Article

2004-02-24

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Posted by rkb 2004-02-24 9:28:22 AM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 In today's news, President Putin dismissed the government...
"Hail! Hail! All hail Tsar Putty! All for one and, er, that's me! So let's hear it for me! May I live forever!"

In other news...

Posted by .com 2004-2-24 9:40:24 AM|| 2004-2-24 9:40:24 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Damn Vladimir, what are you up to now?

Posted by dataman1 2004-2-24 12:38:08 PM|| 2004-2-24 12:38:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Man I'm sorry but you guys don't understand Russia. Putin is the best choice for Russia right now.

Posted by Rafael 2004-2-24 1:20:39 PM|| 2004-2-24 1:20:39 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 dataman1, he's up to building a new empire with him as dictator. He tricked me for a while there though...

Rafael, nah we understand russia. One only needs to look at its history to understand it.

Posted by Damn_Proud_American 2004-2-24 1:23:18 PM|| [http://brighterfuture.blogspot.com] 2004-2-24 1:23:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Isn't this just the same has dissolving a parliment? No big deal, it to clarify who's voting for what. SOP.

Posted by Shipman 2004-2-24 6:21:26 PM|| 2004-2-24 6:21:26 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 he's up to building a new empire with him as dictator

And that's bad? Ask the average Russian what they think about Putin.

Posted by Rafael 2004-2-24 7:37:20 PM|| 2004-2-24 7:37:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 "And that's bad?"

Yeah, Rafael, most of us think that dictatorial empires are bad.

"Ask the average Russian what they think about Putin."

Probably the same thing that your average German was thinking about Hitler, back in the 30s.

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2004-2-24 8:13:58 PM|| 2004-2-24 8:13:58 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Rafael, dictatorships are bad regardless of whether people like the dictator or not. The problem comes in when that dictator leaves that the people liked and is replaced with someone they may not like so much. Also, dictators (anyone in a position of power for that matter) tend to become more corrupt and power hungry the longer they are in power. This is part of the reason that term limits are such a smart idea.

Posted by Damn_Proud_American 2004-2-24 8:23:27 PM|| [http://brighterfuture.blogspot.com] 2004-2-24 8:23:27 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Guys, I have news for you. The jury is still out on democratic political systems. Not everyone (who is otherwise normal) is so keen on democracy. It's all good if you live somewhere with an established democratic tradition. But in the Russian context, for example, as long as the 'dictator' embraces capitalism and free market economics, resulting in relative prosperity, you'd find that the people would care less about democracy. The assumption of course, is that the 'dictator' is wired right to begin with.
Believe it or not, the old tsarist system would be a good setup for Russia. With backing from the Church you'd have moral guidance, a leader that the people look up to, and modern economics to keep everyone prosperous and happy. I suspect a lot of Russians would be extremely happy with this arrangement.
The problem of course, is the old adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely". In this respect democracy is useful in getting rid of a would-be tyrant. But if the pool of candidates is already filled with aspiring tyrants, with no bright star in sight, what good is democracy?
Comparing Putin to Hitler is not really fair because there was no doubt about Hitler's agenda already early on. Unless Putin starts executing people left and right, top and bottom, I'm willing to give him a pass, within the Russian context.

Posted by Rafael 2004-2-24 9:29:24 PM|| 2004-2-24 9:29:24 PM|| Front Page Top

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