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- makes sense on paper, hopelessly naive about human nature and completely unworkable in practice.
Insight: Putin's Russia - more fragile than it looksBy Michael Stott | Reuters – 7 hrs ago.. .MOSCOW (Reuters) - When Vladimir Putin celebrated his 60th birthday last month, a group of patriotic mountaineers unfurled a portrait of the Russian leader on a 4,150-metre mountain peak. Hailing him as a guarantor of happiness and stability, the climbers' leader explained: "We have stuck Putin's portrait on a rock wall we see as unbreakable and eternal as Putin". But as Putin nears the end of his 13th year ruling this vast country, Russians feel increasingly unhappy and worries over long-term political and economic stability are growing. Russia is exporting three things in great quantity, says a leading Moscow banker: natural resources, capital and people. Only the first could be regarded as healthy and sustainable; the other two imply that oligarchs and ordinary citizens alike are turning their back on Putin's Russia. Almost a third of city-dwellers would like to emigrate from Russia, according to a poll in September. Among young people the proportion rose to nearly half. The most favored destinations were Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The reasons for this exodus of talent and money? A growing sense among educated Russians that their country is heading in the wrong direction, and that no change is likely. It all began very differently. Putin replaced Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin on December 31, 1999. His early years generated hope as the chaos of the Yeltsin era was replaced by order, the economy grew strongly - Russia's GDP has grown nearly 10-fold under Putin - and a consumer boom created a new middle class. A group of reform-minded ministers led by Alexei Kudrin at Finance and German Gref at Economy raised hopes of real change to increase private investment, modernize industry and infrastructure and reduce dependence on raw material exports. Fast forward to 2012. Putin began a fresh six-year presidential term this March, with his supporters calling for him to stay in power until a constitutional term limit of 2024 - by which time the former KGB spy would have ruled longer than any Kremlin leader since Stalin. Outwardly Putin's reform agenda continues. The president and his government repeat the mantra of modernization - a concept beloved of tsars for centuries. Putin told Russia's main economic forum this summer that his government would implement a program of major transformation to build a new economy, create or modernize 25 million jobs and become an exporter of innovative goods and services. But the facts on the ground point in a different direction. POLITICAL THAW REVERSED A brief and shallow political thaw under Dmitry Medvedev's 2008-12 presidency (in which Putin continued to wield ultimate power from the prime minister's office) is being reversed. Opposition leaders have been arrested on charges which human rights organizations say are trumped-up, new controls have been clamped on the Internet and a Medvedev repeal of slander laws has been reversed. Gref and Kudrin are both long gone from the government and unconfirmed rumors swirl in Moscow that Medvedev himself will be fired by Putin before the end of the year. Growth presses on but at the same time Moscow has the world's biggest population of billionaires, corruption is rampant and the country's huge wealth is very unevenly spread. Kudrin helped to fund a startling study from the Centre of Strategic Research think-tank, published last week. It concluded from interviews with focus groups in Moscow and regional cities that Russians saw little chance of changing their "predatory" ruling elite through the ballot box. Most thought a revolution was possible and even desirable. Medvedev cuts an increasingly lonely figure in Moscow, his credibility with voters gone after stepping aside without a murmur to make way for Putin's return to the Kremlin this year. His supporters privately despair of any chance for real change in an economy that looks increasingly Kremlin-controlled. One recent mega-deal shows the trend. Last month, state-controlled oil giant Rosneft said it would take over the number three oil producer, TNK-BP. Rosneft will buy out the current owners - four Soviet-born oligarchs and Britain's BP - to create the world's biggest publicly listed oil company. At a time when Russian oil production is falling and large-scale investment is badly needed to open up new fields, the Kremlin is instead spending $55 billion in cash and shares to acquire control of a major oil company from the private sector. As the government splurges, Russia's oligarchs are shifting more money abroad because of the poor investment climate. Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach estimates that $50-60 billion of private capital will flow out of Russia this year. Moscow bank Uralsib predicts the figure could hit $80 billion. "MIXED FEELINGS" Putin told a group of visiting academics and journalists last week over dinner at his residence that he had "mixed feelings" about the Rosneft takeover of TNK-BP because it increased state participation in the economy. Russia-watchers, however, had little doubt that the takeover was scripted inside the Kremlin. Rosneft is run by Igor Sechin, a long-time close Putin ally and Kremlin hard-liner who has always favored extending state control over key assets. The two-hour, seven-course dinner with the Valdai Group of Russia experts was held at Putin's Novo-Ogaryovo residence in an exclusive wooded suburb outside Moscow. The occasion was billed as a chance to gain insight into the latest Kremlin thinking and learn Putin's ideas for his new term. But at dinner, the Kremlin chief surprised some attendees with an uncharacteristically flat performance, devoid of the quips and bravado for which he is renowned and lacking in new ideas. Corruption is one of the biggest problems in Russia for ordinary citizens, businessmen and foreign investors. The country has slid to 143rd place out of 182 on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, tied with Nigeria. Yet Putin shrugged off a question about corruption with a tired sigh, asking his audience what they expected him to say that was new about such a perennial topic. Intimations of Putin's mortality have surfaced. The president's press secretary last week denied a Reuters report that the Kremlin leader needed surgery to correct a back injury, then days later squelched fresh rumors about Putin's health, saying he was working from home to avoid traffic congestion. Such issues are no minor matter in a country where so much power is concentrated in the hands of one man, a man with no visible successor. President Barack Obama memorably described Putin before their first meeting in 2009 as a leader with one foot stuck in the Soviet past, and signs of a drift backwards are visible in Moscow. The Kremlin administration is now headed by 59-year-old former KGB spy Sergei Ivanov, who likes to describe himself as "rather conservative on national security but quite liberal on economics". Ivanov previously headed the Defence Ministry and the military-industrial complex. ZASTOY AND PUTIN On the lips of many educated Muscovites today is the word "zastoy" (stagnation) - an epithet which came to define the lackluster latter years of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 1970s and early 1980s, but is now increasingly used of Putin. Despite years of government promises, Russia has yet to build a modern pensions saving system, improve regulation to create a viable financial market trading centre to compete with Dubai or invest in its crumbling infrastructure. Already weighed down by the cost of hefty public sector pay rises ahead of this year's presidential election, the Russian government's latest budget envisages spending $620 billion by 2020 re-equipping the country's military, while cutting spending on infrastructure and education. These priorities have upset business leaders, who are desperate for improvements to the creaking road network. And despite repeated Putin's pledges to cut the economy's dependence on oil and gas exports, the oil price required by the Kremlin to make its budget sums add up has more than doubled over the pasts five years to $110. In foreign policy, Medvedev's much-vaunted plan to reset relations with the United States on a more constructive track has stalled. Instead Moscow has confronted the West over Syria and given priority to pursuing a free trade area with former Soviet neighbors Belarus and Kazakhstan. Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, says Russia wants to be an "independent centre of attraction" for nations in its neighborhood and adds: "The West made a major mistake wanting Russia to be like the West - Russia wants to be Russia". PUNISHING [ladyparts, sissy] RIOT One of the clearest signs of divergence between Russia and the West is the treatment of [ladyparts, sissy] Riot - a punk feminist band who staged a protest song in Moscow's main cathedral this year imploring the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin. Three of its members were jailed for two years - one later released on a suspended sentence - for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". Putin said the women had "got what they deserved" because their performance amounted to a vulgar act of group sex and threatened the moral foundations of Russia. Western governments and human rights groups were outraged at what they saw as a grossly disproportionate punishment. Yet the harsh treatment meted out to [ladyparts, sissy] Riot may signify something deeper than moral indignation. Many analysts see the jail terms as a sign of something deeper - Kremlin insecurity amid rising popular discontent. While the street protests which swept Moscow last winter have now abated, political analysts say the urban, educated population is increasingly unhappy with Putin's leadership. Far from the grandeur of Putin's Novo-Ogaryovo residence, its wrought-iron gates topped with the double-headed Russian eagle, to the north of Moscow lies the featureless dormitory town of Krasnogorsk. Inside a small, noisy McDonald's restaurant there, a diminutive 30-year-old woman energetically explained her prediction for Russia's future under Putin, as a snowstorm swirled outside. "The system itself is crumbling," said Yekaterina Samutsevich, the released [ladyparts, sissy] Riot member. "It's becoming more repressive ... those in power have very strong fears and their behavior is more and more wild. We could end with a total collapse like the Soviet Union." Whether the vision of the strong, stable, great power projected by Putin or the apocalyptic prediction of the young punk rocker come to pass remains to be seen. But in the meantime Russia's people and its business elite are voting with their feet and their wallets. And Putin is not winning.
Insight: Hunger strikes in industrial Russia test loyalty to PutinBy Alissa de Carbonnel | Reuters – 15 hrs ago.. .VERKHNYAYA SINYACHIKHA, Russia (Reuters) - Factory smokestacks tower over weathered wooden houses in this provincial Russian town, part of the industrial heartland that helped propel Vladimir Putin into the presidency. Towns like Verkhnyaya Sinyachikha in the vast metals and manufacturing province of Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains, some 2,000 km (1,240 miles) east of Moscow, have long been regarded as the backbone of support for the former KGB spy. But that loyalty has been tested by hunger strikes over unpaid wages in at least three factories in Sverdlovsk this year that have prompted authorities to step in to rescue the biggest employers. The government subsidies recall generous industry bailouts that stemmed social unrest during the 2008-09 global economic crisis and signal Kremlin concern that support from working-class Russians, long inured to quietly shouldering hardships, could be at risk nearly 13 years after Putin rose to power. "The first time he ran, we voted for him. The second too, but this time we didn't," said Igor Ilyukhin, 41, one of 47 steel mill workers who fasted for 11 days for unpaid wages, camping on the rotten planks of an abandoned building near the shuttered gates of their bankrupt employer. It is not clear how widespread such rumblings of working-class discontent with Putin are. He won nearly two-thirds of votes handing him a third presidential term in May and told a TV interviewer before his 60th birthday last month that "the overwhelming majority of people still support me." During his election campaign, Putin depicted blue-collar workers as the "real Russia" and pitted them against the mainly middle-class protesters who have staged big rallies against him in Moscow and were referred to by him as "chattering monkeys". But the hunger strike in which Ilyukhin took part was the fourth this year by former workers of the plant that until recently employed 400 people in Verkhnyaya Sinyachikha, a town of 9,800 people 145 km (90 miles) from the regional capital Yekaterinburg. Hunger strikes have also struck a truck-manufacturing plant and a smelter owned by Russia's largest aluminium producer RUSAL in two separate factory towns in the Urals region. Another strike is threatened in the region by 98 workers of a small-parts manufacturer who have given their bankrupt employer until November 6 to pay the wages they are owed. "Maybe we're tired of how we're living," Ilyukhin said. A WAY TO GET PAID The workers, hunched around a smoky campfire in padded state-issue overalls, said that striking was the only way to get paid, and that it was a safe bet the government would step in to ensure they were when they did strike. "We strike and they pay us a bit. We strike again and they pay us a bit more. We don't know where the money comes from," said Andrei Zhukov, taking a pragmatic view of what may seem like a desperate tactic. Zhukov, one of the organizers, said it was easy to gather a list of willing strikers by word of mouth - despite this being the fourth yet by former workers - and register the protest with the town hall. A visit by police to the homes of two participants did little to dissuade them from striking. "We're used to being paid late but we want what we are owed, nothing more," he said. For Zhukov, that meant 20,000 roubles($639) severance pay and back wages, though many who took part in the strike that left about half the group in hospital asked for much less. Monthly pay at the plant was about 9,000 roubles. "For us, this is real money," Zhukov said. Industry leaders and economists warn that the government's hands-on approach to resolving crises, including at privately-owned factories like that in Verkhnyaya Sinyachikha, is stalling reforms. The tactic is short-sighted and increases the country's problems, they say, if there is a drop in the price of oil - the main driver of Russia's budgetary largess. "The state is now taking ever more facilities, industries, entire sectors under its wing," metals tycoon Vladimir Potanin, Russia's fourth richest man, told Reuters in September. "As long as the government has strength, it keeps them ticking over, then at some point - bam - it's a problem," he said. "Efficiency is not growing and there is no competition." 'WE ARE FOR STABILITY' The hunger strikes in Sverdlovsk, a region that was once the power base of late President Boris Yeltsin, hark back to the economic mayhem that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and, with it, Communist central planning. In the decade that followed, workers went unpaid for long spells and some lived off produce from their kitchen gardens. "In the 1990s, everything was a mess," said Igor Kholmanskikh, a former tank factory foreman whom Putin appointed as his envoy to the Urals region this year. A man of few words, the ruddy-faced 43-year-old offered during a television call-in show with Putin last December to travel to Moscow with "the boys" and wipe the streets clear of protesters. "He is our 'Plumber Joe'," Kholmanskikh's spokesman said, drawing a parallel with the U.S. Republican party's championing of an American who questioned then-presidential candidate Barack Obama on tax policy during his 2008 campaign. Clenching his broad hands and looking ill at ease with his sudden elevation from factory floor to the opulent, marble-lined halls of his seat of power in the region, Kholmanskikh stuck closely to the Kremlin's party line to woo blue-collar support. Putin is owed gratitude for presiding over an oil-fuelled economic boom in his first two terms from 2000 until 2008, Kholmanskikh said, warning that protests in Moscow could throw Russia back to the turmoil of the 1990s. "Life has changed, people now have work and social safety nets and life's got better," he said. "Obviously, this is due to Vladimir Putin becoming the country's leader. That is why one of our first campaign slogans was: 'We are for Stability!'" Putin's government is now working to meet that pledge, turning to a host of stopgap measures to keep doors open at factories that have been mismanaged or are simply unprofitable. When more than 85 workers at truck-maker AMUR held a second hunger strike in Novouralsk demanding nearly a year's worth of back salaries in September, local authorities ordered state-owned tank-maker Uralvagonzavod to hand over part of its orders. Regional opposition deputies say the intervention - before mayoral elections in the region on October 14 - was little more than a move to plug the gap at the aged plant burdened by 4.5 billion roubles in debt, 28 million of which is wage arrears. In another industrial town where three city council members joined hunger strikers, Putin ordered electricity tariffs lowered by 30 percent for the Bogoslovsky aluminium plant (BAZ), owned by RUSAL, in the town of Krasnoturinsk. "Take any of our enterprises - they all rely on support," Potanin said. "The government encourages us to pass the hat." CALLS FOR NEW POLICY Built in 1770, the steel mill in Verkhnyaya Sinyachikha is a cornerstone of this factory town. A snow-dusted statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin stands at its gate and until recently it was still the second largest employer. Like hundreds of other remote factory towns scattered from Russia's far north to eastern Siberia - where the closure of a single plant could throw a whole population out of work - it has seen little investment and struggled to stay profitable since the end of Soviet economic planning. "They (industry owners) have no clear plan or understanding of development, they pass on the weight of incompetence onto the government's shoulders," Sverdlovsk regional governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev said at a televised government meeting last month. He called for a new policy aimed at helping industry to modernize to remain competitive. In a sign of possible trouble to come, the Kremlin's chief federal inspector in the Sverdlovsk region said last month some 50 more enterprises were on the verge of bankruptcy. The town of Rezh may be the next hot spot, if workers are not paid before the November 6 deadline they have set. "We need to anticipate the fires, not put them out when they are already burning," said Anton Danilov-Danilyan, a former Kremlin advisor. "But in some cases, the social cost of closing a plant is more significant to the state than the cost of maintaining the factory." DIVIDED RUSSIA The Kremlin's firefighting style of economic management has set Putin up as a champion of the working man - an image he has cultivated by publicly dragging wealthy businessmen over the coals when they face problems at their plants. Such performances serve as a counterweight to accusations by critics of cronyism and anger simmering over the widening gap between Russia's rich and poor. Putin's appointment of Kholmanskikh, dismissed by critics as a Kremlin puppet, has gone down well in his own province. "If he is a man of the people, then he is better qualified than any official who ... learned from his businessman father how to take bribes," said Dmitry Fomenkov, 26, a construction worker in Yekaterinburg. Despite frustration with the local authorities, and dissatisfaction with their lot under Putin, many workers still struggle to see any alternative to him - a factor which could play into the president's hands. Many residents voice an almost visceral dislike for the largely middle-class, Moscow-centric opposition protesters, who they say have no understanding of what it is to grapple with everyday problems. "At those protests, they insulted us - the workers," said Albina Tatarinova, 50, stamping her feet in the light snow by the campfire in Verkhnyaya Sinyachikha. "They called us 'cattle'. We gave them their own back: Of course, we voted for Putin. There was no alternative."
Well, the system in place is what it is, and killing the bosses is an unworkable solution for many reasons. The goverment is entwined with business in a disgusting incestuous embrace that makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish the two.The approach you articulate is good - but honestly, until a LOT more people can be persuaded to board the bus, a few hippies denying themselves is not gonna accomplish much.So education is indeed KEY, this being technically still a democracy. To my view, one of the few things government is really useful for is to play off against the robber barons. Well that takes getting involved in the process on some level, to get a crowbar between the two and instigate a quarrel. In my case, it's trying to articulate some ideas - plant seeds in a few minds. Ideas have power to change the worlde. The political right wing is the enemy of the people, and about half the people are collaborating in their own enslavement without even realising it.We are all, with a few exceptions in the ruling class, the man caught on a cliff between the tigers of Government and Business - both want to eat/enslave us, and the solution is not eating strawberries, but getting the tigers to fight.
Americans’ Biggest Money MistakesBy Chad Brooks, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor | LiveScience.com – 37 mins ago.. . Unnecessary missteps with money can keep people from achieving financial security. Whether it's over-using credit cards or not properly saving for unexpected expenses, financial experts see many errors that are relatively easy to correct. Here are 10 of the more common money mistakes American's make: Budgeting One of the most common financial mistakes is not setting and keeping to a monthly budget, said Kevin Gallegos, vice president of Phoenix operations for Freedom Financial Network. "Budgeting may not sound exciting, but it is the number one, sure-fire way to stretch a salary and save money," Gallegos told BusinessNewsDaily. "Don’t do it, and you’re like a rudderless ship without a way to get where you want to go." Creating a budget doesn't have to be a complicated process. "The key is to set goals," Gallegos said. "Whether your goal is to take a European vacation, save for retirement, or budget time and money to train for a 10K, write down the goals and build your budget with the goals in mind." Credit cards Financial attorney Leslie Tayne believes many financial problems can be traced back to the use of high-interest credit cards. "If you only pay the minimum on your balance, or miss credit card payments, you are perpetuating the debt cycle," Tayne said. "You are likely to continue accruing high interest and/orpenalties on your accounts, exacerbating your debt." Keeping things to yourself While talking about money might taboo, Nick Richtsmeier, a regional vice president for Trilogy Financial Services, said the number one mistake he sees is that too many people keep their financial moves a secret. "If absolutely no one knows what you are doing with your finances then guaranteed you are fooling yourself into thinking you are doing better than you are," Richtsmeier said. "Have at least one person (in addition to your spouse) that can ask you honest questions about how your money decisions match your goals." That person can be anyone from a reliable friend to a professional financial advisor, he said. Credit reports Credit coach Jeanne Kelly said a common misstep is not keeping track of a credit report. "A big problem is people use credit and do not educate themselves on it," Kelly said. "Your credit report can change with you not even knowing it because you never look at it for accuracy." Kelly’s first rule of credit is to regularly pull your credit report to ensure you are aware of what is being reported and how that can affect your financial well-being. Not saving for repairs Sally Palaian, a licensed psychologist who specializes in treating financial dysfunction, said too often people pretend they don't need to put money aside for maintenance, repairs and replacement of the things they depend on. "I teach people that everything is going to break: dishwashers, car brakes, furnaces, teeth, computers and phones," Palaian said. "We need savings to handle these very predictable expenses that happen to everyone." Buying a house Buying a house that'smore than you can afford is the top mistake that will cripple a long-term financial plan, according to Ted Jenkin, CEO and founder of oXYGen Financial, Inc. Jenkin advises his clients to only buy homes when the mortgage payments aren't more than between 28 and 34 percent of their total gross monthly income. "It is impossible to squeeze into a home financially like you would a car or some other one-time purchase," Jenkin said. "Use that statistic in conjunction with putting 20 percent down on your home purchase and you will typically avoid this number one financial disaster." Lending terms David Rodriguez, a financial education advocate for Generations Federal Credit Union, says the biggest mistake he sees among his clients is their lack of understanding of lending terms such as APR, balance transfers and hidden fees. "The most common issue I have come across in teaching my financial education classes is the lack of understanding on how to calculate monthly APR, one of the most critical components of any loan or credit card," Rodriguez said. "Not understanding these key terms can easily land consumers in jam very quickly." Diversify investments Thinking its okay to invest all your money in one place is a near-certain way to get into major financial difficulties, financial advisor Darrell Canby said. "Investing all of your money in a single stock is like going to the track and putting all of your money on a single horse," Canby said. "Both are big gambles." Prudent investors divide their investments between stocks, bonds and other investments, as well as keep a small amount in cash equivalents such as money market funds, Canby said. Retirement planning While the population is beginning to live longer, certified financial planner Damian Rothermel still sees many people planning their retirement based on living only until age 90. "This is probably too short of a timeframe, as many individuals live longer," Rothermel said. "The concern is the plan put in place may not last as long as the client lives." Life insurance While it might not be easy to think about your death, financial advisor and insurance broker Liran Hirschkorn said a big mistake is not thinking about the financial wellbeing of loved ones left behind. "I constantly hear stories of people who lost the breadwinner and are suddenly put into a very tough financial situation," Hirschkorn. "Protecting yourself with proper disability and life insurance is key."
Most of that's Yeltsin, I would guess. He always looked like a cynical opportunist to me, with no real beliefs. That's a bad start for a new system to get off to. Putin looks good by comparison.
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