Supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny attend a rally in Moscow, Russia October 7, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
WNU Editor: AP takes a stab at trying to understand what is the mood in Russia today .... In Putin’s heartland, apathy and disappointment rule (Nataliya Vasilyeva, AP). A to what is my take .... the impression that I am receiving from friends and family members is that for those who are under 40 .... they want change .... a new leader/political party/direction. The over 40 crowd .... they want Putin and more of the same. This is a clear generational split .... and it is shaking the country.
Hmmmmm .... a small admission .... I have been away from Russia for far too long. I do go there twice a year .... pay some bills .... spend a week .... and then go back to Canada. But I think (if possible) .... on my next trip I am going to stay longer. Get the feel on what is exactly happening there. My gut is telling me that while Putin will win the Presidential election in March of next year (and this will be his last election), the country is moving in a different direction, and it will start to change very quickly. As to what those changes will be .... honestly I do not know. But I do know that it will impact all of us.
3 comments:
Freedom calls
Can you imagine a free Russia? Free elections, free speech, free media.
What about the massive corruption over there, how will this pair up with freedom? Even if Putin is gone, media will still be influenced by cronies, much like in the US, but it'd be good still if Russians would be a bit more free than America.. who, lets be honest, is the oldest democracy, yes, but on the democratic transparency and other democracy rating factors has been plummeting and plummeting.. better learn from the north European states, they do seem to get democracy better than anyone
Twenty five plus years after the fall of the Soviet Union, this is the slow gradual generational change that has remained mostly peaceful.
Putin is a man of his time.
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