Who said communism failed? It went behind the scenes. The name of the government has changed but the ideology is still there. You don't just switch over to a democracy and expect everything to be different overnight. I didn't see a collapse of the Russian government. Take a look at it. Look at the Russian market. Look at its resources, its GDP. Then tell me that they failed. Failure would mean that they would have devolved into the 3rd world country like Cuba. What I see is a country that for over a century denied Capitalism because it was akin to Democracy. What I see now is a country that realized that they could take capitalism and reshape it into something that will work for them. China did it.
I fail to see why you are bringing up the idea of free markets. Free markets are there so that everyone gets a fair shake in any deal. It's to promote competition. Yes I agree that they don't understand the concept of a free market yet. But why should they. Why not promote a Russian market to the world. They could create a coalition with China, India, Iran, Venezuela to make a secondary market that impacts the free market. Mutual agreement between these coalitions could force control out of the hands of OPEC. It's similar to what Wal-Mart does. Undercuts every other store so they go out of business and then Wal-Mart dictates the price. And don't tell me Wal-Mart did it with efficiency alone. They strong armed companies into following their game plan.
This isn't about the Russian economy and its people. A country's people can wallow in filth yet the government prospers. You can see that in China, Russia, and a wide variety of Middle Easter and Central Asian countries. Don't confuse the prosperity of a people to the prosperity of its corporations. This isn't about what ideologically works and benefits the world and makes it a happier place. This is about reality. The reality that will make ou see all the Getty stations put up the Lukoil plaque on all US gas stations.
Your bias is showing. You say Putin Lukoil and Gazprom are corrupt yet I don't see your proof that they failed because of their corruption. What I see are 2 Russian energy companies that have successes on the global market and compete with some of the larger energy companies. If you can show me where they are failing I will submit that I was wrong.
FWIW - I come from the Eastern Bloc as well. I know how it was there and I know how it is now. Ever heard the saying "Give them enough slack and they will hang themselves." As far as the Russian stereotypes go, if you keep holding on to the Cold War mentality you are probably going to underestimate what Russia may inevitably do.
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