Mise said:
A strong government isn't necessarily a bad thing, and things are not nearly as bleak in modern Russia as they were during the existence of the Soviet Union, but Russia's consistent slide towards public oligarchy (or dictatorship at worst) worries me. There are some signs I personally find disturbing: Cults of Personality (I'd argue that most Nashi members worship Putin), increasing checks and restrictions on public liberties, ie. the handling of the political opposition, Russia's recent attempts to rewrite history in a new light ("So, Stalin was the biggest mass-murderer of the 20th century. So what? He had to be strong for the sake of the country"), etc. Nashi isn't nearly as strong as Hitler-Jugend was (at least not yet), but a movement populated by a bunch of airheaded youths, based on extreme nationalism and a cult of personality could always evolve into something far more dangerous, IMO. Especially when the movement in question is sponsored by the Russian government. I'll add something more about Kosovo and Chechnya when I have the energy for it. |
Dont get me wrong but are the Russians the only ones that try to rewrite the history of their country ? What about the US . They try and put on every one of their post WW2 wars the WIN logo , and declare that it was a war for humanitys sake , and they where the good guys . The truth is that almost every single one of them was a failure , and a poor trial to get even more " allied " teritories . The Korean war , Vietnam , the balcan war and the second middle east war ( OK , I have to say that the first was actually a legitime attack , because of the extreem ammount of mass murder that was going on , though lets be honest , they knew why they are going there ) where are dubious ones at best .
Yes , Russia has a much higher tendence to go towards more extreme government forms , but again they just leaped out from an er that lasted over generations and what was based on total population control . Isnt it possible that all these Nashi people are the last remains of a fallen era , and the young ones are non others than just some manipulated teens ? Yes the Russian government sponsores them , but thats in the same time just the small picture . Did you know that Russia had increased their military expenses over 3x last year , and the same movement was made by the US ? ( I dont know with how much the US had growned theirs , but the still did ) . Thats what disturbes me more , than this small , extremist organizations .
Also what about the last Nato sumit , that was held here ? Dont get me wrong but the USs anti-rocket shield is clearly a politically offensive move against Russia , no matter how they put it . The monster ( Russia )was sleeping untill now , and all they want is for other countryes to take them as a world power ( and lets be honest , its still is even with the major downfall wich started in '88 ) , but no , they had to do this . Who forget that the Cold War was over , president Bush ? Did you also knew that in Ukraine less then 12% of the population wants to be part of the NATO , and the US is till pushing and striving for it , so the question is which is the state that we actually have to fear of , so it wont go into a conquer all situation ? ( If we are not in it allready ) .
PS : Im not an american hater , Im just an amercan expansion hater :P
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