Khodorkovsky

hello friends, though it is quite old now, I thought this speech might be of interest to you. Mikhail Khodorkovsky was formerly one of Russia's richest / most benevolent men. After accusing Putin and his government of corruption and a need for transparency and reform, he was arrested (for stealing from himself) in the course of his trial, 2 laws had to repealed in order to convict him and at his second trial, had the government bothered to do so, they would have to repeal 60 laws...anyways as it's somewhat of a contentious issue I thought it would be good forum material, or perhaps you already know everything and I'm wasting my time entirely..

http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/mikhail-khodorkovsky/mikhail-khodorkovsky-final-trial-speech

if you want some more information on Khodorkovsky the wikipedia is here..

http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/mikhail-khodorkovsky/mikhail-khodorkovsky-final-trial-speech

Putin is a man who will do anything to stay in power. At least I know a lot about this, because Russia is a neighbor of Poland.

Putin is a man who will do anything to stay in power. At least I know a lot about this, because Russia is a neighbor of Poland.

This sounds like a regular politician to me.

yes, except his means to do so are a lot worse than most other politicians. His means of staying in power have destroyed Russia's potential as a great world power and one that works in unity with the rest of the world... $240 billion are taken in bribes every year in Russia and Putin himself is thought to be worth up to $40 billion (that's despite his annual income of $80 000)

I am in accord with ren. But herein we are asked to practice the hardest sort of empathy there is : that of putting one's self in the place of someone whose place seems elevated. Corruption that quantifies itself in a monetary sum is not about money at all, but power. Politicians, bank executives, corporate executives &c. do not need money, they need to confirm constantly their power.

They do not necessarily have the problem of keeping a roof over their heads, the instead have the problem of keeping their heads to have a roof over. They have no genuine friends, at best tenuous family relations and any support they get is on a quid-pro-qua basis. These materially rich yet spiritually bankrupt people have lost most of their humanity, are more machine than Man, and as such their connexion to the Living Force remains savagely underdeveloped. Their lot is a sad one.

http://www.thersa.org/events/video/vision-videos/roman-krznaric

Que la Force soit aussi avec eux ...

If that is your opinion then I would read the speech

Mace, I'm sorry to have responded in a way that you feel inadequate. It is inadequate, admitted, for my angle is philosophy, and we respond mainly to generalities and hypothetical "thought experiments" more than to the conditions of real peoples' lives. I did read the speech. It is like many 'unjust' situations in Russia over the past twenty years.

So, I will respond to you again, armed with more specialised viewpoints, after getting responses to the question from two friends, one a professor in political science, a russianist, and the other an officer of IPSOS, Иван Б., who is from Новосибирск ...

Can you wait ?

Arm yourself with understanding. This is 'politics' since politics has been. Freedom and democracy are almost always killed by their structuring. Wait, see what happens ...

The Force has its own justice that no court can rule.

Has the Russian leadership crossed over into dictatorship yet? If Putin now considers himself a dictator, then I think that is different from being a politician.

Really. This is regular politics. every country has to deal with this. Considering the size and natural resources of russia, I think the levels of corruption there are actually rather acceptable... and when compared to other countries, in the "good half".