Comments on: Russia: a czar living in greatly reduced circumstances http://davecole.org/blog/2007/06/15/russia-a-czar-living-in-greatly-reduced-circumstances/ Thoughts, notes and comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:59:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Vino S http://davecole.org/blog/2007/06/15/russia-a-czar-living-in-greatly-reduced-circumstances/#comment-258 Vino S Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:17:00 +0000 http://davecole.org/blog/?p=282#comment-258 I think that Russian democracy started off in a bad way since it was combined with the collapse of the country (the USSR) that it had formerly been part of and people were aware that now they had lost the Cold War. In that way, the new system started off on a bad foot - like Weimar Germany.<br/><br/>In addition, the early leadership (Yeltsin, Chubias etc) tried to force a free market economy on a country that was not prepared for it or keen on it. And, when parliament objected, Yeltsin forcibly dissolved it in 1993. Democracy does thus have a bad name in Russia because it is seen as associated with an era when oligarchs plundered state property while the poor got poorer.<br/><br/>Additionally, of course, demographic change (the falling population) is weakening Russia further. It is becoming dependent on raw materials (e.g. oil) like many Third World countries. However, as raw materials become more scare what with China and other Asian countries industrialising, the rich stock of raw materials Russia has could be her economic salvation. I think that Russian democracy started off in a bad way since it was combined with the collapse of the country (the USSR) that it had formerly been part of and people were aware that now they had lost the Cold War. In that way, the new system started off on a bad foot - like Weimar Germany.

In addition, the early leadership (Yeltsin, Chubias etc) tried to force a free market economy on a country that was not prepared for it or keen on it. And, when parliament objected, Yeltsin forcibly dissolved it in 1993. Democracy does thus have a bad name in Russia because it is seen as associated with an era when oligarchs plundered state property while the poor got poorer.

Additionally, of course, demographic change (the falling population) is weakening Russia further. It is becoming dependent on raw materials (e.g. oil) like many Third World countries. However, as raw materials become more scare what with China and other Asian countries industrialising, the rich stock of raw materials Russia has could be her economic salvation.

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