This video is simply an insult to human intelligence. Cheap fear-mongering of a man who is holding at straw to salvage his whatever lost credibility. It's a shameless attempt at manipulation that vastly underestimates Russian intelligence. What sane person would ever believe this fantasmagorical scenario? Here are just a few examples from "what Russia would look like without Putin" (try not to laugh):
- Georgia occupies parts of Russia
- NATO troops invade Russia
- Russia's nuclear arsenal slips under US control
- A number of regions declare independence
- North Caucasus republics unite in one Emirate
- The economy in ruins, and one dollar equals 100 roubles, a loaf of bread costs 1,000 roubles.....
And so on and so forth. I'm not sure who made this masterpiece but it is a grotesque form of Putin's hackneyed propaganda - the country will devolve into chaos without him, disintegrate and fall apart. Too bad the entire world system has proved and continues to prove in daily battles in the Middle East and elsewhere that a nation's survival or putative stability can never depend on one person solely. It is a millenium-old myth of venal and rapacious dictators that they are indispensable for our social fabric. A potent lesson we've drawn the Arab spring, regardless of where we are, is that people don't need specific individuals to guard them, they don't need a certain level of so-called "political maturity" to exercise their rights. They need institutions that put human being at the center of gravity, they need power that enforces law without tightening screws and nurtures untrammeled freedom without degenerating into chaos. And there are no exceptions, there are no "cultural models" that are inherently resistant to this logic. All of that reasoning was tossed into the proverbial bin of history when Arab peoples toppled people in power last year and continue to do so, emboldening and inspiring us and many others.
Vladimir Putin's "electoral campaign" is in the full swing with the pre-election tricks of threatening independent voices (as happened with Ekho Moskvi), shutting down NGOs (as happened with election watchdog Golos), and now most disturbingly, intimidating Russian artists into pro-Putin stunts (poor Chulpan Khamatova was forced to shoot a video in support of the soon-to-be president at the risk of losing her charity work). But the more they do so, the more they de-legitimize themselves. If they take away our oasis of freedom, three more will spring up. We've learnt the best lessons from the Arab spring and we won't be robbed of our will again.
- Georgia occupies parts of Russia
- NATO troops invade Russia
- Russia's nuclear arsenal slips under US control
- A number of regions declare independence
- North Caucasus republics unite in one Emirate
- The economy in ruins, and one dollar equals 100 roubles, a loaf of bread costs 1,000 roubles.....
And so on and so forth. I'm not sure who made this masterpiece but it is a grotesque form of Putin's hackneyed propaganda - the country will devolve into chaos without him, disintegrate and fall apart. Too bad the entire world system has proved and continues to prove in daily battles in the Middle East and elsewhere that a nation's survival or putative stability can never depend on one person solely. It is a millenium-old myth of venal and rapacious dictators that they are indispensable for our social fabric. A potent lesson we've drawn the Arab spring, regardless of where we are, is that people don't need specific individuals to guard them, they don't need a certain level of so-called "political maturity" to exercise their rights. They need institutions that put human being at the center of gravity, they need power that enforces law without tightening screws and nurtures untrammeled freedom without degenerating into chaos. And there are no exceptions, there are no "cultural models" that are inherently resistant to this logic. All of that reasoning was tossed into the proverbial bin of history when Arab peoples toppled people in power last year and continue to do so, emboldening and inspiring us and many others.
Vladimir Putin's "electoral campaign" is in the full swing with the pre-election tricks of threatening independent voices (as happened with Ekho Moskvi), shutting down NGOs (as happened with election watchdog Golos), and now most disturbingly, intimidating Russian artists into pro-Putin stunts (poor Chulpan Khamatova was forced to shoot a video in support of the soon-to-be president at the risk of losing her charity work). But the more they do so, the more they de-legitimize themselves. If they take away our oasis of freedom, three more will spring up. We've learnt the best lessons from the Arab spring and we won't be robbed of our will again.
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