It's The Economy, Stupid
Amazing, is it not, that Vladimir Putin continues to enjoy an approval rating of 83% in opinion polls, even while the slowly imploding Russian economy is withering before the perplexed and irritated eyes of the population. All the more amazing, since Mr. Putin has built his reputation on renascent Russian assertiveness piggy-backed on and encouraged by the country's natural energy resources hauling them out of their erstwhile economic doldrums.Sigh, good things seem to have a habit of worrying elusiveness, of evaporating at the very moment of self-congratulation. Life is so unfair. Russians are unhappy about the new strictures placed on their happy comfort with the new economy, and are finding it difficult to re-adjust back to the bad old days of the old economy of scarce goods and scarcer employment and monetary compensation.
And suddenly the grand old reconstituted Communist Party is re-asserting its old authority, calling for countrywide protests based on the reality of "a wave of popular rage". Rage, rage, against the tide of global recession, the downturn in the need to import pricey fuels whose value has plunged so disastrously for Russia, among others so recently strutting economic confidence.
Demonstrations? Why yes, they're going to occur in various cities; there are hundreds of thousands of disappointed, angry and extremely upset citizens at their loss of good fortune. The country's economy shrivelled by 0.7% in December alone, the first such decline in almost two decades. A million Russians are now out of work, matching falling oil prices, the bulwark of the economy.
To counteract the bad karma of protests against the government, the ruling party has reverted to style and is forcing factory workers, those still gainfully employed to take part in demonstrating loyalty to the regime through their own counter-rallies in celebration of the Kremlin's sterling governance and specifically the wisdom and guidance of their prime minister. Besides, the Kremlin has made it unlawful to demonstrate, on pain of arrest for fomenting unrest.
The Kremlin appears to be in the throes of increasing worry at the threatening clouds ahead endangering them through this trend toward protest. They're still confident that the anger of the country can be managed, as most Russians remain uninspired to join the protests. Yet what occurred in Vladivostok where thousands marched against the raising of tariffs on imported cars by 80% infuriating Russia's eastern port workers by the loss of 100,000 jobs has them duly concerned.
People there were so incandescent with anger by their government that there were placards urging Japan to colonize Vladivostok. Second-hand foreign cars, mostly from Japan, are exceedingly popular with middle-class Russians. The police in Vladivostok refused to quell the riots, forcing Moscow to send in special forces. The protests which began peacefully, ended violently.
As in all such situations, the government sought to explain its position by infusing the scapegoat solution into the public realm of ideas. The Russian parliament unveiled a document explaining that a Western plot led by Japanese intelligence agents planned and stimulated the unrest in Vladivostok. The larger purpose was to foment a popular rebellion, reminiscent of that which occurred in Ukraine and Georgia.
The incredible clumsiness of that propaganda is mind-boggling. Who might they think in their wildest dreams would poke a finger of belief into that indigestible tripe? It goes wildly beyond absurd into paranoid fantasy territory. Scary stuff.
Labels: Political Realities, Social-Cultural Deviations, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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