Putinism Is the Only Religion That Matters | Opinion | The Moscow Times
Several of the police admitted that they did not think Russia was headed in the right direction, and I take hope in these admissions. Putin has made it clear he will not hesitate to create a new gulag with a new generation of political prisoners. If and when the time comes, he will not hesitate to give the order to pull the trigger, to spill Russian blood to maintain his power. Many lives, therefore, will depend on the men whose fingers are on those triggers. Will they kill their compatriots for chanting, for marching or for wanting nothing more than to express the human need for freedom?
How bad is the situation in Russia now, compared with the last 20 years?
Less hope and freedom than the middle part of those 20 years? Not sure, but there was a time when folks wanted to break through the cronyism with free markets rather than strong-armed economics?
I thought the history of Russia for the last 1000 years has been a back-and-forth pendulum between that kind of hope, and some ruler crushing that hope.
Vodka is the lubrication that makes the pendulum swing.
A brief history of Russia: http://missinglink.ucsf.edu/lm/russia_guide/HistoryofRussia.htm
You May Also Like:
