What happens when political alignment replaces the rule of law: the case of Russia.
My apartment building in Moscow, one of the famous high-rises or “vysotki” made during Stalin’s construction boom in the capital, was a one-minute walk from this maze of cars and trucks. Having entered the traffic on the right of this photo, I needed to cut across 12 lanes in less than a quarter of a mile to make it to the left-hand turn that would deliver me home. None of the drivers were in a mood to let anyone cut across simply because Moscow traffic made everyone really ornery.
Inching my way forward, the moment I noticed anyone hesitating for a second — probably checking their phone — I would lurch my car into their lane, blocking them so I could slink my way across to the far left. Car after car beeped, but everyone understood that I needed to get over, so the protests usually ended as soon as they started. One day, they, too, would need to get over to a left-hand turn somewhere. Weaving my way across the six lanes on the right, I was nearing the final lane from where I could turn.
There is something I have often written about when discussing why Putin was able to turn Russia so easily into a genociding, fascist society: 90 percent of the people are not politically…