Rebuilding the Empire One Pup tent at a Time

In order to "preserve his legacy" (read, advance his personality cult and his autocratic agenda), Vladamir Putin and the Kremlin have a youth group of 18-23 year olds called Nashi (Ours). Bear in mind, these kids were barely out of diapers when the Berlin Wall fell. This is the first generation with no real memory of communism.

Putin's goal is to establish democracy in Russia, independent of any outside assistance. He insists on looking to Russia's own democratic traditions. This is a beautiful idea in theory, but there's just one minor fly in the ointment--Russia has had no democratic traditions for over 500 years.

Nashi just finished with a two-week summer camp at the end of July. Here are a few of the more interesting shots from Reuters.

The top picture is my favourite. It pretty much says it all, doesn't it? This kid looks like he weighs about a buck fifty. He labours under the stern countenance of Vladamir Putin, finger wagging in disapproval. Here we have the mock Siberian labour camp experience, perhaps for the complainers and other assorted squeaky wheels in this two-week wilderness venture.
"Keep moving, Dmitri. You have 70 more bags of turnips to take to the chow hall and you STILL have to make borscht for all 800 people at the camp. Maybe next time you'll think before you speak. This is NOT a Brave New World--it is a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRACY, dammit. And don't you forget it."