In his column today, David Brooks tries to get inside Vladimir Putin’s mind.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Putin was personally involved in getting [Ivan] Ilyin’s remains re-buried back in Russian soil. In 2009, Putin went to consecrate the grave himself.
Discussing Ilyin’s book “Our Tasks”, Brooks writes,
Three great ideas run through this work. The first is Russian exceptionalism: the idea that Russia has its own unique spiritual status and purpose. The second is devotion to the Orthodox faith. The third is belief in autocracy. Mashed together, these philosophers point to a Russia that is a quasi-theocratic nationalist autocracy destined to play a culminating role on the world stage.
Exceptionalism, religious fanaticism, er, devotion, and a belief in autocracy. Gee, where have we seen that before? If you consider following Ayn Rand a religion, most of the Republican Party seems to follow either that religion or fundamentalist Christianity.
There’s plenty of exceptionalism in both parties. As for belief in autocracy, I see more in the GOP but some Democrats have it too, they just hide it better. Anyway, it seems anyone who moves into the White House soon shows an urge to become an autocrat.
Read the column. Brooks does a good job of pointing out the elements that can lead a country into impractical decisions that can end up in war. He may not recognize those elements here at home, but he’s good at picking them out far away.