MSM Woes
Russia is on a roll. But you wouldn’t know it from the newspapers.
The Mainstream Media are having a field day with Putin’s shakeup of the Ministry of Defense in Russia—the promotion of Shoigu to the Defense Security Council and the appointment of Andrei Belousov as Ministry of Defense, along with the purge of five senior defense officials for malfeasance and corruption.
The BBC, FT and the usual suspects will tell you that Putin is is digging in for a “long and prolonged war". The implication, of course, is Russia is not really winning and the West not really losing-- and the Russian economy is really too weak to finish the war decisively. Putin is getting desperate.
The official MSM narrative has been that:
Russia is a corrupt dictatorship
It has imperial ambitions and therefore seeks war
The Russian military are corrupt and incompetent
The Russian economy is failing due to sanctions
Given time and weaponry, the Ukraine will triumph
The reality of things is, of course, different—so recently, although the core narrative remains the same, the presentation has had to be tweaked, with a lot of things suggested— rather than stated directly.
If you read any of these articles, it would appear that Shoigu, whose desire to retire has been common knowledge for a long time, and who has performed admirably, is being gotten rid of, kicked upstairs, and replaced by a longtime Putin supporter and confidante.
In almost all the articles there are mentions of Prigozhin and his criticisms of the regular military, especially of Shoigu and Gerasimov—the insinuation being that Putin is belatedly coming around to Priggy’s way of thinking.
Except that Gerasimov has now greater control over military operations than before! And Shoigu perhaps more power.
As for the economy —it’s booming and industry developing fast. That’s why Belousov is needed. He is both a creative economist and a technocrat.
He also has a record of being right in his predictions.
More Bang for the Buck
Russia's defense spending has risen--close to levels that the USSR reached before it went kaput (over 7% of GDP) .
But the Soviet defense industry was inefficient compared to the modern Russian defense industry . To obtain the same results that modern Russia is achieving with 7%, the USSR would have had to raise spending to 20% of GDP!
The Russians are leveraging private enterprise--for efficiencies impossible previously under the old system.
BUT — they are keeping military-industrial companies under careful control, making sure that they are integrated into the rest of the economy positively. This is pretty much the same as it is in China which also permits private enterprise and encourages it -- but also makes sure that it serves the public good – not the other way around as in the US where the MIC or or rather MICIMATT run the government and determine much of public policy.
As for the need for a long wa, Russia won on the battlefield in Ukraine long ago. If it is prolonging the war it is doing so to enhance economic and industrial development while beggaring the West.
At this point that "Long War" the MSM whines about is economic and diplomatic .
Putin is not desperate. He is just fine-tuning and making necessary adjustments.
As I wrote in a recent special article, he is doing what Japanese industry calls “kata” incremental but continuous improvement. (“kaizen”).
Industrially, Russia is now one of the fastest developing nations in the world.
Sanctions may not have made it an "autarky"exactly-- but made it much more self-sufficient, forced to re-industrialize and diversify production and technology-- as well as find new partners in the real "free world"-- the world beyond the G-7 cartel.
All this generates technological and industrial progress. It has also contributed to cultural and societal development.
Most of the new defense industries are being located in some of the poorest republics-- especially in the Far East— backed up extensive support for technical and technological education.
Developing “Smart”
The last point is an important priority for Putin.
For example….
You want AI?
The core of progress in this area is not hardware —semiconductors or something like that – rather, it is software —which means high level mathematics.
Without STEM graduates you get nowhere. Russia has at least as many STEM graduates as the US. Russia has 144 ,million people. The US has 333 million. Russia invests in education; the US does not.
Russia military goals in Ukraine will be achieved this year. Probably the October “Surprise” which everyone expects will happen in September.
As you can see, Russia is setting the stage to liberate ALL of Russian Ukraine.
But, as I have indicated, the “other” war will go on —politically and economically. Russia needs to reform and build its military.
Russia and China must be ready for is the collapse of the American Empire-- which will make 1929 look like a weekend hangover. When America sinks to the bottom of that waiting economic and political and social abyss, Russia has to be prepared for the worst. The US has become a hollow culture at the mercy of hollow men.
Let us hope the world does not end with a bang but a whimper.
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
TS Eliot The Hollow Men
Not just Russia, each of us needs to be as strong as possible.
Belousov
Belousov is not empty suit. He is smart, incorruptible, patriotic and creative. Not to mention, flexibly pragmatic.
Quite unlike the current Secretary of Defense in the United States!
With the military operation coming to an end, it's time to clean up the Russian Defense Ministry and get rid of the corruption left over from Soviet times. Hence, the purge of corrupt defense officials.
Most of them weren't really incompetent at military matters-- just corrupt—getting rich at the expense of the public.
In the US, defense officials and contractors get rich at public expense —but this is institutionalized and there is no need to steal! It’s part of the system. Do your job. Satisfy MICIMATT. Retire and rake in the cash. Make $100,000 an hour.
Kind of like US presidents who get rich after leaving office.
In other words, Belousuv's appointment should be a sign that Russia is winning on all fronts – militarily, economically, industrially, politically. Not losing as the MSM want to say.
You will see Western politicians saying, “Something must be done!”. For Russia's success highlights the West's failure in civilizational terms. They whimper.
The future belongs to Russia and China.
Special Article Update
My special article is coming along well —so I should be able to send it out early next week. (I hope!)
Special thanks have to go to YOU! -- not only here on Substack but on the Buymeacoffee site.
Your messages and comments have opened up new areas of thought that inspire me . Thank you. It's not just the coffees that you buy—it’s what you write and say and think! Most of all, the feeling,
Of course, the coffees help a lot. You can buy me a coffee here—and get on the mailing list for the next special article.
This isn't me with the kitten. This is Koko, the gorilla. Of course there are similarities between her and me-- although I think she had a bigger vocabulary. You can click on the picture to buy me a coffee too.
Meanwhile the braindead and heartless Biden allows clingers like Blinken, Sullivan, Austin to drag him and all the USA down with him. If President Putin is an autocrat at least he is a thoughtful one. Our autocrats are the Peter Principle at its most grotesque.
"Russia and China must be ready for is the collapse of the American Empire-- which will make 1929 look like a weekend hangover. "
Good analogy. I'm more inclined to think the collapse of the American Empire will be closer to the fall of the Roman Empire. Barbarians at the gate. A new religion or two. A lot of nostalgic remembrances, none of them accurate. Soon its history turned to dust.