Pre-covid if you were to stroll around any Russian city you would be impressed and feel very much at home. Well dressed citizens, pleasant cafes and coffee-shops, quality shops, amiable people and so on. But deeply embedded in every Russian’s psyche is the historic culture of centuries of tyranny, oppression and arbitrary, often irrational rules. In short, Putin is not an aberration.
The same culture permeates much of Russia’s historic fringe nations empire, particularly in the Caucasians.
To understand it read “The Caucasian Chalk Circle.” This play written by Bertolt Brecht in 1944 while he was an exile in America is a medley of several interconnected stories, all reflecting the Russian Empire’s historic oppression and irrationality and its peoples’ wearying helpless acceptance.
Western liberal culture is the opposite. Characteristic of western democracies is the public’s constant complaining and disdain for its politicians. The low turnout in the Local government elections reflects that. Periodically someone emerges to enjoy an untypical period in the sun of widespread adulation. Think Boris or Bob Hawke or Jacindamania. But without exception, this always ends in a volte-face public backlash of contempt in line with the old boxing adage, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Or as Enoch Powell famously correctly observed, all political careers end in failure. That’s certainly the case with the utterly ludicrous and embarrassing Jacindamania fervour that reduced a sizeable percentage of our population to fawning worshippers ascribing to her, mystical powers more common with religious skybayers. Jacindamania is now dead in the water and the many commentators who attributed the Saturday thrashing local body Labour candidates received to copping her pre-election blessing, may well be right.
The very few really clever politicians who have other options, know to pull stumps before the sentiment tide turns, John Key being a classic example.
That’s why a year ago on this site I predicted a 2023 landslide change of government and Jacinda astutely passing over the leadership 9 months or so before hand to avoid the humiliation the government will cop.
Our Western world’s politicians could certainly be forgiven for secretly envying the Russian situation, particularly the day after the election which dumps them back into their former anonymity and irrelevance.