Russia Can’t Hope for Reform from Children of Current Elite, Vinokurova Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 8 – In recent days, Yekaterina Vinokurova says, several well-respected analysts in Moscow have suggested that the children of the current elite who are beginning to occupy positions of power, the “princes” of the Putin system, are Russia’s best hope for reform because they are educated and supposedly want change no less than anyone else.

              But that argument, the Znak commentator says, is “utopian” as there is no reason to hope for reform “from the children of feudal lords.” Indeed, she argues, these people on their own represent “one of the chief threats to the future of the country” (znak.com/2017-07-06/ekaterina_vinokurova_o_tom_smogut_li_deti_elity_reformirovat_stranu).

            (A month ago, Vinokurova argued that Russian hatred for this new generation who have achieved undeserved success only because of who their parents are is mounting (znak.com/2017-06-02/ekaterina_vinokurova_o_nacionalnoy_idei_dlya_rossii_xxi_veka). For a discussion, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/06/russians-increasingly-hate-those-with.html.)

            The Znak writer gives numerous examples and says that there are “hundreds” more just like those she has described, young people in their earlier 30s, running banks and state enterprises, and all sharing one common characteristic: a complete unwillingness to make a career independently rather than have it handed to them on silver platter.

            Such “dependent” and “amoral children, born in a golden cradle of a tasteless palace and not having any idea about reality cannot be the hope of any country in the world,” let alone Russia, Vinokurova argues.  That is because the only thing that distinguishes them from their elders is their age.

            Those who are encouraging Russians to expect something otherwise are simply taking part in yet another effort to get Russians to give up on reform, to accept a lifetime presidency for Vladimir Putin, and to put up with the children of his elite now and even after his passing, the Znak writer says. 

            Reforms will at some point in fact come, and when they do, these “golden” children with their English language and degrees from foreign universities will be incapable of taking part in it although they may seek to sabotage such change in order to save their positions and thus their ability to hand them on to their children as well.