Plenty of cults exist - every cult has its 'religious dogma', its idols, its 'prophets', its 'science', its 'proof' and its intolerant liturgy of demands. Cults everywhere: Corona, 'The Science' or Scientism, Islam, the State, the cult of Gender Fascism, Marxism, Darwin and Evolution, Globaloneywarming, Changing Climate, Abortion...
Tempus Fugit Memento Mori - Time Flies Remember Death
Mr. Medvedev [Mr. Bear] is set to dance to the KGB's music.
by StFerdIII
Putin and the KGB have now have their trained dancing bear, Mr Medvedev, and the Russian people have been duped or forced, to accept him. Not even the dancing bear himself really believes that he is in charge. It will be Putin, the KGB and Gazprom, the state owned energy colossus which will continue to run Russia. Little has changed since the days of Peter the Great. Mafia cliques and secret police manage the world's 7th largest economy. At least Medvedev's name in english – bear – is suitable. Russians even under Peter the Great were and are very fond of dancing bears.
Journalists are jailed in Russia for any dissent against the state. Private corporations like Yukos are nationalised, and directors opposed to Kremlin policy are jailed or worse. 'Spies' like Litvienko or other persons of influence who disagree with official post-KGB policy are killed. The Russian army is notoriously corrupt and it is a fact that it makes deals with Chechen Muslim warlords – money in exchange for guns and other favors. Russia is #135 on Freedom House's list of 'free' states – somewhat better than under Stalin, who did after all, have a democratic constitution passed [1935].
Given Russian history, culture and its Oriental influences dating from Mongol-Tartar domination during the 13th to 15th centuries, is it any wonder that Putin and the KGB elite, rich on energy profits and stuffing billions into private accounts, have found their dancing bear to give a circus for the general Russian population?
Any other outcome would have been a shock. Putin and the KGB have no intention of leaving Russian power, and the St. Petersburg mafia, enjoying its era of dominance and superiority over Moscow, has no need or motivation to 'Westernise', 'democratise' or assume European mores. Why bother? Putin and his St. Petersburg friends now control the world's 7th largest economy, 140 million people, and 1/6 of the earth's landmass rich in energy, gas, oil, and minerals of all types. Why would anyone give that up?
The deal the KGB made with Mr. Bear was probably rather simple. You, Mr. Bear, can partake in one of the richest divisions of spoils and money in modern history, if you follow our lead and do as the French men tell their French mistresses – tais toi et soit belle. Shut up and look pretty. Mr. Bear is wearing better suits, has lost a lot of weight, and has a perma-grin attached to his very Russian countenance. Mr. Bear knows how to follow orders and is looking much prettier these days.
Putin is now Prime Minister and the Bear President. But those are just titles. Putin is Tsar, the KGB the new boyar class, and Mr. Bear, nothing but a lackay dancing bear, with no possibility of independent action. He owes his job, his money and probably his life to Mr. Putin. The Bear has never demonstrated any patterns of contarian thinking being a famously servile knave for Putin when he was chief of staff, or in the past few years, first deputy as prime minister and than chairman of the state-controlled gas behemoth Gazprom. Both positions were tests and preludes to see how pliable and reliably slavish Mr. Bear would be to KGB demands.
The Bear's so-called election campaign – he was basically the only candidate running – was based on carrying on the 'Putin Project'. Since most Russians support Putin, and credit the new Tsar with bringing steady economic growth and expanding Russia's global influence, the Bear has been eager to reassure them there will be continuity.
Indeed there will be. The Bear enthusiastically endorsed the nationalisation of private energy firms; the takeover by the state of independent media; and the use of compliant courts to silence opponents and take over companies whose owners failed to show sufficient loyalty. While managing Gazprom, the Bear helped to restore state control over the gas monopoly, and Gazprom is routinely called Kremlin Inc. In fact Putin's political party 'Mother Russia' is also referred to as the Gazprom party.
The only aspects of the Bear-Putin regime which are not clear, is the official division of power between the two. As Prime Minister Putin has already stated that he will manage foreign affairs and the military. If true, this is not good news for the West or Russian-European relations. Gazprom, of which Putin is a director, will continue to be used by the Kremlin as a policy weapon in its increasingly nationalistic, and rather silly anti-Western hysteria. The Ukraine and Europe are sure to suffer from future energy shortages and relations between Russia and the West are certain to deteriorate even further.
This leaves the trained Bear to modernise Russian health, social and infrastructure services, all in various degress of ill repair and degradation. It is highly unlikely that Mr. Bear will be able to do much if anything without Kremlin Inc.'s approval and KGB support. Like Yeltsin he has made his pact with the Faustian devil.
Russia is reverting back to her historical mean. Anti-Western ideals; Oriental governance; and state corruption. The fact that the Russian people applaud such an organisation is to be expected given Russia's past 1000 year history. The theory that such illiberal empires are better for the Russian people is entirely false. But don't expect Russians to understand that, or much care for that matter.
