W clem Britn z an eʈicl dmocṛsi – bt oligarcs nǒ ɖt’s nt tru
(Transcription of a Guardian article of 16 March 2022)
Ɖ îdīa ɖt poḷtics cn b sbvrtd bî wlʈ z pvesiv in Ruśa. Ɖt’s ẃ its biłnerz fīl at hom in ɖ YC
Rafel Behr, Wnzde 16 Marć 2022
“So let m gt ɖs stret. F sm gai livz longr ɖn y pridict, I hv t cīp on peyñ?” Ɖ qsćn cem fṛm ɖ manijr v ɖ pnśnfund fr a stet-ǒnd Ruśn cumṗni. H wz in Lundn on a fact-fîndñ miśn t lrn abt prîṿt pnśnz. H hd jst hŕd an acć̣ri xplen hǎ it wrct. Ɖ Ruśn manijr wz sspiśs v a sistm wɖ sć opn-endd laybiḷtiz. I wz intrpṛtñ n pást on hiz qsćn.
Ɖ acć̣ri cnfrmd ɖt ɖ longr a pnśnr livd, ɖ mor h got peid. Ɖ Ruśn claynt foldd hiz hand intu haf a fist, wɖ tū fngrz xtndd t iṃtet ɖ baṛl v a gun, ẃć h pôntd t ɖ grǎnd. “Cd’nt y jst, y nǒ, tec cer v ɖ gai?”
I trnzletd. Ɖ acć̣ri lct at m fr conḟmeśn ɖt it wz a joc. Yes n no. Ɖs wz ɖ mid-1990z. Hir wz smwn hu hd mnūvrd himslf ʈru ɖ ruinz v ɖ formr Sovịt Yńn intu cntrol v a vast pot v uɖr ppl’z muni. H wz’nt a big-tîm oligarc, bt h wz wn v ɖ winrz fṛm a trnziśn ɖt hd left most Ruśnz fīlñ lîc luzrz. Ɖ pônt wz nt abt pnśnz bt pǎr. Ẃ pe f y d’nt hv t? Ẃt’s in it fr ɖ bos?
Ɖ Britiś advîzrz smîld ōcẉdli n ćenjd ɖ subjict.
A lot hz ćenjd sins ɖen. Ruśa stopt trayñ t b a dmocṛsi, ɖen stopt pritndñ t trî. Britn stopt advîzñ Ruśnz on hǎ t run a marcit icoṇmi wɖn ɖ rūl v lw, ɖen stopt pritndñ t cer hǎ ɖe md ɖer muni. F ɖ qsćn evr cem p ẃn ɖ sūpŗić cem śopñ fr manśnz in Blgrevia, or premịr-līg ftbōl clubz ɖr wz a lot v smîlñ ōcẉdli n ćenjñ ɖ subjict.
A comn wstn miscnspśn in ɖoz rli yirz v Ruśa’z post-Sovịt trnziśn wz ɖt ppl hu hd groun p undr coḿnizm dd’nt unḍstand capiṭlizm. Ɖt oṿlct ɖ importns v marcitforsz t Sovịt ssayti, oṗretñ on mni levlz. Ɖr wz ɖ ʈrîvñ tred in ilisit gdz, cntrold bî criminl gañz hu olso bòt pṛtx́n fṛm oʈoṛtiz. P’līs indifṛns cmz at a prîs.
Ɖr wz ɖ comrs in fevrz, îɖr az bartr or caś in hand, ẃrvr a byṛcratic dor nīdd oṗnñ. Ppl hu gemd ɖt sistm in ɖ dez ẃn mcñ a profit wz îdịlojicli tbu dd’nt nīd lésnz in marcitforsz ẃn gtñ filʈi rić trnd l’jit. CGB ofisrz n parti aṗraćics hu bcem miłnerz dd nt strugl t śec of ɖ prīsepts v Marxizm-Leninizm.
Ɖr z a tndnsi t sīqns Ruśn hisṭri ovr ɖ past jeṇreśn in lrćz: ɖ c’laps v Sovịt pǎr intu ɖ anarcic Boris Yeltsin ira, ɖen ɖ slump bac t oʈoṛterịnizm undr Vladīmir Pūtin. Bt runñ ol ɖ we ʈru hz bn a comn īʈos ɖt siz ol poḷtics az a ngośieśn btwn ɖ ppl hu hv faund a we t gt rić n ɖ ofiślz hu cn îɖr hlp or obstruct ɖm, n set ɖ prîs. It z olwz a trnzax́n btwn muni n stetpǎr. Îdioḷji hardli entrz intu it.
Ɖt siṇsizm z dīpli intrenćt n pṛjctd ǎtwdz on t ol cuntriz n ol juṛsdix́nz. I spent yirz in Ruśa n cuntriz v ɖ formr Sovịt Yńn, az a stydnt, dwñ intrpṛtñgigz, ɖen az a corispondnt, fṛm ɖ mid-1990z onẉdz. I yst t gt intu ɖs arğmnt ol ɖ tîm. I wd xplen ɖt ʈñz wrct difṛntli in ɖ wst – ɖt dmocṛsi involvz a difṛnt cnd v rleśnśp btwn wlʈ, parḷmnts n pǎr. Ɖt clem wz rūtīnli met wɖ p’lît scepṭsizm or ǎtrît d’riźn. Az f onli a ćîld wd b’liv sć p’liticl fẹritêlz. A dspiṛtñ trend in rīsnt yirz hz bn hírñ ɖ sem cōstic siṇsizm in ɖ YC.
N ɖ mor Ruśn muni muvd intu Britn, ɖ mor inmeśt rić Ruśnz bcem wɖ Lundn’z sośl, p’liticl n ic̣nomic ilīt, ɖ hardr it got t argy ɖt dmocṛsi oṗretd t a hayr standd; ɖt its rūlz wr’nt sołbl in muni; ɖt ɖ sistm dd’nt olwz yīld fr rić frendz v ɖ bos.
Ɖt z ẃ Evgeni Lebedev’z apôntmnt t ɖ Hǎs v Lordz wz so daṃjñ īvn bfr it wz rvild ɖt YC intelijns ejnsiz hd a cnsrn ɖt ɖ noṃneśn pozd a risc t naśnl s’kṛti.
Ẃn Boris Jonsn noṃnetd hiz frend fr a pirij in Jlî 2020 ɖ brezņis v ɖ fevr atractd mor coment ɖn ɖ Ruṣ́ņis. Ɖen ɖ fus daid dǎn. It wz hardli ɖ frst tîm ɖt a sīt in ɖ Lordz hz bn gvn t ɖ frend v a prîm̦inistr. Ɖr r beṇfiṣ́riz wɖ ʈinr recordz v ćaritbl bnevḷns ɖn ɖ wn Lebedev’z frendz sáit t jusṭfî hiz eņoblmnt. H z nt a Tori donr. (Uɖr Ruśnz wɖ dyl Britiś naṣ́naḷti hv funld miłnz intu Cnsrṿtiv cofrz.) It c’nt b a ces v caś fr onrz ẃn ɖr wz no caś.
Ɖ Hǎs v Lordz apôntmntscmiti dd’nt lîc ɖ Lebedev pirij, bt ɖ prîm̦inistr wz unmuvd. H ʈt ɖ objx́n xprest anti-Ruśn preɉdis. Ɖ intelijnșrṿsz ćenjd ɖer asesmnt v ɖ risc. Spūcs gt stuf roñ. Dd ɖe jst smîl ōcẉdli n ćenj ɖ subjict ẃn ɖ prîm̦inistr insistd on mcñ hiz pal a pir?
Aḷxandr Lebedev, Evgeni’z faɖr n ɖ sors v hiz wlʈ, wz wns a CGB ejnt. Bt ɖt z’nt a hreditri cndiśn. Hiz attyd t ɖ Cremlin mt b dscrîbd az tmpṛt. In a 2016 articl fr ɖ Standd, Aḷxandr cnsidd ɖt oligarcs hd plundrd Ruśa n olso “sad t se, sm v ɖm r clos t Pūtin”. Bt h insistd ɖt ɖ prezidnt himslf wz “nt bhnd ɖ lūtñ”.
Lebedev Jr hz sd ʈñz in ɖ past alînñ wɖ Cremlin vyz on ɖ 2014 anxeśn v Crîmīa n castñ dǎt on ɖ ofiśl YC acǎnt v ɖ Sōlzḅri pôẓnñ, bt ɖt z’nt sdiśn. Ɖ nyzpeprz h cntrolz hv cm ǎt agnst ɖ inveźn v Ycren. Hiz atrax́n t a sīt in ɖ Lordz me b motvetd bî nʈñ mor ɖn vaṇti in c’lectñ a liṃtd idiśn ŕmin rǒb. (H hz’nt votd or spocn in a dbet sins hiz meidnspīć.) Hiz frendśp wɖ Jonsn z probbli in ɖ sem caṭgri – a prîm̦inistr az hî-end c’lectbl.
Bt f ɖt z ɖ ces, n ɖ s’kṛtisrṿsz wr mcñ a fus ovr nʈñ, ɖr z stl harm dn. Ɖ specṭcl z dpresñ, nt bcz Báṛn Lebedev v Hamtn in ɖ Lundn Bura v Rićmnd upn Tmz n v Sîbiria in ɖ Ruśn Feḍreśn z Ruśn, bt bcz ɖ absrd tîtl n ɖ c’rupt proses ɖt crietd it bolstr ɖ most cōstic, sinicl vy v ɖ we Britiś poḷtics wrcs. N at a tîm ẃn w nīd t spred confidns ɖt dmocṛsiz d ʈñz betr.
• Rafel Behr z a Gardịn coḷmnist
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