Fascism, in the guise of Ruscism, is economically supported and fueled by the individuals with the most money. Those with the most wealth and the most power fuel the regime.
This year saw the highest ever number of billionaires in Russia - 140 - on the Forbes list. Their collective worth ($580bn) was just $3bn shy of the all-time high registered in the year before the invasion.
While allowing loyalists to profit, Putin has consistently punished those who have refused to toe the line.
Since the invasion, almost all of Russia's mega-rich have stayed quiet, and those few who have publicly opposed it have had to abandon their country and much of their wealth.
Russia's wealthiest are clearly key to Putin's war effort, and many of them, including the 37 business people summoned to the Kremlin on 24 February 2022, have been targeted by Western sanctions.
But if the West wanted to make them poorer and turn against the Kremlin, it has failed, given the continuing wealth and absence of dissent among Russian billionaires.
You mean after the early days when many of them mysteriously fell out of windows? Any strategy after that would appear hugely successful when viewed in such isolation.
Fascism, in the guise of Ruscism, is economically supported and fueled by the individuals with the most money. Those with the most wealth and the most power fuel the regime.
See, for example,
Ruscism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruscism
The Political Economy of Nazi Germany: Fascism vs. Communism in Historical Perspective
https://open.substack.com/pub/defendersofdemocracy/p/the-political-economy-of-nazi-germany?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Excerpts:
This year saw the highest ever number of billionaires in Russia - 140 - on the Forbes list. Their collective worth ($580bn) was just $3bn shy of the all-time high registered in the year before the invasion.
While allowing loyalists to profit, Putin has consistently punished those who have refused to toe the line.
Since the invasion, almost all of Russia's mega-rich have stayed quiet, and those few who have publicly opposed it have had to abandon their country and much of their wealth.
Russia's wealthiest are clearly key to Putin's war effort, and many of them, including the 37 business people summoned to the Kremlin on 24 February 2022, have been targeted by Western sanctions.
But if the West wanted to make them poorer and turn against the Kremlin, it has failed, given the continuing wealth and absence of dissent among Russian billionaires.
This is great reporting but the post flair is incorrect.
"Christofascism" must at least involve religion, which this article makes no mention of.
How about unelected dictatorship?
You mean after the early days when many of them mysteriously fell out of windows? Any strategy after that would appear hugely successful when viewed in such isolation.
I miss Alexei Navalny 🥺 He was the one hopeful agent of change for Russia's dictatorship.