I'm speaking more towards about how Putin views/uses the Communist Party as controlled opposition, but he also is aware that they are his likely successors if/when something were to happen to him.
Also how Putin simultaneously pays lip service to aspects of the USSR, and then turns around and praises White Army officers.
This might be a neoliberal-ish criticism, but the amount of wealth and power and control he and his oligarchs hold over all of Russia. That isn't to say that western capitalist countries don't have it worse in this aspect, of course they do. I know that Putin pretends to like aspects of socialism and that he isn't a marxist-leninist, but he is still a manipulative scumbag that seems to dangle the living standards and continual improvement over the common population while he is too tolerant of the oligarchs. Yes, Putin does have a fine leash on them, but he is still part of their class.
I agree that Russia seems to generally take care of it's people far better than the U.S. does, and even the United Nations admits that the semi-independent ethnic republics of Russia do have lots of autonomy and relative freedom.
I also agree that Trudeau, Biden, Macron are all dictators. I'm talking about how Putin has opposition killed.
Now, I'm not against Putin and the FSB assassinating targets out of a neoliberal misguided sense of morality, it's almost impossible to have a functioning security state without some equivalent of secret police. My criticism is that even though most of Putin's targets are neoliberal idealogues endangering the Russian state, I wouldn't be surprised if he uses it to suppress legitimate opposition.
Now, I’m not against Putin and the FSB assassinating targets out of a neoliberal misguided sense of morality, it’s almost impossible to have a functioning security state without some equivalent of secret police. My criticism is that even though most of Putin’s targets are neoliberal idealogues endangering the Russian state, I wouldn’t be surprised if he uses it to suppress legitimate opposition.
I wouldn't be surprised either, sure. But these are just assumptions- neither of us are crying for Nazi Navalny (who remains alive and well also, not that he necessarily should be- no doubt neither of us think of him as legitimate opposition), and Russia if anything- as we both agree- is more democratic (albeit still liberal and thus insufficiently, inherently so) and with both a widely popular government that is relatively competent at meeting its citizens' needs and demands, actually features meaningful semi-autonomy for its minorities, and even a large (controlled) communist opposition.
None of these things can even be said, for the western dictators (those of the Anglosphere and EU). It's for these many substantial differences, and more, that I hesitate and even object to some extent to calling Putin a "dictator," particularly when it's a word with such... baggage.
I'm speaking more towards about how Putin views/uses the Communist Party as controlled opposition, but he also is aware that they are his likely successors if/when something were to happen to him.
Also how Putin simultaneously pays lip service to aspects of the USSR, and then turns around and praises White Army officers.
This might be a neoliberal-ish criticism, but the amount of wealth and power and control he and his oligarchs hold over all of Russia. That isn't to say that western capitalist countries don't have it worse in this aspect, of course they do. I know that Putin pretends to like aspects of socialism and that he isn't a marxist-leninist, but he is still a manipulative scumbag that seems to dangle the living standards and continual improvement over the common population while he is too tolerant of the oligarchs. Yes, Putin does have a fine leash on them, but he is still part of their class.
I agree that Russia seems to generally take care of it's people far better than the U.S. does, and even the United Nations admits that the semi-independent ethnic republics of Russia do have lots of autonomy and relative freedom.
I also agree that Trudeau, Biden, Macron are all dictators. I'm talking about how Putin has opposition killed.
Now, I'm not against Putin and the FSB assassinating targets out of a neoliberal misguided sense of morality, it's almost impossible to have a functioning security state without some equivalent of secret police. My criticism is that even though most of Putin's targets are neoliberal idealogues endangering the Russian state, I wouldn't be surprised if he uses it to suppress legitimate opposition.
I wouldn't be surprised either, sure. But these are just assumptions- neither of us are crying for Nazi Navalny (who remains alive and well also, not that he necessarily should be- no doubt neither of us think of him as legitimate opposition), and Russia if anything- as we both agree- is more democratic (albeit still liberal and thus insufficiently, inherently so) and with both a widely popular government that is relatively competent at meeting its citizens' needs and demands, actually features meaningful semi-autonomy for its minorities, and even a large (controlled) communist opposition.
None of these things can even be said, for the western dictators (those of the Anglosphere and EU). It's for these many substantial differences, and more, that I hesitate and even object to some extent to calling Putin a "dictator," particularly when it's a word with such... baggage.