Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think I do.
Overall Putin and Co are trying to make everyone ( involved) to bend over to their financial interests, in no less insistent manner than US do.
How?
Russia has mineral resources to sell for example. Russia has to open up markets for those minerals. You can't do that by hitting people over the head. That's not how its done.
US companies operating in China whine and complain about Chinas rules and laws yet still CHOOSE to do business there, for the profits. So what if they have to share the technology, you operate on their turf you go by their rules. Those companies knew the rule. You don't threaten them, that's how conflicts start.
Russia has mineral resources to sell for example. Russia has to open up markets for those minerals. You can't do that by hitting people over the head. That's not how its done.
US companies operating in China whine and complain about Chinas rules and laws yet still CHOOSE to do business there, for the profits. So what if they have to share the technology, you operate on their turf you go by their rules. Those companies knew the rule. You don't threaten them, that's how conflicts start.
Russia does not behave like America does.
I am not sure what it has got to do with the "mineral markets" per se. You are probably talking about the difference in operating modes between Russia and the US, however the goals are still the same.
See, if you would have closely followed Putin's policies/statements from his earlier days, you'd get a pretty good picture of his "train of thought."
Back in early 2000ies, he was encouraging his oligarchs ( anyone with money actually,) to invest in Western enterprises as much as possible.
His hope/idea behind it was the "merging of Western and Russian economies," with the end result of "Western investments and know-how" streaming to Russia, that was supposed to be renovated and rebuilt as the result of it.
He actually stated it during one of his earlier public speeches out in the open, ( but then this speech has *miraculously disappeared* from You-tube somehow.)
If Russia would have been a multi-party system, Putin's opponents could have probably questioned him on the viability of such approach, but in Russia he had a cart blanche to do whatever he liked, unchallenged.
So his initial idea proved to be unfruitful, with all the R&Ds ( and foreign money) going to China instead.
He never forgot the "West's betrayal," and made oil/gas his ultimate weapon, which worked for some time.
And when the right time came, he jumped on the "China wagon" himself, when that "Chinese tiger" was ready to roar, being born from those foreign R&Ds and money ( or may be it's more appropriate to compare it to a Frankenstein, created by Western/American corporations?)
In any case, Putin has continued his course, hitching up to the East now, ( since investing oligarchs money into his own country/people, would have been "too risky," too "long-term," and overall too counter-productive to keeping his own class (established back in the 90ies) constantly in charge politically and financially alike, unchallenged.
But his course is still the same - i.e. pursuing the financial interests of his clan, that keeps it afloat, and whatever is outlined in this plan as strategically important, is going to be fulfilled, since Russia is never really "cornered" by any sanctions (as much as the West would try.)
I know a lot of the history which you speak of but apparently not as well as you do. I know the west "betrayed" Russia simply because the paranoid freaks in DC thought Russia was becoming too powerful (Russia was succeeding in rebuilding) and needed to be kept in check. I understand about the oligarchs too.
It seems to me Russia is run like a corporation. There's a CEO (Putin) and then there's the management board (the oligarchs) and in the 3rd tier (the DUMA and bereaucratic apparatus) is the rest of the that makes it all run. It's the power verticle. It's the power of the "state", the governing entity. I believe this goes back to the times of Peter The Great and has been there since.
I see something quite the opposite of what you do. Russia is investing for the long term, in the future of the country. Infrastructure is going in where it is needed, priorities are bein adjusted. Russia just fell to 6th place in military spending in the world. Military spending did not go up!!! It went down. They are going to put that money saved elsewhere.
Seems to me that Putin and those oligarchs have their priorities in order. The living standards for the Russian people are going up across the board and opportunities are everywhere for those with the eye for them. I just watched a video of Volgograd and I saw 3 things in abundance like I have never seen before. Pregnant women, packs of preteen kids usually on bikes and skate boards/scooters and the most shocking of all, fat Russians.
I think I do.
Overall Putin and Co are trying to make everyone ( involved) to bend over to their financial interests, in no less insistent manner than US do.
I think everyone is trying to do it. Someone has more resources and is more successful. The USA has an amazing amount of resources and arguing with them is very hard.
It seems to me Russia is run like a corporation. There's a CEO (Putin) and then there's the management board (the oligarchs) and in the 3rd tier (the DUMA and bereaucratic apparatus) is the rest of the that makes it all run. It's the power verticle. It's the power of the "state", the governing entity. I believe this goes back to the times of Peter The Great and has been there since.
Most likely this will not be a problem if the vertical is not closed to the general population and "social elevators" will work. Problems will happen if the population is stratified into classes without a possibility of a person transferring to another class.
russian police spetsnaz in action.
(watch with the Benny Hill's show music )
These are special troops of the Russian Guard (Rosgvardia), it is new power structure of Russia. I do not really understand what Rosgvardia is and why it is needed. Perhaps Putin made a competing power structure to maintain competition and fight corruption. Timely "opritchina". Funny guys.
It seems to me Russia is run like a corporation. There's a CEO (Putin) and then there's the management board (the oligarchs) and in the 3rd tier (the DUMA and bereaucratic apparatus) is the rest of the that makes it all run. It's the power verticle. It's the power of the "state", the governing entity. I believe this goes back to the times of Peter The Great and has been there since.
You mean like a corporation without shareholders? Because you are kind of missing a key mechanism that governs corporations and countries alike.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrat335
I see something quite the opposite of what you do. Russia is investing for the long term, in the future of the country. Infrastructure is going in where it is needed, priorities are bein adjusted. Russia just fell to 6th place in military spending in the world. Military spending did not go up!!! It went down. They are going to put that money saved elsewhere.
They are going to put that savings into the bank to deal with sanctions, that's what they are doing. Putin's plan to make Russia 5th in the world by 2024 for its economy is not going to happen if they have to keep socking billions away to the bank.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrat335
Seems to me that Putin and those oligarchs have their priorities in order. The living standards for the Russian people are going up across the board and opportunities are everywhere for those with the eye for them.
Sure if you ignore the fact that living standards have been declining for 5 years, population for 2, and capital flight is taking Russian earnings out of the nation. Opportunities are nowhere except for those with connections to the federal government, the closer to the security services the more $$ you can get. Otherwise its shutup and enjoy your paltry wage with rising prices.
Seems to me that Putin and those oligarchs have their priorities in order. The living standards for the Russian people are going up across the board and opportunities are everywhere for those with the eye for them. I just watched a video of Volgograd and I saw 3 things in abundance like I have never seen before. Pregnant women, packs of preteen kids usually on bikes and skate boards/scooters and the most shocking of all, fat Russians.
How do you measure the bolded? The only improvement in living standards I'm aware of, is that in some cities, people got air conditioning in the summers, because of hydroelectric development, and there are more consumer goods (imports, mainly) available in stores or public markets. Salaries for the rank-and-file haven't improved significantly, to allow people to buy more than before, though. There are a few people who are doing better, here and there, because, once the tax structure was changed, people were able to make a go of private business, or were able to get jobs with foreign businesses. Most people are plodding along as they had before, though. Although at least some people are able to travel, and professionals and researchers of various sorts are able to attend conferences abroad. That does a lot to improve people's satisfaction with life.
I know a lot of the history which you speak of but apparently not as well as you do. I know the west "betrayed" Russia simply because the paranoid freaks in DC thought Russia was becoming too powerful (Russia was succeeding in rebuilding) and needed to be kept in check. I understand about the oligarchs too.
It seems to me Russia is run like a corporation. There's a CEO (Putin) and then there's the management board (the oligarchs) and in the 3rd tier (the DUMA and bereaucratic apparatus) is the rest of the that makes it all run. It's the power verticle. It's the power of the "state", the governing entity. I believe this goes back to the times of Peter The Great and has been there since.
I see something quite the opposite of what you do. Russia is investing for the long term, in the future of the country. Infrastructure is going in where it is needed, priorities are bein adjusted. Russia just fell to 6th place in military spending in the world. Military spending did not go up!!! It went down. They are going to put that money saved elsewhere.
Seems to me that Putin and those oligarchs have their priorities in order. The living standards for the Russian people are going up across the board and opportunities are everywhere for those with the eye for them. I just watched a video of Volgograd and I saw 3 things in abundance like I have never seen before. Pregnant women, packs of preteen kids usually on bikes and skate boards/scooters and the most shocking of all, fat Russians.
Scrat...
To make the long story short - you can't run the country as a "corporation aimed at bringing the most profits to its top executives," without ruining it.
It's that simple.
How do you measure the bolded? The only improvement in living standards I'm aware of, is that in some cities, people got air conditioning in the summers, because of hydroelectric development, and there are more consumer goods (imports, mainly) available in stores or public markets. Salaries for the rank-and-file haven't improved significantly, to allow people to buy more than before, though. There are a few people who are doing better, here and there, because, once the tax structure was changed, people were able to make a go of private business, or were able to get jobs with foreign businesses. Most people are plodding along as they had before, though. Although at least some people are able to travel, and professionals and researchers of various sorts are able to attend conferences abroad. That does a lot to improve people's satisfaction with life.
I measure the bolded by what I see. I watch a lot of videos from bloggers and a lot of the news, google earth street view. You can get all kinds of information from that. Detailed. I was recently teaching my grandson how to navigate with a map and google earth. We actually found the building a video blogger lives in using the video they had made. I compare what I see with what I have seen in the past. There's subtle little hints you pick up, someone refers to Russians not planting gardens at their dachas anymore, more kids with more stuff on the streets. New construction, old neighborhoods being torn down and new complexes going up. Large nubers of cranes on the cities skylines, modern cranes, not the death traps I used to see. More modern construction equipment, that stuff is EXPENSIVE. Where there were old grey and run down homes in small villages I see new roofs and the homes painted.
Things are not perfect in Russia. True. It porbably will never be but there is significant progress.
I don't go by the media or the writing of journalists in the MSM. I go by what i see with the mark 1 eyeball.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
You mean like a corporation without shareholders? Because you are kind of missing a key mechanism that governs corporations and countries alike.