After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a bunch of Anglo American economic advisers recommended economic shock therapy of basically removing still existing subsidies for lots of basic consumer goods, apartment rent, etc.
The effect this actually had was to basically completely collapse the economy even further to the point that it was pretty common for a worker to be paid not in money, but in what a factory produced, and theyd have to go barter it for other things.
It was also common during this period for people to have to attempt to barter say their TV or a tool for food.
What emerged from this is basically a naked oligarchic kleptocracy.
While the official mechanisms of government existed… people barely had any faith in them as the new democratic government had essentially immediately collapsed the economy and led to coups and coup attempts.
Putin stepped into this basically with the idea that over time general faith in the government could be restored with real economic gains and a strong sense of nationalism, focused around him.
Initially his strategies and tactics, while brutal, did deliver real tangible progress, as Putin is exceptionally adept at basically negotiating with the other oligarchs. Corruption was and still is the norm.
Overtime… yeah, basically now the entirety of Putin’s tactics and worldview and how the propoganda he uses domestically meets most if not all of Umberto Eco’s tenets of fascism.
One can have a fascist leader in charge or involved in many different forms of formal government, as fascism is closer to the ideology of a movement than it is to a form of government.
But now, is it a dictatorship?
Well, basically, officially, no, unofficially, yes, but with the caveat that basically the whole thing could fall apart if various oligarchs are not sufficiently placated, or if someone can basically emerge as a more competent strong man… or if the entire economy/society collapses.
Putin has proved extremely adept at keeping himself in power for the last 20 ish years, extending executive term limits, and basically for a period of time sitting back and letting Mebvedev be President for a term while Putin essentially semi-temporarily-retired to merely being the Prime Minister, then resumed as President.
tl;dr: Basically yes Putin is a fascist dictator, though there are some interesting differences with other fascist dictators.
Also please note that Trump is also a fascist, also by Umberto Eco’s tenants of fascism, and has outright stated he wants to be a dictator ‘if only for a day’. Yeah thats how that works, just one day as a dictator.
Ultimately this is why the MAGA crowd is so pro Russia and Putin. Both their leaders and movements are fascist.
I read your post with upmost interest, wondering where it would blow up, but in the end you saved it all :-)
IMO it was the URSS/CCCP that fucked up basically all dynamics in the country, and birthed against their will the robber barons, well before the fall.
A country relying on gosplans every five year that were circumvented by everyone was one of the problems “solved” by the groups once to be the oligarcs of Putin.
Anyways, putin has to go and russia must, even if divided into geographical entities and denuclarized, become democratic.
Yes it is true that the seeds of the oligarchs that would emerge were sewn by inadequacies of the former Soviet system, but
Dear god is that complicated, difficult for non Russian speakers such as myself to get a thorough grasp on without a good deal of research, and not something I feel I could approach accurately and correctly summarize.
I didn’t want to do the Putin thing and explain the entire history of Russia, I figured starting at the collapse of the Soviet Union is a decent starting point for giving at least an incredibly brief but hopefully accurate bit of historical context focusing on Russia under the leadership of Putin.
Every dictator exists on the courtesy of those around him and closest to him. How he keeps these strongmen in line differs, but a dictator can meet their end anytime any place by not balancing the needs of the people with the individual needs and wants of his strongmen enough. Needs and wants include threats of violence, food, money, anything you can think of.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a bunch of Anglo American economic advisers recommended economic shock therapy of basically removing still existing subsidies for lots of basic consumer goods, apartment rent, etc.
The effect this actually had was to basically completely collapse the economy even further to the point that it was pretty common for a worker to be paid not in money, but in what a factory produced, and theyd have to go barter it for other things.
It was also common during this period for people to have to attempt to barter say their TV or a tool for food.
What emerged from this is basically a naked oligarchic kleptocracy.
While the official mechanisms of government existed… people barely had any faith in them as the new democratic government had essentially immediately collapsed the economy and led to coups and coup attempts.
Putin stepped into this basically with the idea that over time general faith in the government could be restored with real economic gains and a strong sense of nationalism, focused around him.
Initially his strategies and tactics, while brutal, did deliver real tangible progress, as Putin is exceptionally adept at basically negotiating with the other oligarchs. Corruption was and still is the norm.
Overtime… yeah, basically now the entirety of Putin’s tactics and worldview and how the propoganda he uses domestically meets most if not all of Umberto Eco’s tenets of fascism.
One can have a fascist leader in charge or involved in many different forms of formal government, as fascism is closer to the ideology of a movement than it is to a form of government.
But now, is it a dictatorship?
Well, basically, officially, no, unofficially, yes, but with the caveat that basically the whole thing could fall apart if various oligarchs are not sufficiently placated, or if someone can basically emerge as a more competent strong man… or if the entire economy/society collapses.
Putin has proved extremely adept at keeping himself in power for the last 20 ish years, extending executive term limits, and basically for a period of time sitting back and letting Mebvedev be President for a term while Putin essentially semi-temporarily-retired to merely being the Prime Minister, then resumed as President.
tl;dr: Basically yes Putin is a fascist dictator, though there are some interesting differences with other fascist dictators.
Also please note that Trump is also a fascist, also by Umberto Eco’s tenants of fascism, and has outright stated he wants to be a dictator ‘if only for a day’. Yeah thats how that works, just one day as a dictator.
Ultimately this is why the MAGA crowd is so pro Russia and Putin. Both their leaders and movements are fascist.
I read your post with upmost interest, wondering where it would blow up, but in the end you saved it all :-)
IMO it was the URSS/CCCP that fucked up basically all dynamics in the country, and birthed against their will the robber barons, well before the fall.
A country relying on gosplans every five year that were circumvented by everyone was one of the problems “solved” by the groups once to be the oligarcs of Putin.
Anyways, putin has to go and russia must, even if divided into geographical entities and denuclarized, become democratic.
For the people.
For the people.
Yes it is true that the seeds of the oligarchs that would emerge were sewn by inadequacies of the former Soviet system, but
Dear god is that complicated, difficult for non Russian speakers such as myself to get a thorough grasp on without a good deal of research, and not something I feel I could approach accurately and correctly summarize.
I didn’t want to do the Putin thing and explain the entire history of Russia, I figured starting at the collapse of the Soviet Union is a decent starting point for giving at least an incredibly brief but hopefully accurate bit of historical context focusing on Russia under the leadership of Putin.
Every dictator exists on the courtesy of those around him and closest to him. How he keeps these strongmen in line differs, but a dictator can meet their end anytime any place by not balancing the needs of the people with the individual needs and wants of his strongmen enough. Needs and wants include threats of violence, food, money, anything you can think of.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22059224/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_0_q_traumazone
Well worth a look.
Oh yeah, I watched the whole series at one point around 5 years ago. I could do with a refresh, love Adam Curtis!