Monday, December 7, 2009
Vladimir Putin
In his speech Putin explained the decline in population that has taken place each year in Russia and deemed it the Demographic problem. This problem revolves around three things: low birth rate, high death rate, and low immigration rates. Putin wants to implement government programs that will curb these problems. To increase the birth rate he explains a funding program instigated by the government to aid families who have more than one child. To decrease the death rate Putin discussed government programs improving the roads and decreasing the alcohol consumption. He has no definite plan to increase immigration, only that Russia needs to encourage educated people to come to its country. The rhetoric he uses makes it sound like the state cares about families, but Putin's words make it clear that the family thrives in order to provide the state. Putin said that a man's true love for his country begins with a love for his family.
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6 comments:
I agree that there may be slight differences between the language he uses and the meaning that he is really sending. But I also think that he has hit on an important point. The government has to care about families in some way. They have no choice. It is particularly important with the problems Russia is having. If people stop reproducing then your population starts to decline. And if you are a leader of a large country that means you loose power. How can you compete with other large countries if you are running out of people?
The point Putin is trying to convey sure is a great one, but saying something and acting on that and actually doing something are two completely different things. The points that are touched on are spot on. The family needs to function properly and the government, in some fashion, needs to implement programs to help. This is politics. What we see happening in Russia isn't the same message we heard out of Putin's mouth. Governments need to fix things from the inside out. Get itself intact, and then the family will follow suite.
I would agree as well that Putin's words do not extend to the actions taken by the take in the favor of families. The idea that the state must care for the family is noble, but obviously in this situation that nobility has been twisted around to make sure that the state remained powerful. This all happened while the true welfare of the family had evaporated.
This ties in well with the Stalinist thought of family to serve as an instrument of the state. These same problems were also recognized and were tried to be remedied by Stalin earlier in the 20th Century.
Putin and Russia in general has left no other option for families and therefore they have to look outside of the state in order to find meaning and hope.
In his address it seems as though he is advocating for change in the wrong order. He seems to think that corruption can be fixed without any moral changes. This cannot and will not occur without strengthening the family where the moral character is taught and reinforced. He admits corruption is an issue and in my opinion that is the cause of the moral demise of the family. The family must be given the opportunity to thrive and then Russia will follow.
Putin admits the faults of Russia but it doesn’t seem as though his heart or pocket is really willing to sacrifice for the good of Russia. The problem I see in his speech and throughout Russia is that of sacrifice. The country has been driven to this corruption and no one wants to be the one to sacrifice for the good of the family or the country because their trust in the institution is weak and the returns are minimal.
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