The Kremlin’s Magic Talisman

From Radio Free Europe:

“The Kremlin can say — and it has said many times — that there is no financial crisis in Russia. And the people are supposed to accept that. And the Kremlin itself partly believes what it says because in Russia, historical reality has usually been built on words, not deeds: the verbal icon, denying the existence of a crisis, becomes a magic talisman protecting against the crisis.”