Russia: What is Going on Right Now? (Part 2)

"Fifth Column Among Us". This banner was displayed on
one of the largest bookstores in Moscow.
Source

In our last post, we discussed what groups of people openly support the Putin's regime. In this post, we will examine the groups that oppose his rule.

It is important to point out that, according to many leading economists, the Russian society, on the whole, would benefit from changing the current leadership model. However, very few understand it and even fewer are willing to declare this openly.

According to the IMF, the Russian economy was in a stall mode after Crimea, especially with Putin keeping a nose-up attitude. When the war with Ukraine broke out, with oil prices falling, the Russian economy entered a nosedive. Now, as sanctions are taking their toll on the Russian economy, it is basically in a tailspin. The prices continue to grow, and they are growing faster than the paychecks. Actually, the paychecks are getting smaller. The trickle-down effect is working against Russians because there is not much to trickle down these days. Source

So who are all those brave souls who are willing to admit that something is just not right up there, in the higher echelons of power?

More after the jump...


One of the major groups opposing the government is - Surprise! Surprise! - the so-called "intelligentsia." For those of you who do not know what intelligentsia is, you can find a long explanation here. The short explanation goes like this:

The word "intelligentsia" stems from the root word "intelligent", although this social class is not limited just to "smarty-pants" or college grads. This class is made up of (usually) highly educated, well-read, and well-traveled people. Basically, these folks are open-minded people with liberal values and a profound understanding of history, geography, sociology, etc. etc. Thus they have the ability and some potential to analyze, interpret, compare, contrast, synthesize, and evaluate all incoming information regardless of propaganda.

Due to its role in the society, Russian intelligentsia always has been, is and will be an opposing force to incredibly short-sighted, dumb, yet sly and power-hungry ruling class.

Among people who publicly stated their protest against the government's actions were: a famous singer Andrei Makarevich Source, Lia Akhedzhakova (actress), Eldar Ryazanov (movie director), and many more. Source

Some of these people are being publicly mocked and shamed, their concerts are being canceled, they are being victimized. Not ALL intelligentsia members oppose the government's actions, only a small minority. The rest of them very openly sing their praises to the current ruler either out of fear or under the influence of propaganda.

Another group that has the direct interest in changing the current political leaders is made up of businessmen and oligarchs that were excluded from sharing their piece of the pie. Since most of them are well-educated and actually had some experience in creating their own profitable businesses, they can present a real threat when the regime loosens its tight grip on power. In lieu of the current political situation this group cannot do much at the moment, but, as we all know, faith can move mountains when the time is right.

Last but not least we should mention one more group. It is, considering the already discussed factor of iodine deficiency, not that large by Russian standards, yet it is definitely worth mentioning. It is basically all people who care for Russia's future and who actually get it: the way forward lies with the West.

They have had enough of a long-lasting experiment on humans subjects. They are tired of the fact that Russia keeps showing the whole world the way how NOT TO move forward. All those seventy years of the Soviet regime and the last fifteen years of Putin's regime clearly demonstrated to the world that you can't have both a highly centralized ruling system and a well-functioning market economy. Something must give in order for Russia to become a first world country.