Update on the Red Capitalist Menace

Russian President Putin has been doing his best to bring back the bad old days - but with a capitalist twist. Instead of combining the best of both Capitalist and Statist worlds, he is apparently trying to combine the worst of both. He is trying to mold Russia into a nation of paranoid, propaganda-fed xenophobes, but xenophobes in an paranoid fanatical and single-minded pursuit of financial profits.

Written by Dagny D'Anconia

Friday 11 May 2007

Remember back in the 80’s when the Japanese corporate leaders were looking at business as a kind of strategic economic warfare? Many Americans were worried that the Japanese were going to buy up all the American assets until they had control of America. Putin has taken that economic warfare mindset much further.

Russian President Putin has been doing his best to bring back the bad old days - but with a capitalist twist. Instead of combining the best of both Capitalist and Statist worlds, he is apparently trying to combine the worst of both. He is trying to mold Russia into a nation of paranoid, propaganda-fed xenophobes, but xenophobes in an paranoid fanatical and single-minded pursuit of financial profits.

Russia (and China) have been seeing the world through paranoid capitalist colored lenses. Consider their reaction to American plans to create a moon base.

Ouyang Ziyuan, the chief scientist of China's lunar program said "Whoever conquers the moon first will be the first to benefit." Erik Galimov, an academic with the Russian Academy of Sciences said that the “plot” would "enable the US to establish its control of the energy market 20 years from now and put the rest of the world on its knees as hydrocarbons run out."

What they are ranting about is the possibility of extracting helium 3, which might someday be used for nuclear fusion. Having worked for NASA, I can assure you that the space agency hasn’t got a profit minded bone in its decrepit body. Mere mention of profit there gets a reaction as if you had said the “n” word.

Nevertheless, the Russians and Chinese have interpreted the moon mission plans as purely capitalistic and bent on world domination (Bwa ha ha ha!). This is seriously paranoid lunacy and more fit for some 007 movie than real life.

The new push for economic warfare has also impacted the Russian science community. Once they were enlisted to advance Russian military technology. Now they are enlisted to make money. A Russian Nobel Prize physicist says “Now the government thinks science must bring only income and profit, which is absurd." He says that Russia is driven by profit alone and that there was less government interference even under Josef Stalin. Russia's Academy of Sciences is fighting a government plan to establish a new supervisory council that would control the body's finances and include officials from the presidential administration.

We have already discussed the Russian business role in the Iran and Iraq situation in RUSSIA’S ANTI-CAPITALISM BUSINESS MODEL http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/2692/84/) Since then Putin has continued in this direction and has resurrected many features of the bad old days:

Putin worked to rescue the Hammer and Sickle insignia and made it the official Russian Army Flag.

Putin has complained bitterly about missiles intended to protect Europe from Iranian nuclear weapons, fantasizing that the weapons are directed at Russia. He inferred that America is like Hitler’s Third Reich.

He is also trying to reconstruct the old Eastern Bloc. Having lost many nations to New Europe, he has so far been increasing military ties with Belarus and meddling wherever possible in the Ukraine.

Putin has also grown paranoid and intolerant of any signs of dissent in Russia. In his final state of the nation address Putin "There is a growing influx of foreign cash used to directly meddle in our domestic affairs ... Some people are not averse to using the dirtiest methods, trying to foment interethnic and religious hatred in our multinational country... In this respect, I am addressing you with a request to speed up the adoption of amendments to the legislation toughening punishment for extremist actions."

Russia has also clamped down on the media as best they can. As a new owner of media, Gazprom ordered Russia’s largest independent radio network stations to have 50% good news about Russia, no coverage of any of the Kremlin’s domestic political opponents, and literally ordered that America had to be portrayed as an enemy. Television news has been edited to remove scenes of major protests and violence by security forces on protesters.

Elections are now "pseudo-elections, no better than we had in the Soviet era.'' according to Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of an opposition group. Even the head of the Communists' St. Petersburg branch complains that there are only two pro-Kremlin parties and`These are two parties which are supported by big business, government structures. We don't have those resources.''

Phony elections, paranoia, control of media, Cold War talk, science serving the state strategic interests, and the old hammer and sickle are back - but with a capitalist warfare mentality.

Putin is intent on going back to the bad old days - but in the age of internet journalism, global capitalism and modern communications, it may not be possible. Still, that is not stopping him from trying.

References:

http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?id=5642323

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915193.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/01/wmoon01.xml

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID

=2007-04-26T125512Z_01_L26131060_RTRUKOC_0_US-RUSSIA-PUTIN.xml

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200704/FOR20070423a.html

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,479023,00.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070506/ts_nm/russia_academy_putin_dc

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aJcud5tqVFGU&refer=news