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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: glenn_a who wrote (38840)	8/17/2008 3:09:35 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217815

OT - Thanks Glenn, lets start with the my statement that I feel very much “betrayed” by the Putin regime, and I will explain; During my early years I was brought up in believing that the Russian people are on of the most wonderful majestic nations in the world striving for hegemony and happiness of all people – I concur I was naïve but those believes where etched in my consciousness. Slowly events started to tip the reality to the other side and for many years I was rechecking my own assessment in what was wrong with my judgment as it did not reconcile with the reality – it was very easy to blame the whole injustice on the communist regime and later to define Stalin as a gruesome tyrant worst than Ivan the Terrible – it worked for me for a while, but still slowly I started reading about Soljenitsin Gulags, the oppression of Prague Spring and the Solidarity movement in Poland (events in Hungary and Budapest at the time I did not understood). Slowly the high watermark of the Russian as a nation started to blur, but I still blamed all the ills on the darkness of Lenin / Stalin communist regime. With perestroika and the fall of the Berlin wall a new feeling of great optimism and drive to engage with the new liberate countries including Russia, drove me to establish business contacts with officials in those nations and of course Romania had priority. I did not dully understood based on my early education the intricacies of the former Soviet Republics who broke lose of the USSR, but as a necessity of the business I started reading and learning Russian history and slowly the actual truth revealed itself and my childhood dreams about Russia where shattered. Now this should not be translated in an outright negation of the Russian people but into understanding of how their society works. At present I have many Russian and former USSR acquaintances who hammered again and again into my consciousness that Russia regime running this country is not what I think and does not reflect the people of this nation, which to much of my disappointment found only recently (last few years) how true it is!! My take of the Russian people is rooted in their mentality and approach to their day to day life. First Russia never experienced free speech or any form of democracy even that a broad part of the population, are highly educated intellectuals excelling at their thinking. Every movement in the direction of equality and democracy was brutally oppressed for generation and Russians came to accept this as a fact of life, which is transferred form “father to son” – if you want to live – then obey and keep quiet and keep your displeasure to yourself. All those people that where thinking and acting differently where deported to Siberia in Gulags, imprisoned and/or killed. By this Russians started a process of cleansing of their own people and those of the nations that they conquered east adn south of the Urals from anyone that had some independent spirit or entrepreneurial attitude or drive. The great famine induced by Stalin which killed an estimated 10 to 15 million all over the USSR (7 to 10 million innocent people in Ukraine alone) was engineered to suppress and eliminate all those farmers that wanted to be independent and refused to join the kolkhoz. The remaining ruling group form the population was composed of what we call “white collar” criminals who joined the communist party en- mass and a great majority of Russia composed of “central orders” obeying people – this situation was induced into Russian social fabric and now the world must deal with this situation. Most of the people now in power or those who amassed undreamed riches (except few exception) are all without a doubt the same Communist party “commissars” and local party former bosses, KGB types and the like. The majority of the Russian population is as it was for the last 100 to 200 or more years is oppressed exploited and poor, obeying to those in power in the Kremlin. Which brings us to today situation that he gang in power are people that where spared the various purges form Tsarist and Stalin et-al times and are the offspring’s of the same white collar criminals who joined the Stalinist system and the criminality is embedded in their family traditions, therefore no wonder that all the various power groups call the others “Mafia organization”. This social trait was not unique to Russia but sprung up in all former “communist” countries. The difference between the CEE and Russia is the fact that until WWII most of the CEE countries where more democratic than Russia and under Western Europe influence. This fact assisted those countries to resolve and marginalize the “communist tugs” who came to power and established mafia type organization. In most countries the effort of those mafia organizations composed of former "communists" tugs to gain control of the government failed. In Russia any one that does there business knows that about 10% of the deal value must be set aside for government officials and the money received is distributed like in any other known Mafia organization. This money is the “glue” that keeps those criminal organizations in power and ruling Russia. Any one that goes astray is economically destroyed, imprisoned on all kind of fictitious charges and in many cases murdered. What Putin regime is after, in Georgia, is to get his dues like any other mafia organization and the situation should be treated as such. How to bring Russia in the fold of the world nation is much more complicated, I think the Western World tried to bring Russia into the fold of the world nations, but failed to correctly read Putin’s intentions. As a former successful KGB agent he mislead every one and slowly build Russia ruling mafia empire under the Westerners nose making Europe even more dependent of Russian energy and now for example gobbling up power station everywhere. Most of Russian population is ruled by this ruthless criminal organization and due to the social fabric in place now, in Russia the chances of demand for integration in the world economies or revolt are slim. How to overcome this situation without blood shed? I do not know, one think is for sure Mafia organization know only one language and this is force and this is how the Russian State should be presently handled. To instill the free thinking entrepreneurial spirit true democracy and all the other benefits of a free society I do not know but for sure one way to handle it is to eliminate the bribes and kickbacks that is the glue holding this criminal organization in power. This long lasting oppression for generations, the sense of no future or hope of a better life, the stifling of self expression lead many Russians into chronic depression which in turn resulted in wide spread drunkenness and disengagement form actively being involved in the country political establishment. As a side remark – Yeltsin tried his best but naïveté, inexperience and the old ingrained order hampered his efforts and Russia was emptied of most of its productive assets and a big chunk of his wealth to enrich the few criminals and former communist party operatives. The destruction of the infrastructure was astonishing and no one knew how to handle it. – for those misfortunes and missed opportunity I blame the Western Nation with their unrealistic expectation and “quarterly results” mentality. To unwind 200 years of oppression and bring a meaningful social change and way of thinking needs years not quarters – and this I blame on those that 10 - 15 years ago did not realized the reality and where sleeping at the wheel which includes the Clinton administration. All this said there should be the appreciation for the few that enabled to contribute to the world much more than few magnificent cultural masterpieces and scientific achievements, but all this has nothing to do with the tugs now in power in Moscow and the world effort into eliminating them