In one of my earlier posts (“Another Russia”), I wrote about the ways that Siberia seems to be different from European Russia. I was trying to be clever with the title - “Another Russia” is also a name of an opposition political party. Yet, the past few weeks have shown me that there is some reason to doubt that “another Russia” will arise anytime in the near future.
The immediate reason that caused me to think about this was my experience of buying train tickets earlier this week. I'll be attending the ELCUSFE (Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East) synod assembly this weekend, and in order to do that I need to travel between two of Siberia's largest cities, Novosibirisk and Omsk. At the ticket office I was confused about the time of departure and arrival until I clarified with the ticket agent that the times printed on the ticket are not local but “Moscow time.” “What does Moscow have to do with anything?” you ask. So do I. It's a bit hard for me to imagine a ticket from Denver to Seattle that would show arrival and departure in “Eastern Standard Time.”....
The focus of this country's political and economic life around the capital has been something I've enjoyed talking about with my new acquaintances here. For fun (and because I also sort of believe it), I've been arguing a political position that reflects my states'-rights-flavored upbringing. “We're living in the Russian federation,” I say, “which assumes that the central government has limited powers. What do the bureaucrats in Moscow” (=Washington) “know about what's best in Novosibirsk” (=Fallon County...ok, there are more people that live within a 3 minute walk of my apartment than in Fallon County, but you get the picture), “anyway?”
While I really do think that the people of this vast land would be better off if they had stronger local democratic institutions, it's not that I see this as a panacea. It probably wasn't in Moscow, after all, that the decision was made to improve the conditions of the neighborhood by first laying down a nice, brick sidewalk...and then, a month later, to tear part of that sidewalk up in order to make another improvement (adding street lights). I know that if I were a citizen of this country, I'd feel a large degree of ambiguity about this use of tax dollars – even really nice improvements to quality of life are done in such a way that it is hard to be completely happy.
And this brings me directly to the topic of national politics. In the last weeks, we first learned that there will be no real alternative to the party that unilaterally holds power in the central government
(“United Russia”); this became clear when the intriguing but short-lived political career of oligarch and New Jersey Nets' owner Mikhail Prokhorov came to an end. The most common explanation of why he was not given the chance to head an opposition political party was because he became too independent of the Kremlin “sponsors” who originally supported him.
After that, it became clear that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would be running for President again. Despite many reports in the press that support the idea that Mr. Putin is overwhelmingly popular, I personally know few Russians who sincerely consider Putin's candidacy a happy surprise. While many respect his accomplishments in his first terms in office, at the same time many sense that stagnation has set in since then. (Comparisons with the time of Brezhnev are everywhere, including here.) While for a time there was some question about whether President Medvedev might not actually be taking the country on a different course that might help the country deal with some of its most chronic ills (corruption and the lack of rule of law being primary), now his entire terms is seen as a buying of time before Mr. Putin could officially take the lead again. Yet, as with previous elections, in the months leading up to the vote there is a wave of pseudo-activity on the political front. Earlier this year a group gathered around Putin's personal leadership in the “People's Front;” this group is using every trick in the book (“the book,” by the way, seems to include many chapters from the experiences of the ruling elite in the Soviet times, while at the same time also making use of modern, western political technology) in order to exclude any possibility of doubt that Mr. Putin will be in power until 2024. Important aspects of the plan apparently include a popularism (see the “People's Front” sign below) and nostalgia for the country's imperial past (see the following article on Putin's proposal to create a “Eurasian Union” of former Soviet states).
The Russian question to ask about this situation - “what is to be done?” The assumed answer - “nothing.”
The Lutheran question to ask about this situation - “what does this mean?” The assumed answer - “we are to fear and love God...”; in this particular case, though, the conclusion of the answer will not be found in the text of the catechism. Instead, it will be found as our people strive to act on the basis of our faith for the good of our neighbors.
The immediate reason that caused me to think about this was my experience of buying train tickets earlier this week. I'll be attending the ELCUSFE (Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East) synod assembly this weekend, and in order to do that I need to travel between two of Siberia's largest cities, Novosibirisk and Omsk. At the ticket office I was confused about the time of departure and arrival until I clarified with the ticket agent that the times printed on the ticket are not local but “Moscow time.” “What does Moscow have to do with anything?” you ask. So do I. It's a bit hard for me to imagine a ticket from Denver to Seattle that would show arrival and departure in “Eastern Standard Time.”....
The focus of this country's political and economic life around the capital has been something I've enjoyed talking about with my new acquaintances here. For fun (and because I also sort of believe it), I've been arguing a political position that reflects my states'-rights-flavored upbringing. “We're living in the Russian federation,” I say, “which assumes that the central government has limited powers. What do the bureaucrats in Moscow” (=Washington) “know about what's best in Novosibirsk” (=Fallon County...ok, there are more people that live within a 3 minute walk of my apartment than in Fallon County, but you get the picture), “anyway?”
While I really do think that the people of this vast land would be better off if they had stronger local democratic institutions, it's not that I see this as a panacea. It probably wasn't in Moscow, after all, that the decision was made to improve the conditions of the neighborhood by first laying down a nice, brick sidewalk...and then, a month later, to tear part of that sidewalk up in order to make another improvement (adding street lights). I know that if I were a citizen of this country, I'd feel a large degree of ambiguity about this use of tax dollars – even really nice improvements to quality of life are done in such a way that it is hard to be completely happy. And this brings me directly to the topic of national politics. In the last weeks, we first learned that there will be no real alternative to the party that unilaterally holds power in the central government
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| Posters with Prokhorov were everywhere for a couple of weeks... |
After that, it became clear that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would be running for President again. Despite many reports in the press that support the idea that Mr. Putin is overwhelmingly popular, I personally know few Russians who sincerely consider Putin's candidacy a happy surprise. While many respect his accomplishments in his first terms in office, at the same time many sense that stagnation has set in since then. (Comparisons with the time of Brezhnev are everywhere, including here.) While for a time there was some question about whether President Medvedev might not actually be taking the country on a different course that might help the country deal with some of its most chronic ills (corruption and the lack of rule of law being primary), now his entire terms is seen as a buying of time before Mr. Putin could officially take the lead again. Yet, as with previous elections, in the months leading up to the vote there is a wave of pseudo-activity on the political front. Earlier this year a group gathered around Putin's personal leadership in the “People's Front;” this group is using every trick in the book (“the book,” by the way, seems to include many chapters from the experiences of the ruling elite in the Soviet times, while at the same time also making use of modern, western political technology) in order to exclude any possibility of doubt that Mr. Putin will be in power until 2024. Important aspects of the plan apparently include a popularism (see the “People's Front” sign below) and nostalgia for the country's imperial past (see the following article on Putin's proposal to create a “Eurasian Union” of former Soviet states).
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| "The People's Program" of the "People's Front" with a description of how the people support everything good (utilities control, entryway renovations, road repair, school repair, schools, and pedestrian streets, new kindergartens, accessible public transport, playgrounds, modern clinics, new jobs, accessible housing).... I'd assume that they have billboards elsewhere explaining how "the people" will make these things appear. |
The Lutheran question to ask about this situation - “what does this mean?” The assumed answer - “we are to fear and love God...”; in this particular case, though, the conclusion of the answer will not be found in the text of the catechism. Instead, it will be found as our people strive to act on the basis of our faith for the good of our neighbors.
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