A friend sends me these links and comments about the current political atmosphere in Russia. Add to this the recent rubberstamping of the bill to give the Russian president a 6 year term, and we see that the political climate has become very, ahem, strict. However, my point was that the opportunity is economic. So long as there is economic opportunity, then I believe things will eventually work to a better place politically. The worsening economic situation could actually help the ordinary people - by making consideration of them more urgent. It could cause a greater discontinuity of ideas between the leadership and the people. I think they are in for some unstable times. Putin has been compared to Stalin, (just search for Putin - power - Stalin, you'll get plenty of hits) and recently it has been said the he now has the most power of any leader since Stalin. If he wasn't working so hard to suppress dissenting views, I might not be worried. But, as it stands, I am very worried.
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Moscow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqBtjWJ5_ws&NR=1
Moscow
http://grani-tv.ru/entries/564/
Petersburg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4eAQO7gWmc&feature=related
Vladivistok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdEsjjCUX3Q&feature=related
This was not the first time. April 21, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Con6EA8jQjA&feature=related
Looks the same, only now it is not on TV at all.
The democracy has been buried during the second Putins’ period.
All that is in addition to deepening of economic crisis, creating unemployment and change for the worse of well-being of the people.
