tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259652146314887198.post8037094857669118039..comments2008-12-10T14:05:30.768-08:00Comments on The New Kremlinology: Russia & Georgia (Will They Ever Hook Up?)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259652146314887198.post-32601669543829812602008-11-08T15:30:00.000-08:002008-11-08T15:30:00.000-08:00I think you're being a little hard on me. (Huh, hu...I think you're being a little hard on me. (Huh, huh-huh, huh-huh-huh-huh. I said "hard on.") The reason that attitude is coming through isn't because I mean it but because I'm being a little lazy writing these things. I should choose my words better.<BR/><BR/>You're right: the people really aren't to blame, and if anyone's going to blame them, it sure as hell can't be us. <I>Any</I> population under <I>any</I> government in <I>any</I> country is susceptible to being distracted by Bread and Circuses. It's just a fact of life that if people enjoy prosperity and are entertained — even if that entertainment is a national one, like a war — they're less apt to ask questions. I know when I was a kid and later a teenager, I didn't say, "Hey, how come I have it so good, in such a nice house, with nice stuff?" Most people are like that about their governments. We question when something's <I>not</I> there, not when it is. I can't and <I>don't</I> fault either the Russian or the Chinese peoples. Right now they're enjoying some of the highest quality of life, across all demographics, that their societies have ever seen. <BR/><BR/>But after a while, I think blame will migrate there. The questioning will start somewhere. Someone — maybe a radio DJ, maybe an academic, maybe a charismatic sports star — <I>someone</I> is going to ask why the country is becoming increasingly bellicose, why the government is getting more opaque and why dissent seems to be disappearing. <I>When</I> (not if) that happens, I think my blame will start migrating to the people if they're not starting to wonder about those things themselves. A totally incurious society is a terminal society. For their own sakes, they (as we lately started to) have to ask questions about the air at the top. What's going on there? Who answers to whom? Does anyone have to answer to anyone else at all anymore?George F.K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04198363103575085084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259652146314887198.post-63536633895162120362008-11-08T14:07:00.000-08:002008-11-08T14:07:00.000-08:00I agreed with a lot of your post, and it's another...I agreed with a lot of your post, and it's another good'n, so good onya. :)<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I can't shake the feeling that it sounds like you're blaming the Russian people or feel some negativity there. I'm as wary and critical of Putin's pretty much total control of the country, but I can't put that on anyone. I get your point that people who are going through a lot of good times won't look around and ask what's wrong. But that's not really a charge I feel good leveling at this point in history. The middle class in this country was bought off with a few hundred dollars per year in tax cuts and just watched a few trillion in debt get shipped out to China so a president could gather ENORMOUS executive power. <BR/><BR/>Getting on the Russians' case for doing something similar would be like punching myself in the face.L-Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10486371296715140348noreply@blogger.com