6 ms·

> This is their chance to get rid of Putin. And how would that happen? does anyone really think the oligarchs going to overthrow him, they are more afraid of h

• ajross 5y ago
  No one fears "Putin", or "Stalin". They fear the security apparatus that the dictator controls. And that security apparatus needs to be paid: in rubles, status, feudal power, familial influence, party promotions, regional rivalries, etc... In 1937, Stalin could effect the Great Purge by rewarding his NKVD with nothing but things he already controlled as the head of the party, using no resources that had to be sourced from outside the borders of the USSR (and after 1940, of course, he didn't even need to pay them because they were serving him out of patriotism in an attempt to save the nation from Hitler). In 2022 Putin needs to pay his support structure with iPhones and yachts. That's harder to do when your economy is shit. We'll see. No one can predict a coup. But these are the circumstances that produce them.