I have been learning about power recently. I have many questions about power- who has it, how did they get it, what motivates them to get and keep power,all things power. What a lucky time to have these questions. Russia is going through somewhat of a power change now and this time we have front row seats.
I admit that I have not brushed up on my Russian political system, but apparently there is a president and a prime minister. Putin is now the pm and Medvedev is the president. According to this article, Putin does not want to let go of his power. In fact, while he stays in power, those in power of the state's enterprises will stay in power. From what I have read, Medvedev is Putin's protoge but does not have a complete identical set of standards as Putin. What I think I see happening is what is happening here in the US. Those in power want to stay in power and Putin can not risk losing his power or the gains from those in power will give him.
In a way, I can see this having "macroeconomic" implications. Lets say that Russia is becoming a better place to invest. In a way, Putin has had some part in securing those investments and "insuring" that they stay good investments. I may still be learning, but this seems an awful lot like our governemnt. The major difference may be that Putin is defying Medvedev in plain view while our leaders tend to hide their power in regulations, court descisons, earmarks, legislation.
When will we see some good, decent leaders who are not obsessed with power and can deal with what life gives them without getting help from those in power?
1 comment:
Hi, Craig… The way I see this, and most of my colleagues see this as well, the power seekers in this country come from two major groups.
Big money corporations and people use the lobby system to get and keep the power they have via legislation that benefits them and usually does the opposite to you, but not always.
Then you have the social groups: Religious Right, Move On.org types that want one world order, and the liberal left that wants all the moral freedom they can get their hands on. The ACLU wants total secrecy so that no one will ever figure out what they themselves are hiding. Let’s not forget the hunters that just want to keep the guns they have. Then you have the racial lobby. They all funnel money into all kinds of campaigns and lobbies.
In the midst of all this political jockeying, you were looking for some international form of order?
To coin an old New York City phrase, Money talks and BS runs the marathon.
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