I went to the LA Times Festival of Books and, as always, sat in on a number of panel discussions: 8 to be exact. One of those 8 was listening to a panel discussion on Russia Past and Present.
Here's a short bio via the LA Times of the panelist:
Masha Gessen is a writer in residence at Oberlin College and the author of several books on Russia, including “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin” and “The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia,” forthcoming from Riverhead in October 2017. “Where the Jews Aren't” is a finalist for the 2016 L.A. Times Book Prize in History.
Here are my notes from the conversation, hopefully there aren't too many errors.
Birobidzhan
She wrote a book about a Jewish homeland in Russia, Birobidzhan. Something magical about a place for Jews in Russia. Jews couldn't get into certain schools. There were other restrictions. Birobidzhan provided a positive identity, this was a Jewish homeland. It was strange that the USSR would set something up for Jews; however, for 20 years all ethnic groups were treated exactly the same in the USSR. Around 1934, polices changed. Russians became first among equals. Jews were targeted.
Birobidzhan did not work out. Jews that left Ukraine and Belarus during the Holocaust were not allowed to go back to their homes as they were already occupied by others. They were forced to stay in Russia and were targeted by Stalin. Russian speaking Jews in the US were refugees. They were kept in European refugee camps and then brought to US. These camps were nice when compared to current camps for Syrians.
Can Jews lay claim to what refugees face today? There was systematic discrimination, but had the privilege to leave.
Putin
Two years before she covered Saint Petersburg politics a close friend/politician was murdered. This got her interested in the political culture of the city. Journalists were intimidated. Politicians were murdered, put under surveillance. Putin served as deputy governor. He had helped create this environment. Things he said were pretty scary yet people liked him, because he wasn't a drunk. He spoke foreign languages. He mesmerized people as he spoke.
People pinned their hopes on him contrary to evidence. USSR was a great empire yet most lived in poverty. The oligarchy controlled assets of the people. When the USSR collapsed, one reason was due to this unequal distribution of wealth. After the collapse, folks still saw themselves as a great empire even though it was in collapse.
In the 1990s, Russia was improving economically; however, as people traveled abroad they could see that even the poor in Spain lived better than the wealthy in Russia. Putin focused on this resentment towards the rest of the world. He argued they could go back to the great past. This argument won even though the Russian people's economic status was improving. They wanted an imaginary past versus the uncertain future.
Russian Interference in US Elections
Putin is not the only Russian who tried to influence Western politics. The Soviets tried, but just didn't understand how democracy works. Russians get their info on democracy via House of Cards. Putin's success in this election was because American politics started to resemble House of Cards. (Joke.)
DNC hack was low tech and resulted from their own incompetency. Would be really surprised if there is a casual relationship between Russia involvement and Trump's victory. Putin wanted to disrupt. He hated Clinton and didn't want to deal with a woman.
Putin has no admiration for Trump. Russia consistently supports disruptive candidates. That's all that he cares about. Putin called Trump colorful, did not say he admires him.
Similarities between Putin and Trump. They both lie. They lie whenever they please. Fact checking them is not enough. Putin plays a dangerous game: the madman option. Everyone has to minimize and contain Putin. Now we have two guys playing this game. We have two short tempered men and the honeymoon between them is over. Putin is hot tempered and vengeful. A non-curious person. Not intelligent.
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