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| 2007-07-25 register | login | ||
Death of a DissidentJust started reading this book, feels very straight, fascinating insight into post-Communist Russia. Here is a favorite quote so far, p. 36 from Litvinenko: "You and Boris, you're always thinking politics, but you don't see the people - that's your big mistake. In our work [intelligence] the individual is the most important thing." This goes right to the heart of a kind of ongoing debate I have with some family and friends, and it is always the practical down to earth side that says the people, and the more abstract thinking that says the system or ideology or politics. Interesting. And not really in this context, but here is my other favorite Russian quote, this from the Communist era: "Who guards the guards?" - that is, if you want to fix a corrupt system by putting safeguards in place, who enforces them? At least that is my interpretation. How do we build a just world, we need just people!"""" |
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