Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Foreign Policy & News The long and winding road to Dumbass

You can't surround yourself with a bunch of billionaire oligarchs and promote same and then pretend to want the old Soviet Union back.
I mean, you certainly CAN, but it's not going to BE any kind of "soviet" union, because billionaire oligarchs aren't fond of classless societies and
worker paradises run by the proles and back door black market corruption on the street with them not getting the lion's share of the cut every time.
Viktor who fills up cars from his jerry can black market gasoline isn't interested in handing over 80 of his 100 ruble check to Lukoil's main enforcer
every night, and Sergey who just wanted some gas for his Lada doesn't want to get roughed up for wanting to not stand in line for eight hours.

What Putin really wants has everything to do with Soviet style military expansionism but on its face, it's bound to look and feel a lot more
like the old Imperial Russian Empire, with Vlad as the tsar. A tsar does not run for reelection, you know.
A tsar doesn't even have to massage the rules to pretend he did get elected with 99% of the vote and all opposition jailed or killed.
A tsar is just the tsar and until he dies, he OWNS the country, all its resources and everyone in it.

A tsar is royalty and when you cling to the old Russian Orthodox Church, you're naming yourself as Russian royalty.
None of that classless society nonsense.
He has more military muscle than the USSR ever dreamed of, and that's really all the "soviet" he wants.

Left leaning classless societies? I think Putin thinks that's a big fat joke. He likes absolute monarchy for himself better and
state fascism for the proles.