Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2006
From: John Varoli <jdvaroli@yahoo.com>
Subject: Russia, Order or Chaos? JRL #8
[note from web site editor: Michael Meyer has provided a link to his Newsweek article: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10756793/site/newsweek/from/ET/]
RE: Newsweek International
January 16, 2006
The Man With The Razor
The Ukraine crisis is a post-Soviet tale of Jekyll and Hyde. By day, good Dr.
Putin tries to remake Russia as a modern country. By night...
by Michael Meyer
I just have one concern about the following statement regarding Putin’s time as president…
``Almost single-handedly, he imposed order on the chaos of the post-Yeltsin years.’’
Order? If you take `order’ to mean the near elimination of plurality in the political process, then, Yes.
The view from the street, however, is quite another story. Russian society today is in a greater state of chaos since any year following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Of course, there are few reliable statistics, but the number of contract killings certainly remains high; deadly racist attacks by nationalist groups against foreigners and Russian minorities occur daily and are much more common than in the 1990s; corruption in the bureaucracy is worse than in the 1990s; and police harassment and abuse against Russian citizens seem to be at their highest levels ever. Polls consistently show that the vast majority of Russians fear their own police! I can’t exaggerate the fear I see in people’s eyes when they speak about the police or have to deal with them. The police are totally out of control, and constantly use so-called document checks to rob and beat people. Such cases weren’t that common in the 1990s, and it has only become a serious issue since about 2000. Also, before that year, foreigners had a certain elevated status that gave them immunity, but police today deliberately ! hunt and attack foreign tourists and ex-pats, at least that is the case in St. Petersburg.
Such corruption not only fosters chaos, but it undermines the legitimacy of the Russian state because people can only conclude that it is a parasitic body feeding on them.
Even though MVD stat! istics understate the situation, their stats still show that `regular' crime (as opposed to police crime) is rapidly rising, especially in St. Petersburg where the streets are utterly lawless. Criminals, corrupt policemen, and fascists carry out their nefarious affairs with utter impunity. Only the ignorant or naive walk the streets without a sense of worry and fear.
I’ve noticed, however, that many Russians tend to internalize this horrible situation. They accept such corruption, crime, and police harassment as ``normalno,’’ or ! say, ``what can we do?’’ Russians’ apathy, fatalism, lack of courage and a sense of justice are among the most serious fundamental problems facing this country.
Of course, there is the `other’ Russia; that 7 to 10 percent of the population which is well-connected, and/ or has the means to buy with cash whatever it wants --- be it real estate, expensive cars, state officials, or police officers.
Last week in Moscow, two police officers tried to rob me and my friend on the street. They threatened to detain us and take us to the station if we didn’t pay a `fine.’ (our documents were in order, but they made up some fictitious rule regarding my Russian friend.) I tried to stall them because we were waiting for another friend; a famous actor. When he showed up, they were stunned, their mouths wide open.
``Look, it’s a People’s Artist,’’ exclaimed one cop to the other, referring to Valeri Zolotukhin, the famous actor at the Taganka Theater, and a frequent face in Russian films. Th! e cops immediately handed back our documents, wished us well, and let us go.
Yes, if you are famous, well-connected, or have enough money, I think Russia is the greatest country in the world to live in. You can do anything you want, and get away with it. But life for the remaining 90% of Russians? ...chaos…
Sincerely,
John Varoli
St. Petersburg.