Meanwhile, Russia...

Posted by a colleague in Moscow, an "activist" on some issues (E.g., opposing housing & education polices, but fine with U.S. authoritarianism under Lord #Trumpvirus, and in general, so it seems from my perspective.

It seems that the new Duma budget will result decimating social programs & services (including medical services in the face of a bad COVID situation) while exploding military and "propaganda" budgets 'bigly'.

Some may have seen this, even protested it, in the U.S., the bloating of military budgets at the expense of other things.

So this is not to compare systems or even leaders, but to highlight similarities in how governments prioritize.
It seems to me that priority #1 in many places is to sustain or grow presence/domination and keep the powers that be, in power.
In very different ways.

Anyway, seeing this brought me back to debates over Vietnam, through Afghanistan. That's how super-powers and past/present Empires roll. [ "Context and perspective" ]. Seems like Russia copies the U.S. model, or vice versa. But what strikes me is how clearly and unapologetically a huge budget item is specifically for "propaganda". Well, #IIWII. (it is what it is). #Russia