After choosing Adolf Hitler in 1938 and Stalin twice - in 1939 and 1942, Time's Person of the year has followed tradition to choose VLADMIR PUTIN for 2007. For those unaware, he is more or less the dictator of Russia.
"TIME's Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest," says the magazine. Ummmm damn right it isn't!
This is what Garry Kasparov, formerly the world chess champion and now a leader of The Other Russia, a pro-democracy coalition has to say
(excerpt from his column in the Wall Street Journal):
Ever since President Vladimir Putin took office eight long years ago, the political and media leadership of the West have had a full-time job trying to look on the bright side of Russia's rapid turn from democracy.
The free press has been demolished, elections are canceled and rigged, and then we hear how popular Mr. Putin is. Opposition marches are crushed, and we're told -- over and over -- how much better off we are today than in the days of the Soviet Union.
9 comments:
hi
i read this issue of the time , they have profiled a night club amongst other things,how does a night club serve as an indicator of the well being of a country ?
there is no mention of social reforms or as you have mentioned controlling the media . the western press is influenced by the interets of their political masters, putin is good for the west , therfore he must be good.
though I am not a fan of Putin; but if you read the history of Russia and then the Soviet Union; Russians have never seen stability & economic prosperity for more than a few years; so when Putin is giving them exactly that trust me the Russians are ok with a few freedoms being taken away
I am not endorsing Putin; in fact I think very soon Putin will extract more such freedoms from the citizens; but I dont think he has done a bad job
look @ what Russia was in 1999 a bundling ex-superpower and now its almost back to that stage again with vast reserves of oil, gas and commodities so Putin is right now making max of it and whats wrong with that? China did the same thing
And Idont agree with what ir has said above; Time has done detailed work on this issue; Putin is no way good for the West; in fact the West are scared of him.
anywyas; I think Putin would be even my choice for POY
also if you read then Kasporav made all these statements in English in front of a local media ie trying to seek political mileage; so who is a bigger creep?
Anshul: There is nothing wrong with making most of your natural resources; but there is a lot wrong with killing and jailing dissidents and creating political monopoly. You say "trust me the Russians are ok with a few freedoms being taken away" - but I doubt you have that right. When people rally in protest in a country where they can be killed for doing so - I'd say it counts for a lot!
Have you noticed, the pros you've listed for Putin are well in line with what was said of Hitler before he knocked at England's gates and made them react? The excuses of “progress” were why his rule was able to “exterminate” millions of Jews before anyone even started making the effort to stop him.
Don't now why you call Kasparov a creep. We all know he has no chance in hell of displacing powerful Putin, yet he fights. It would have been easier for him to amass a fortune and emigrate than to be a dissident in his country where, as I mentioned earlier, you can be killed for being so. The man has even spent nights in a jail for taking part in a rally recently.
Yes, Russia is making a comeback on the world's map, but even if that is thanks to Putin, it is not sufficient reason to give him an endorsement. Frankly, whether Times calls it an endorsement or not, POY is very much an endorsement.
The whole thing under Putin reminds me of Animal Farm. Orwell wrote the satire on how the Russian Revolution changed nothing - select few held resources before and select few held resources after; only change was who those few were. Now again, under Putin, there is a single party rule for all practical purposes and masses have no political freedom. KGB has been revived to keep checks.
As for "China did the same thing" - that "same thing" is more akin to their Cultural revolution than today, a time when people were force fed what the govt said - and that era is hardly held up as a shining example! It wrecked havoc on China’s social as we as economic well-being at the time.
we sort of share the same thought in the longer perspective but ...
http://iwalkaloneonthislonelystreet.blogspot.com/2007/10/you-repeat-history-if-you-forget-it.html
... but I would still put my force behind Putin.
You know why because if you had Russia wiht all its armaments and disintegrating under a weak leader then in addition to terrorism you would have had a healthy breeding ground for a hoot more trouble than you'd wish for.
When I said China did the same thing; I meant China used all its resouces while curbing democracy and media and shunning everything nice etc (forgot Tinamen or the fact that no one knows about whats really happening in Tibet or Western provinces in China, Yunan); but hey! you know what no one talks of China because well China has too much money and is driving the world economy and is holding the commodities marktets! People do complain on and off but hey who cares?!?
HK's democracy stint got delayed to 2020 but did anyone notice; well not? we both still in HK dont we? Singapore.... come on that cuntry is less democratic than Cuba!
Babes, the world is running on two things economy and polity; 1 sort of justifies the other and then 20 yrs later we all analyse when hte socio-economic strata is shifted that of course that was obvious!! like what happened to Soviet Union or the captalist world in 1920s/1930s....
And no one complains of Israel because the Jews control the American economy ...
Hitler is another debate; he was the seed of Versailles and the fact that the west thought they could control Soviet Union and the rise of Communism before Hitler became too aggressive. Well lets talk more on this ... uhhmmm other examples are Osama, Khoumeni (well hte Conra was an US charge in ); Allende (Chile); and India has our own .. LTTE, Bhindranwale ...use ppl till you can and then throw them out!
And IF Iraq had been pulled off as expected; then Bush would be the savior of Middle East!
First, of course there is resentment over all the points you mentioned. People do crib over Israel, the world does denounce Tiananmen, political leaders do associate with Dalai Lama, etc etc
Yes, the "realities of polity and economy" will keep them from winning a hand but
- that does not mean they have no impact
- that does not keep me from cheering for the underdogs
I agree with you that Russia needs a strong leader else there's real danger of instability in that country. But don't offer me a Bush-ian false choice of it's either Putin or a weakling [aka "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists"].
As for "use ppl till you can and then throw them out!" You know the answer to that already- it gets too late to throw them out!
If ppl did crib about Israel, Tinanmen and Dalai Lamai; then
1. Israel wouldnt have still been in control of Gaza Strip and doled out allocations of land on whims and fancies
2. Tinanmen; errr... most of the ppl who supported it are now the reverred leaders of hte Communist Party & pro-democracy movts are not supported for HK, forget China.
3. Dalai Lama ... Richard Gere comes and meets him; anyone else?
4. Forgot Burma?
Of course people crib and dissent!
unfortunately they don't have enough clout and muscle to tip the balance in their favour, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist!!
1. Why ignore the mideast's opposition to Israel when you're counting dissent? and that finally, finally the US govt has formally announced its displeasure over Israel's and grab in disputed territories, coinciding with Bush's tour?
2. There is no dearth of dissenters over Tiananmen!
3. Dalai lama moves in and out of India at will, despite China's increasing power and omipresent displeasure. Most lately, (Oct 07) Bush awarded him a media, meeting him publicly, having already met him in private a few times.
4. Monk's revolution (late 2007), India finally agreeing to not sell arms to Burma (post Monk's revolution), etc etc
Its a social strata ma'am; unless the very basic of what we judge the socio-economic foundations change these examples will keep coming up.
the under-dogs are always loved but no one wants to be one.
Communism may be the only answer to end the spoils of the society we live in; unfortunately no one knows how to implement the stratum ..?
I dont like Benazir so I will skip from commenting your recent blog.
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