Beautiful words

K. Larina: “I’ve written down all the topics for our conversation today, and it’s getting a little scary. The Law on Foreign Agents, the law on returning the article “Slander” to the Criminal Code, the Navalny case, the Belykh case, the Bessonov case, the Pussy Riot case. ...Tell me what does this mean? Is this some kind of massive purge going on?”

N. Svanidze: “Well, it’s a kind of nut clamp around the perimeter. It does happen, yes, of course.”

K. Larina: “So what? Why so fast? Why so hasty?”

N. Svanidze: “So that... I can’t even say “so.” Well, in theory, so as not to rock the boat. In theory. But this, of course, is not true. In fact, here, in my opinion, rather irrational motives lie at the core. Because if we think rationally, then these actions are illiterate, incorrect, they will lead to the opposite results, the opposite of the desired ones. On the contrary, they inflame, embitter, excite. And this is completely useless. We need to calm you down, but they excite you.” (“Special Opinion”, 07/06/2012, Ekho Moskvy).

You can say a lot of beautiful words... But still, is power really that irrational? Putin's circle, of course, does not shine with intelligence. Nevertheless, there are smart and sober people there. Who, of course, understand that the golden age of the Putin era is behind us. That difficult times lie ahead with economic turmoil and growing discontent among the population. Tell me, what should the government do to ensure that in such a situation they maintain control over the country for another number of years? That's right: prepare a base that will allow you to suppress protest by force. In particular, laws that will then make it easy to bring unwanted people to justice. And this needs to be done now, at the beginning of the cadence. Because now the protest is weaker than it will be in a couple of years. And because at the beginning of his tenure the ruler always has some credibility, which then decreases over time. It’s easier to imprison Navalny today than it will be in two or three years. Now let's see what the authorities are doing. Hastily adopts laws on rallies and meetings, on foreign agents and on the return of the article “Slander” to the Criminal Code. Hastily fabricating the cases of Navalny and Pussy Riot. So is power really that irrational?

Another thing is that Putin’s team, like a donkey after a carrot, is repeating step by step the classic path of any autocracy. With every step, confidently tightening the noose around your neck.