Russia: Putin Causes Uproar After Controversial Comparison Between Christian Holy Relics And Lenin's Embalmed Corpse

The older generation, a great many number of whom were driven to extreme poverty after the collapse, longs for the days of old; back when they still didn't have much, but they had something, a little dole of something, given out monthly by the state, by the old country.

To expand... shortly after Putin first came to power, everyone was essentially given a voucher for outright ownership of the flat they lived in. Many, especially in the more central areas, sold that ownership for pennies on the dollar, to the western backed new businessmen (from entrepreneurs to former directors and politicians who had hoarded money and valuables away during the great communist bribery era to former mafia and racketeers). Lots of poor, hungry mouths to feed and the quickest and surest way to get money for food was to sell what you had. Property!Now that property is worth multiples of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands.

So, nostalgia for the old. That's one third covered.

The middle sector - the university age to late thirties - considered fleeting and not totally dependable. A considerable percentage leaves for lucrative offers, or hope, to the West. This after receiving a free education and all the while being quite vocal about own differing opinions.

The younger sector - the pre university years and younger - are being moulded to respect, revere and long for their grandparents and all that those grandparent, in turn, respect, revere and long for. Enter the Nashi movement, devised by Putin to do just that. So that makes two thirds now.

Two thirds covered, give or take. That's enough of a margin to help secure the current agenda. Rinse, repeat.

An opinion.