I just spent an entertaining few minutes perusing the amateur photography gallery of President Dmitry Medvedev (the Moscow Times is running a story on this one). So far I think Medvedev’s photos are much better than Vladimir Putin’s foray into oil painting, though it’s hard to imagine one of the photographs nabbing a similar £750,000 auction price.
What I am struck with though is this constant exaltation of both Putin and Medvedev as “the great man,” which sometimes even reminds me of the kind of moves pulled by Kim Jung Il of North Korea (who once even spread the rumor that he was the best golfer in the world on the very first time he tried the game – five hole-in-ones). The myth factories are pumping out stories in overtime, with Putin going to the bottom of Lake Baikal in a submarine one minute, Medvedev pumping out video blogs the next, and then of course the endless macho photo opportunities. These are not merely political leaders, we are meant to believe, but godly embodiments of perfection, with the skills, grace, and intelligence to accomplish virtually anything they set their minds to. It’s not enough that they run the country, but their people also must be impressed with their extra-curricular talents.
Photos, paintings, judo, blogging, and tiger hunting are all swell pursuits, but it would just be such a nice relief if either of these guys could just show off their skills through accomplishments in office.
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“Photos, paintings, judo, blogging, and tiger hunting are all swell pursuits, but it would just be such a nice relief if either of these guys could just show off their skills through accomplishments in office.”What…increasing Russia’s PPP GNP by a factor of six in a decade ain’t enough for you?I remember all the ridicule Putin got when in the early 2000s he set the goal of doubling Russia’s GNP in a decade. Well it happened and then some, but you’ll never hear about that accomplishment here. And even the greatest global economic crisis since 1929-1933 has knocked Russian GNP and consumption levels all the way back to those of 2007, which was a pretty good year actually.
I think it’s pretty clear from most entries you read on this blog that we take a critical line on this government – probably inspired by the fact that they have reinvented the show trial and gulag, eliminated democratic liberties, crushed the free press, and have allowed a culture of violence and political murder to run out of control… etc.I know that these kinds of laundry lists can get exhausting, especially coming from an often predictable, whiny critic like myself, but these are still problems happening under Putin’s watch that can’t be ignored.As for the economic success – unless we are prepared to credit him for somehow bringing about the commodities boom, then there is little to celebrate. The government’s most prized fiscal policy move, the stabilization fund, was invented by Andrei Illarionov, so we can go looking for his views on Putin’s economic miracle. In other areas, such as diversification away from oil, fighting corruption, and handling the currency value, there is not any track record of success.But we do have renaissance men with oil paintings, photographer skills, and nude photo shoots.