Wednesday 8 September 2010

Bunfight on the Jaroslavl Express

The hammer and sickle were absent - too much to hope for in retro-decoration, I suppose - but the samovar is hissing at the end of the corridor and a steady supply of black or jasmine tea is being handed into our compartment by a large blonde lady.  Ructions among the assembled trainload of attendees and pressmen as some are getting lunch and the rest cheese and ham sandwich on what appears to be a purely arbitrary basis generated by plan under-fulfilment. Angels are happy with jasmine tea in unlimited amounts (those hotel breakfasts) so are, of course, above the fray.

There are a number of sessions that seem to be relatively insulated from one another.  All are ominously undemocratic but that may be an import from the way Russian speaks of political concepts.  Nevertheless: 'the state as an instrument for technological upgrading; standards of democracy and diversity of democratic experience; new challenges and new concepts of international law; regional systems for global security, taken together to indicate a mindset untainted by libertarian or even individualist and democratic ideals...  There is to be an intersectional panel on the European Security Treaty

Could Russia be envying Chinese command and control economics?. 

5 comments:

Botogol said...

Angels, are you really there at the forum?

lilith said...

You are off to the Glopofo! Will Tony be there, and will you arrest him?

hatfield girl said...

Bo, I am just back from the welcoming 'forchette' and speeches. It took all my resolution to get in the lift, and not the bar for a recuperation cognac. These are not the academics and bearers of technical expertise that you meet at conferences. There are some of those but more of the elites and their political claims brigade. The speeches called for the establishing of an open and frank dialogue with Russia on the set -out themes of the conference. That'll be fun - I'm not persuaded that Russia takes advice and recommendations kindly.

Opening the batting tomorrow morning: the role of the state in technological modernisation. Kornai thought only war/military, the environment, and perhaps a bit on health make a specifically state contribution. Otherwise only capitalism and its rewards and stimulus do it for technical change. Others look at China's practices and accuse capitalist democracy of unacceptable inefficiencies. And there I was thinking it was all over. They haven't gone away.

hatfield girl said...

No Tony, L. though lots of security. Silvio is expected; should I arrest him? Will the lower choirs of Angels even clap eyes on him?

Botogol said...

I am impressed (but I will pretend not to be), in what capacity?