The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia

by Masha Gessen

He was cautious—he said that he feared seeing Putin fall into a trap set by the resurgent bureaucracy, what he called “the nomenklatura monster,” and when he heard Putin speak of the need to strengthen the state, his concern grew. Still, he thought the new president deserved a chance.3 And Putin, to him, certainly seemed saner than the outgoing Russian president. The way everyone seemed to be acting like this was normal, to take this gray little man, announce that he would be president, and watch him ascend to the throne three months later—the way everyone was unfazed by this, made Seryozha feel crazy. He had been feeling that way more and more often. At Moscow State University, where Seryozha was now studying computer programming, everyone seemed to have been waiting for Putin to come along. Seryozha did not even notice when his portraits began appearing, along with patriotic paraphernalia he had not noticed before: flags, flyers for Putin’s Unity Party, posters calling on everyone to vote in the hastily scheduled presidential election. This pretend election of a barely perceptible candidate who was the preordained winner made Seryozha feel like he barely existed himself. It was probably a good thing that his field required virtually no social contact with his fellow students: he could not have grasped their reality if he had wanted to.

This is a remarkable passage.