Latest book I'm reading....
Me, ...again!
title: "Godfather of the Kremlin--The Decline of Russia in the age of
ganster capitalism" by Paul Klebnikov
Since I have been interested, for 1-2 decades now, in how small numbers of
people manage to place themselves in positions of power, wealth, and
priviledge--either peacefully or not, or legally or not--this book
attracted my attention.
There was a PBS documentary (mid 1990s) that I found accidentally which
discussed what were called the "oligarchs" who managed to get their hands
on state assets in Russia and make themselves rich very quickly. Of
course, everyone else really got screwed because price controls went off
and hyperinflation replaced it. The book is mostly about Boris Berezovsky,
mostly.
According to the book, this guy, at one time, along with six other guys,
controled 50% of the Russian economy. Makes Rockefeller (etc) look like
Mickey Mouse. Also, these guys are really rough: they arranged killings
and torture of competitors or anyone that did not "play ball" with them,
etc.
Of course, it is recommended that one also read Matthew Josephson's book:
"The Robber-Barrons" (eg. Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc) from the late 1800s
in the USA. Not as much killing and torture, but they definitely ruined
people, financially.
Old Pif
>
> title: "Godfather of the Kremlin--The Decline of Russia in the age of
> ganster capitalism" by Paul Klebnikov
>
> Since I have been interested, for 1-2 decades now, in how small numbers of
> people manage to place themselves in positions of power, wealth, and
> priviledge--either peacefully or not, or legally or not--this book
> attracted my attention.
>
I recall one of the interviews of the Russian prime-minister of that
time he gave to the press. He said that creating private ownership
they decided that those would be owners must have certain connection
to the government. By the western standard this the classical
definition of mafia. In other words, they officially sponsored the
organized crime from the very beginning. Whatever happened afterwords
is the direct consequence of that decision.
Me, ...again!
This reminds me of Bush 2 and Haliburton, etc. After I wrote the above
sentence, I remembered that the book said that in Russian society at that
time they borrowed the Italian word, mafia (spelled mafya or something
like that) and used it to describe their new situation.
But, the gang killings and torture in Russia are way over anything I ever
heard about here in the US (except for those ultra-violent Latino gangs
who are getting much worse, too).
However, it is a similar situation to what we had in the USA in 1920s with
protection rackets, syndicate killings, etc. And, today it is very serious
in Mexico and getting worse.
Another book is out there, too. It explains how police forces almost
everywhere are mixed up with the local crime networks and so maybe we are
all headed for a future going downhill. Then there is the so-called
"illicit trade" (counterfiet products) and so-called "hot money" traffic.