This is admittedly dangerous territory.
But I’ve been trying to understand the intensity with which the mainstream American media has been demonizing Vladimir Putin. After all, that coup in the Ukraine that precipitated the events there was fomented by the U.S., not Putin.
I’m very much a class warrior. Billionaires, in my mind, are a destructive force in our society. They may be a positive force when they’re in the process of becoming billionaires, but, once they get there, they do far more harm than good.
And they’re far, far too powerful. Power corrupts.
In her book about today’s plutocracy, Chrystia Freeland observes, accurately I believe, that today’s global billionaires have far more common cause with one another than they do with the masses of their particular countries.
So, I wondered, where is Putin with the global billionaire class, particularly those from his own country? Could that be a factor in the demonization of Putin? I then did a simple Google search: Putin Russian Oligarchs. Here’s what came up as the first hit:
The Chilly Fallout Between Putin and His Oligarch Pals
Getting back to the question asked in the title, does that make Putin a friend of the masses? Hard to say. Putin may have an agenda that’s unfriendly to both regular people and billionaires.
Nonetheless, when we see a leader who’s cross-wise with the billionaire class taking in the teeth from the mainstream media, deep skepticism is the appropriate response.
And the American public has been anything but skeptical on this one. Gullible would be a more apt characterization.
Putin is a complex character who was very effective when he worked for the KGB, but I am certain he has one overriding passion: he wants to see Russia restored as a major world power with him at the head. The wealth he is accumulating in the process is secondary to his primary goal of re-establishing the Russian Empire. I think that is why he not like other billionaires. His purpose is not the accumulation of personal wealth and power. It is bigger than that. It often puts him at odds with other member of the “Billionaires Club” and makes our State Department very uncomfortable.
Personally, I think it isn’t a bad thing to have another super power in the world to counter balance our influence. We still haven’t figured out what our role should be and it is getting us in trouble.