Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death by plane crash today should surprise no one. The late king of the Wagner Group and erstwhile chef to Vlad the Impaler (you can’t make up this stuff) represented, in Putin’s ever more paranoid mind, an existential threat. I don’t need personal acquaintance with either to know this.
The actions against Moscow by elements of Wagner earlier this year reminded Putin of his vulnerability. Fascist leaders brook no opposition to their personally-beneficial decisions. They advocate authoritarian actions executed by the strong centralized state apparatus they control with an iron grip. If they think that grip loosening, they react again anyone looking threatening. Additionally, the administrators of their state machinery is a small cadre linked in one form or another to the head dude. They are easy to pick out if eliminating them becomes the plan.
Over the twenty plus years Vlad the Impaler has ruled Russia, directly or indirectly,
assassinations of journalists have been prominent and frequent. Silencing those
willing to put their lives on the line by doing the ethical investigative function so necessary to assure transparency and accountability in a society grows ever more desirable for the Russian ruler. His additional willingness to chase former intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, followed by Sergei Skripal and his daughter twelve years later illustrated that departing Russia was insufficient to slake Putin’s lust for total control. He will never admit his role in these acts on British soil but they mark his desperation. He similarly attempted to poison domestic opponent Alexei Navalny but settled for incarcerating him for ever increasing terms when the assassination attempt failed. ‘Throwing’ elections is insufficient for Vlad; he requires eliminating any possible opposition as he fears its existence.
It’s not just Putin as Fascists have proven historically to be paranoid. Their behaviour, whether Josef Stalin, Adolph Hitler, or Mao Zedong is consistently to prevent anyone stepping into their shoes. The Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution was a bizarre decade where Mao allowed over-the-top criticisms to redirect the future of the Party and China, killing and maiming many Party elders who marched with Mao decades earlier. Thank goodness he was an old man by then, soon to die.
Stalin’s hi our over thirty years was the most direct as he drove out opponents within the Bolshevik movement, much less from opposition parties. Often he forced them into exile. Exile, however, still allows someone on this planet so the permanent response to fear of overthrow (or accountability) is to eliminate the individual altogether. Stalin arranged for Trotsky’s ultimate removal through assassination with an ice pick in Mexico well over a decade after the Soviet leader consolidated power over all opposition. The purges the Soviet leader orchestrated in the 1930s certainly focused on fellow Bolsheviks with whom he had worked in the years leading to 1917’s Revolution. Some of those targeted were also Jews, a notorious boogie man for Fascist rulers across history.
Putin’s inability to tolerate any possible challenge to his rule or individual decisions will only grow with time as he trusts ever fewer people.
Similar demands within the current Chinese political scene raise comparisons for Xi Jinping. Xi’s renowned ‘anti-corruption campaign’ instigated soon after winning the General Secretary of the Communist Party position in 2012 also led to a dramatic eradication of opponents on the public stage. A public trial for a former challenger, Bo Xilai and his wife for what were definitely a hideous murder and likely corruption a decade ago, removed Bo from forming an anti-Xi focal point. Hundreds of senior PLA officers were certainly likely to be corrupt but it’s hard to imagine those Xi implanted as successors are truly any purer of heart.
Xi’s fear of people organisting via the internet means that surveillance on that forum is ubiquitous and likely to curtail innovation in China over the long haul. China’s surveillance culture today helps Xi root out opposition early in any anti-CCP stage. If one can’t test ideas because they violate the gospel of the ruler, those same ideas likely will die and smother creative thinking altogether. Xi’s concern that his image could appear similar to Winnie the Pooh with his rather prominent tummy is further evidence of the dictator’s fragile self assessment that cannot endure against popular commentary.
Fasciasts also tend to hype nationalism as they prefer its story. Putin relies on his desire for the Russian Orthodox Church to buttress his interpretation of history as Xi prefers to criticize anyone who ‘humiliated’ the nation. Hitler’s obsession with rewriting history to blame, then murder the Jews is a hallmark of the horrors of the Third Reich.
Fascists seem to have other Fascists as their primary dinner partners. Xi’s declarations over the past couple of years of his support for the wobbly Russian leader is a classic case. It’s not as if either of them have a lot of other people to dine with but the protestations of unswerving loyalty are messages to potential opponents to stay away.
It bears remembering that Fascists claim to be retribution figures for the actions done to the nation. The leaders try hiding their personal fears by eradicating potential opponents, lauding other strongmen rulers, and regurgitating their preferred inconsistent and false histories. They are a form of power seekers who destroy trust, institutions, and faith. They are also not limited to Putin, Xi, Mao, or Stalin but can appear in societies where many folks are too lazy or angry to see the distortions and damage. Fascism thrives on demonstrably false but alluring conspiracy theories.
Democracies, which I certainly prefer, rely on engagement, commitment, openness and accountability. They require a lot of work to endure. These traits require nurturing by the people. That bears serious thought right now across the world.
Thanks to those who subscribe to this Substack. I honestly welcome your thoughts. Be well.FIN