Mikhail Khodorkovsky, "tycoon" or "oligarch...?"
the choice of words so often reflects basic beliefs...
ty·coon
Pronunciation: tI-'kün
Function: noun
Etymology: Japanese taikun
1 : SHOGUN
2 a : a top leader (as in politics) b : a businessman of exceptional wealth and power
ol·i·gar·ch
Pronunciation: 'ä-l&-"gär-k, 'O-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -s
1 : a member or supporter of government by the few
2 : a member or supporter of a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also : a person exercising such control
let the hand-wringing about the repression of unimitigated greed and thwarting of free-market capitalism begin...
(more)
these "shady deals" were endemic throughout the former communist states and, cumulatively, have been to a large degree responsible for the fact that many of those states remain at 85% or less of their real GDP levels at the time of the break-up in 1989... (see my earlier post, here...) free-market capitalism and privatization, shoved down the throats of those countries with wholesale abandon by the u.s., the world bank, and the imf, in the absence of supporting infrastructure, led to some of the most spectacular periods of outright looting in modern history... after yelstin's wild west era, putin had little choice but to pick on one of the most egregious examples, khodorkovsky, as his poster boy... now, from our superior perspective, we can accuse putin of regressive behavior and thwarting democracy and free markets even though WE had a great deal to do with the rise of khodorkovsky and his fellow oligarchs in the first place...
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Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison on fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion charges.
ty·coon
Pronunciation: tI-'kün
Function: noun
Etymology: Japanese taikun
1 : SHOGUN
2 a : a top leader (as in politics) b : a businessman of exceptional wealth and power
ol·i·gar·ch
Pronunciation: 'ä-l&-"gär-k, 'O-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -s
1 : a member or supporter of government by the few
2 : a member or supporter of a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also : a person exercising such control
let the hand-wringing about the repression of unimitigated greed and thwarting of free-market capitalism begin...
(more)
The guilty verdict against the man who was once Russia's richest citizen drew new criticism here and abroad as evidence that rule of law has yet to take root in the post-communist state.
"Here, you're innocent until proven guilty," President Bush said in Washington, "and it appeared to us, at least people in my administration, that it looked like he had been judged guilty prior to having a fair trial."
[...]
Many people believe that the wealth of Khodorkovsky and other business magnates known as oligarchs was stolen in shady deals involving the sell-off of state industries in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
these "shady deals" were endemic throughout the former communist states and, cumulatively, have been to a large degree responsible for the fact that many of those states remain at 85% or less of their real GDP levels at the time of the break-up in 1989... (see my earlier post, here...) free-market capitalism and privatization, shoved down the throats of those countries with wholesale abandon by the u.s., the world bank, and the imf, in the absence of supporting infrastructure, led to some of the most spectacular periods of outright looting in modern history... after yelstin's wild west era, putin had little choice but to pick on one of the most egregious examples, khodorkovsky, as his poster boy... now, from our superior perspective, we can accuse putin of regressive behavior and thwarting democracy and free markets even though WE had a great deal to do with the rise of khodorkovsky and his fellow oligarchs in the first place...
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posted by profmarcus at
6/01/2005
