Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Some Truly Gigantic News.

No, not about stock market which behaves like a loony--that is totally expected in the "economy" where median house price of $320,000 is considered "affordable", yes, for very few, actually. And even rent is not affordable for 66% of renters. Now, the news about real economy, of Russia. These news mark a major new point of bifurcation for Russia. Today, Russia's hi-tech colossus State Corporation Rostec acquired 92% of interest in another Russia's giant--United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).   

Implications of this monstrous transaction are truly proportional to the size and capabilities of this variant of Russian State Keiretsu (sort of) which emerges. In the same time today, Vladimir Putin introduced legislation to State Duma, for passing--many in Duma after that soiled their pants, the legislation is about the right of Russia's Prosecutor General to literally hunt for the foreign accounts of Russia's bureaucrats (in Russian) who are not supposed to have any foreign assets while being employed by state structures. Like Duma legislators, among others, maybe? What does this remind you of? Oh, that, sure as hell, reminds me of what overwhelming majority of Russians were begging for decades since criminal so called liberal oligarchy came to power in 1991--to reformat economy. You see, those damn Bolsheviks, Communists, whatever "Ists", they, for some obviously nefarious reasons, took backward Russia and turned her into the industrial superpower and most educated nation in the world. Majority of Russian population still remembers this, despite all massive efforts of all kinds of "dissidents", "liberal" (in reality totalitarian laissez-faire and Russophobic) brainwashing machines known today as media, or direct efforts of hostile propaganda, to pour buckets of sewage on Russian people historical experiences and memory.

As it turned out--this is why Western "intelligence" can not grasp it--that, unlike Americans, who are fiercely anti-government and anti-state in metaphysical sense, Russians throughout all their history were, actually, building a state. They had to--otherwise how can one survive more than 800 years of brutal warfare out of 1200 years of history without the state. It matters that, quoting George F. Kennan:
Not all that went by the name of communism in Russia was bad; nor were all those who believed in it. 
No, don't worry, Russia is not about to become communist or is about to become new Soviet Union--not even close. Russia will continue to remain capitalist, free enterprise (in fact new programs in support of small and mid-size business are being readied as I type this) and broadly free socially and culturally. But here is the issue--Russians, unlike Westerners, have a very different concept of national treasure. As I spoke about this for a while on this blog, using American examples--is Boeing a national treasure of the United States? Absolutely it is, it is a part of America itself. Is Boeing a private company? Well, yeah. But can you imagine a group of Boeing's shareholders getting together in some secret place and deciding (well, just imagine for the sake of the argument) to dissolve Boeing, sell its assets and go on living on their acquired immense wealth? This is impossible--because this would be considered, and rightly so, the act of national treason in America and, I am sure, those who will come to this decision to sell Boeing will be hunted down and revenge will be exacted because Boeing, while being a private company, in reality IS NOT. One can earn or lose money on Boeing's shares but Boeing is in effect a (American) state company. And, of course, US government actively supports Boeing not just out of altruistic intentions or because it is greedy, no. It supports Boeing because it is a national, state strategic asset. Remember air refueling  aircraft B KC-767scandal?  

The same principle applies to many American companies because there IS NO market forces and "honest" competition (all figments of imagination of Western "economists") when the fate of a nation is on the table. Fate of modern nations which have no massive and advanced real hi-tech machine-building complex is sad--they stop being players. This is exactly what US-inspired 1990s "reforms" pursued in Russia--to deindustrialize the nation which won WW II in Europe, restored itself after the war, led the way into space and even today remains among most educated nations of the world. For overwhelming majority of Russians their national treasure is not just oil, gas and minerals, albeit this too--crown jewels of Russia also are her spacecraft, weapons, fundamental sciences, many machines, in general, even still largely Soviet public education, all those things which separate just any nation from superpower. Bolsheviks "poisoned" Russians making them wanting to work in real economy, and merging UAC with Rostec is one of those ways to guarantee that never again sleazy and bloody hands of "oligarchs" will ever again touch what is Russia's main national treasure, the one which allows Russia to exist as a nation, as a civilization--a powerful advanced Russian State. I already can hear squealing from Russia's "liberal" (completely marginal) quarters--it is music to my ears and I am a consummate capitalist. But I can only follow Kennan's dictum that many things which Soviet system provided for Russians were, indeed, not only good but had a major historic positive impact. Putin and his people are trying to preserve them.  But as I always say, until "West" learns REAL Russian 20th century history it will continue to remain in a complete delusion.      
Remember this picture Putin presented as a gift to PM Medvedev on his birthday in 2016?

As you can see, the hint was obvious--get busy with re-industrialization of the nation. Today we may say that it is in a full swing. Enough to look, among myriad other things, at the portfolio of still in construction gigantic shipyard Zvezda near Vladivostok--it has orders for 23 gigantic ships, especially Aframax-class. Even Soviet Union didn't build those. Stock Market, you say? I believed since 2013 that he and his people were preparing some breakthrough for Russia. There were signs, then Crimea happened, today signs are everywhere and only blind and deaf can not see and hear them.   

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