If you think we have a political problem in the United States, check out Russia.
A recent editorial in The Washington Post noted that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently gave a 140-minute “state of the union” address. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was sitting in the front row with, reportedly, a displeased look on his face.
We would first note that Russians have the same problem we have, in that their politicians talk too much. Can you imagine Congress or the American people “staying tuned” to a 2 hour, 20 minute presidential address?
Medvedev noted that Russia’s most serious domestic problems were that “our most serious domestic political problem” lies in Chechnya, Ingushetia and other Caucasus republics. He was politely implying some racial or ethnic profiling in Russia, dominated politically by Russian Slavs. Those republics have strong Muslim populations and reject Russian dominance.
Imagine if a U.S. president said that our most serious domestic problem was in gaining “control” of minority-filled ghettos or other enclaves of people with views opposed to “traditional” American values or religion. Yet, in fact, our greatest domestic disputes, at least currently, involve trying to offer American taxpayer assistance to the poor, downtrodden and, to some degree, minority populations.
Russia’s domestic politics are further compounded by a staggering economy and standard of living far worse than ours. Corruption in Russia at all levels, private and governmental, is beyond comparison. Russia needs vast supplies of technology, productivity and other intangibles that we have in abundance by comparison. Russia’s only real resources are, on the physical level, oil and gas, and on an intangible level, the amazing ability of the Russian people to simply endure and prevail.
