“The basic problem in Russia is the weakness of the rule of the law, and that that cannot be solved in oligarchical conditions. Oligarchy is the area that Putin cannot touch, because it is the essence of his rule.” I was thinking about these sentences and how they relate to some degree in the countries under authoritarian rule. Weakness of the rule of law cannot be solved in an oligarchy and Putin won’t touch the oligarchy because Putin’s rule rests on it. So in maintaining that which weakens snd eventually destroys the rule of law, I would think what would happen would eventually be a descent to lawlessness in a Country, given some unlucky circumstances. COVID-19 is one bit of unlucky circumstance for Putin. A Country with enough unlucky circumstances and a leader only interested in maintaining his own status without regard for the people eventually ceases to exist. What happened in the Congo is one example. What is going on in Venezuela is another example of a descent into lawlessness. Large swaths of the Country are no longer under Maduro’s control, but are under control of gangs, mostly from Columbia. The more Maduro tries to hold power, the more the Country falls apart. I think Putin is smarter than Maduro, but he is boxed in by the Oligarchy which sustains his power. He rules only as long as he lives and/or doesn’t have a big screw-up or a series of bad luck events. I guess Putin wants to live comfortably but at what price?
I hope we here in the US can learn from these various examples. I’m not so sure we will learn though given we have entrenched oligarchs calling the shots here.
Aging regime is so apt when we recall that P's longevity is in second place only to Stalin, whose primacy kept him above the stress & health issues to which his rivals (everyone!) succumbed and enabled his homicidal bent beyond the FBI profile retirement age for serial killers here. Power addicts are the worst prospects for the inevitable helplessness if one lives that long. How long do you give this ruler & his enablers?
“The basic problem in Russia is the weakness of the rule of the law, and that that cannot be solved in oligarchical conditions. Oligarchy is the area that Putin cannot touch, because it is the essence of his rule.” I was thinking about these sentences and how they relate to some degree in the countries under authoritarian rule. Weakness of the rule of law cannot be solved in an oligarchy and Putin won’t touch the oligarchy because Putin’s rule rests on it. So in maintaining that which weakens snd eventually destroys the rule of law, I would think what would happen would eventually be a descent to lawlessness in a Country, given some unlucky circumstances. COVID-19 is one bit of unlucky circumstance for Putin. A Country with enough unlucky circumstances and a leader only interested in maintaining his own status without regard for the people eventually ceases to exist. What happened in the Congo is one example. What is going on in Venezuela is another example of a descent into lawlessness. Large swaths of the Country are no longer under Maduro’s control, but are under control of gangs, mostly from Columbia. The more Maduro tries to hold power, the more the Country falls apart. I think Putin is smarter than Maduro, but he is boxed in by the Oligarchy which sustains his power. He rules only as long as he lives and/or doesn’t have a big screw-up or a series of bad luck events. I guess Putin wants to live comfortably but at what price?
I hope we here in the US can learn from these various examples. I’m not so sure we will learn though given we have entrenched oligarchs calling the shots here.
Aging regime is so apt when we recall that P's longevity is in second place only to Stalin, whose primacy kept him above the stress & health issues to which his rivals (everyone!) succumbed and enabled his homicidal bent beyond the FBI profile retirement age for serial killers here. Power addicts are the worst prospects for the inevitable helplessness if one lives that long. How long do you give this ruler & his enablers?