Freedom is on the march in Russia!

[Sirotnikov]

Originally posted by Brachy-Pride
The middle class will crush both the rich and the wealthy!!

Go Small Bourgeoisie !!

[Elok]

Beats me. I've never had the misfortune to run into one of 'em IRL. I was just posting based on my feelings after encountering their literature and the crap they say online.

[lord of the mark]

Re: Freedom is on the march in Russia!

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061029/wl_nm/russia_millionairefair_dc

Russia's big spenders flock to Millionaire Fair

By Olesya Dmitracova Sun Oct 29, 12:10 PM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Question: What makes Russian millionaires different from the super rich elsewhere?
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Answer: They spend more.

That was the reply in Dutch-accented English from the founder of Millionaire Fair, Yves Gijrath, at the exhibition's opening in Moscow this weekend.

Eager to cash in on this reputation, businesses have lugged their pedigree stallions, vintage cars and designer furniture to an exhibition hall for the four-day-long show on the outskirts of the Russian capital.

Politicians, businessmen and a show business elite -- mostly Russian and hence generous with their cash -- rolled up to the fair in chauffeured cars to show off their mink and diamonds and to splash out on cutting-edge luxuries.

This is the second time Moscow has hosted the Millionaire Fair, which was first held in Amsterdam in 2002 and is now also being staged in Cannes in France, the Belgian city of Kortrijk, China's Shanghai and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The martini drinks, camera flashes and impeccably dressed waiters inside the Moscow exhibition hall contrasted sharply with the run-down suburbs that surround it.

Almost a fifth of Russia's 142 million people live below the poverty line. However, the wild capitalism of the 1990s and then high world oil and metal prices have brought huge wealth to an elite tier of "New Russians."

Russia, where private wealth was banned under communism, now has 44 dollar billionaires or "oligarchs" as they are often called, according to the Russian edition of Forbes magazine last April.

Moscow boasts more billionaires than London and is second only to New York, according to Forbes.

That compares to the average Russian income of about $5,000 a year. But residents of villages and small towns, where unemployment is high, earn even less.

THE INDISCREET WEALTH OF THE BOURGEOISIE

Moscow, well-dressed, well-heeled and full of expensive cafes and bars, is a world apart from most Russian towns and cities.

Lawyer Ekaterina Poliakova, 43, in a glittering fur-trimmed outfit, came to the Millionaire Fair to look at jewelry, fine china and exclusive holidays for her and her husband, a property dealer.

"He's got more to do with that type of people (millionaires) than me," she said. "His new passion is yachts."

High-tech boats are just some of the luxuries Russia's rich can splurge on at the fair.

Diamonds are the classic favorite at participating NeoGold jewelers who have a store in Moscow's trendy Tverskaya Street. Their diamond-and-white gold necklace or a diamond ring will set you back more than 1 million roubles ($37,340).

For those keen to be surrounded by beauty, a master class on investing in artworks ran on Saturday.

Organizers estimate the fair has attracted some 10,000 visitors every day -- fulfilling the event's unofficial tagline "Millionaires of Russia unite!" in an ironic nod to an old revolutionary call for the world's working proletariat

I'm so glad to see a domestic bourgeoisie develop to rule over the Russian people Truly the millionaire class suffered under the Soviet Union, and its good to see them bouncing back.

Please ignore the starving man begging outside. He'll die soon, anyway

Of course some of these millionaires are ex-Soviet appartchiks who used their position to steal assets, and some of the reason for rushing privatization was that the apparatchiks were doing that. If you think late Brezhnev or post-Brezhnev era USSR was some of kind Social Democratic defense of the poor,
I think youre a tad naive. You might just take notice that all of this building up and consolidation of wealth has occured under 1. An ex-Communist reformer and 2. an ex-KGB agent. I would suggest that if Russia was run by actual liberal westernisers, social democracy would stand a better chance.


here is a party that supports democracy, liberalism, AND social democratic reforms, but is, alas, too "western" and gets little support

http://www.eng.yabloko.ru/Hotissues/Society/Socialpolicies/index.html

[Nubclear]

You might just take notice that all of this building up and consolidation of wealth has occured under 1. An ex-Communist reformer and 2. an ex-KGB agent.

An "ex-communist" reformer that was a stooge for the West, too drunk to manage his country, and an ex-KGB agent....Hardly examples of communist thinkers

just to flip the bird to the people who annoy me. And I think we've all got some small trace of that feeling, no matter how we deny it.

Yes, I regularly weaken myself in order to, what, make my enemies feel bad? I'm sorry, I don't have urges toward self-harm in order to spite people that annoy me

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar

You might just take notice that all of this building up and consolidation of wealth has occured under 1. An ex-Communist reformer and 2. an ex-KGB agent.

An "ex-communist" reformer that was a stooge for the West, too drunk to manage his country, and an ex-KGB agent....Hardly examples of communist thinkers

Yeltsin a stooge for the West? Then why did he toss out his liberal advisors and bring Putin and the security types in? He also opposed the West over Kosovo.

As for Communist thinkers, whens the last time the USSR had a "thinker" as leader - not since Lenin, Id say.

[Drake Tungsten]

Russia's problem is that it's run by Russians.

[Saras]

Yup, we should let Poland and Lithuania carve her up.

[Nubclear]

Ha! I'd like to see you try. Russia may be just a shadow of the Soviet Union, but thats all it would need to pwn your pathetic state

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Oerdin
It is just not a good thing to have such conspicous consumption while other people live on less then $400 per month. Look at Russia folks because that is the way the US is heading if we don't change course.

You could have a look at American society circa Rockefeller, and maybe even more distorted before him.

[Saras]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Ha! I'd like to see you try. Russia may be just a shadow of the Soviet Union, but thats all it would need to pwn your pathetic state

When I said "we" I meant that some sort of UN mandate is in place

[Drake Tungsten]

Yup, we should let Poland and Lithuania carve her up.

Why would Poland and Lithuania want to lower their own standard of living? Can you imagine the resources needed to undo all the damage the Russians have done?

[BeBMan]

Has freedom arrived now or is it still marching?

[Saras]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Yup, we should let Poland and Lithuania carve her up.

Why would Poland and Lithuania want to lower their own standard of living?

Noblesse oblige.

[chequita guevara]

Re: Re: Freedom is on the march in Russia!

Originally posted by lord of the mark



Of course some of these millionaires are ex-Soviet appartchiks who used their position to steal assets, and some of the reason for rushing privatization was that the apparatchiks were doing that.

Some?!?

[lord of the mark]

Re: Re: Re: Freedom is on the march in Russia!

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


Some?!?

You think all are? I doubt that. First of all, from what I understand some of the big billionaires are folks who were excluded from the apparatus, and who took advantage of the sales of natural resources while the apparatchiks were busy trying to steal small potatoes factories. Thats why so many Russian billionaires are Jews - you need a group of smart folks who WERENT coopted into the apparatus, and late Soviet antisemitism meant thats who was available.

And also, Id be suprised if an economy as diverse and volataile as Russia wouldnt have plenty of opportunities to get rich, by, you know, producing goods and services demanded in the marketplace, being in the right place at the right time, etc.