is the most important thing here – Isn’t that what we should look for? I despise the gap between rich and poor, but who do we compare that stat too? Western nations aren’t any better without his crony capitalism.

    I understand that much of the economic success has been based on commodities and natural resources, but it still cannot be ignored. He’s used nationalism to unite the people of Russia, and while I do not agree with this it still is a means to an end. Could you really say he is the worst thing that could have happened to the people of Russia? I think not. Russia – at home and abroad is much better off now than it was in the late 90’s. Jut to be clear though – I do not support him on many issues. Politically I am not aligned with him.

    “I’m also wondering how it is possible for somebody who considers himself a Communist to be supportive of Putin. Putin is an active promoter of the worst kind of crony capitalism. He is anti-any kind of social programs. He invested the entire pension fund of the country into the annexation of the Crimea. Last week he openly promised to cancel child assistance social programs to compensate his oligarch friends for the hardships of the sanctions. He is very aggressively promoting the inclusion of the Church into the affairs of state. Can you tell me what you like about him? I’d think a Communist would not be in favor of the above-mentioned things.”

    Good question. I don’t love him. You’re absolutely right in thinking that I would not be for the above. I do not support him in any of the above positions with the exception of Crimea, which in this case I’d have to look into the facts of your statement more before I could present my true thoughts. I also do not agree with his thoughts on gay rights.

    That said, I do admire his style and attitude as a leader. I also agree with some of his public sentiments on the Soviet Union. I agree with the way he conducts himself internationally in most cases (remember Libya?). As mentioned, I appreciate the fact that he has strengthened the nation of Russia militarily and economically – if it will prove fruitful for the future is still the key question.

    I am a very simple man. I am ok with not agreeing with all of someones thoughts or opinions, but still admiring them or supporting them on some issues. Vladimir Putin has been good for the Russian people, in my humble opinion.

    My feelings towards Putin are slightly comparable my feelings toward you. When I say that, I mean to say that I admire you and follow you, even though we are quite different and disagree on many issues. I find value in what you write, agree with some of your positions, and admire some of your actions.

    I really should have put more time into this, and I could have went and hand picked statistics that we would argue about. However, I wanted to reply to you because I should have replied sooner I feel. I’ve been really busy but it has been on my mind, because it is a great question. Most Americans are fairly uninformed and just think I like Vladimir Putin because he is a communist (lul). Sorry if it does not make any sense or sound ignorant, I promise I’m not a moron.

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    1. “Of course you are familiar with the disaster that was Boris Yeltsin.”

      – Compared with Putin, he was a fluffy bunny. 🙂

      “Putin has brought the nation of Russia up from a second world country back to a world power by stabilizing the economy”

      – Russia is a mess, economically. Putin’s model is that of the most vicious crony capitalism that enriches a few oligarchs by pauperizing the entire population. Last week, a daughter of one of Putin’s buddy oligarchs published an article saying, “It should never occur to you to treat your servants as equals.” This is Putin’s ideology in a nutshell. Another one of Putin’s buddies said, “If you don’t have a billion, go fuck yourself.” You say you are a Communist, how can you support that? Putin has 13 palaces in his personal possessions. He used 1 billion dollars of public money to build a private airplane field for himself. I would understand if you said, “I’m in favor of free markets and dog-eat-dog capitalism, so I support Putin.” But you say you are a Communist, so I’m puzzled. Two days ago, a mother of five killed herself in Russia because she couldn’t pay back a line of credit. This is one of many similar suicides in Russia, where banks are legally allowed to hire thugs to hound, humiliate, and threaten debtors. Is that Putin’s economic recovery that you like?

      “Vladimir Putin has been good for the Russian people, in my humble opinion.”

      – Have you met any Russian people recently? 🙂

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    1. I know. It’s a really horrible environment. These are people who have no experience of capitalism and all of a sudden they are plunged into this scary dog-eat-dog unregulated capitalism. It’s bad, man.

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      1. In the US, at least, we have some remnants of regulations. Capitalism without any control or regulations is a very scary, terrifying, inhuman system.

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      2. Yeah, it sounds terrible. Well, I haven’t seen that type of thing written in a way where I felt it wasn’t at best highly opinionated in a negative light. I haven’t seen any of those facts presented at all really.. I think this likely opens my eyes a bit. My anti-western standpoint probably prevents me from trusting some sources – though I will tell you I try very hard to read even differing or “negative” pieces.. So that I have the best overall picture of reality. I try to read all sides then formulate my thoughts. I still feel like Putin is not the worst thing for Russia… And somewhat admirable. But, feelings and thoughts don’t change so quickly.

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    1. Putin promotes homophobic policies because it’s convenient. I don’t think he has profound personal feelings about gays.

      As for the American woman and Luvejournal, I thought it would be impossible to be more obnoxious than LJ but she managed to do that. It’s quite a feat.

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  8. I have something to say about the attitude of some Westerners too. This American woman writes:

    // I write here and communicate with Russians in search of answers, enlightenment, and greater insight into Russia and daily life there.

    But when she got “greater insight into … daily life” regarding (many of) Russian people’s attitudes to somebody different, which she didn’t like, she didn’t accept this. Instead, she began teaching people how to behave, sounding half-naive and half-condescending:

    // “I don’t care if someone is gay, an immigrant, Muslim, or has crazy opinions with which I don’t agree. In fact, such people are sometimes the most interesting you will meet. To have an open dialogue with them leads to better self-understanding and reflection. It broadens your mental and analytic abilities. More importantly, it heightens the skill to process different beliefs, cultures and lifestyles, and choose the ones which best suit you. ”

    “the most interesting you will meet”
    — May be, it’s true for her, but most Russians disagree?

    “”I don’t care if someone is gay, an immigrant, Muslim, or has crazy opinions with which I don’t agree.”
    — Honestly, I do care about crazy opinions like “Israel shouldn’t exist,” sexism and so on. And I do care whether somebody is Jewish or Muslim since I want to live in a Jewish nation state with Jewish majority. I can’t honestly say I feel the same about being Jewish or Muslim, and around 100% of Israelis and Palestinians feel the same way.

    (Btw, even most intelligent, tolerant and educated American Muslims I read ended stating that Israeli Jews are colonists and “nobody needs Israel” during the last war episode in the summer.)

    The tone of those sentences is like a lecture to kindergarteners. (“It broadens your mental and analytic abilities.” Ha-ha-ha.) Or an ad.

    Now I want to go and tell her that. I guess, it’s the inner Russian in me, wanting to express herself.

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      1. \\ Her contempt and condescension towards the people she’s describing are obnoxious.

        I am glad you agree. Before, I wondered whether wanting to tell her off was a sign of my mental problems or something. Telling off a naive, kind-hearted woman. 🙂

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        1. No, you are perfectly fine. She is adopting the posture of a kindly missionary addressing the savages with the goal of civilizing them. Such people always expect extreme gratitude for their civilizational attempts and get angry when the savages resist.

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  9. I saw your new poll and “more posts about Vladimir Putin” was not an option, this made me frown. After some deep thought, I still agree with many of Putin’s actions. I am shameless in my ignorance. My base response is that he is a good nigga. His ideology is different, but acceptable. A means to an end. Or something. Che’yeah.

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