Spring, sort of
Spring, sort of
A little look at China in Russia. What to read & listen to. Little update from our grocery card program and other issues...
Many eyes this week are on Moscow and Xi’s meetings with Putin. I don’t know anything more about China than what I consume in the news, but I have been asking myself this week, why would China actually want peace? I cannot come up with any good answers.
Experts appear to be expressing similar sentiment. China is playing a long-game with Russia. Russia is clearly the far weaker power in this relationship, and yet has things China needs more of: natural resources, land. Also very important to understand this post-Soviet, post-Cold War obsession amongst Putin and (some of) his generation with the west “being out to get Russia”, which makes selling out to China just that much easier in terms of mental gymnastics. Turning to China, to Asia, is an easier sell because it’s the opposite of the west, doesn’t talk about messy things like democracy and gender, and may have the added benefit of making America, the greatest of all evils, mad. All of this sounds ridiculous to any rational reader but I do think it is important to get inside their headspace. I also once, years ago now, had the opportunity to take the train all the way to Vladivostok from Moscow, and the poverty you see along the way, even within sight of the train tracks (the region’s economic lifeline), is truly shocking. You think about China, just beyond the horizon, and you think, well, it’s only a matter of time. For now, Moscow collects rents from far away regions, leaving little if any room for local politicians along the long border with China to select and implement investment priorities. It’s not such a stretch to imagine Russia one day figuring out a way to live with giving China what it wants (land, resources) while justifying it as the beauty of a non-western strategic alliance. Non-west being the key word.
This fascinating (as far as I know, anonymous) quote from the FT report on day one of talks in Moscow:
This WSJ report from cities on the China-Russia border is a good reality check:
Meanwhile, mobilization continues in Russia, as even graduates of “elite” institutions such as this engineering institute in Moscow are being handed draft orders together with their diplomas.
I will spare sharing again the images and videos from the visit to Mariupol which Putin supposedly undertook a few days ago in total darkness at 3am. Some say it was a body double. Some say a woman shouted out in protest from a window and it was quickly edited out of state TV videos. Others point out that criminals always eventually return to the scenes of their crimes. Some reminded us that Hitler too once visited Mariupol during WWII. I listen to this podcast this morning (in Russian) and it talked about something else entirely: who exactly is profiting from the “reconstruction” of what Russia spent so much money and manpower to destroy — Mariupol. Funded by the Russian government. TL:DR — companies close to the Russian defense ministry and a trusted former deputy mayor of Moscow, originally from Tatarstan, who already made a fortune overseeing construction in Moscow. He himself is sanctioned, but his mother is a British citizen. So the man showing Putin around Mariupol, a Ukrainian city which Russia intentionally destroyed 95% of, killing an estimated 25,000 Ukrainian civilians in the process, has apparently been washing his wealth abroad via UK and UK-adjacent firms for years.
The previous podcast episode (also in Russian) is also very interesting — about how small crypto currency companies are being used to help Russians with cash to spare get it outside of the country. How they are going to office buildings in Moscow City and can easily, with the help of crypto, send $100,000 cash to be picked up in London. Anonymously. Sanctions? Those affect your average Joe (or Dima) trying to use his Mastercard or Visa abroad, and Joe likely paid taxes on his income and doesn’t have relatives working for the Russian government. But the deeper your pockets, the more money you have to send abroad, the more likely you are to be “helped” by such private companies springing up like mushrooms and until now not really being targeted by regulators.
Other “must reads” from Ukraine in no particular order. These are really painful to read, but I believe so important not to look away. I do not envy the reporters and photographers on the ground who have to carry this on their shoulders, having heard and witnessed all this pain firsthand.
Here in Austria, things are relatively quiet (for now). Mario humbly posted last night about sending out another 277 cards (over €13,850 in direct grocery aid!). Incredible. I know it is not easy to check all these addresses, label, stamp & stuff all these envelopes, and get this all in the post, in your “free” time. So immensely grateful. I cannot wait for all the photos to start arriving. And thank you for all of your donations, without which none of this would be possible.
I created a bit of a ruckus yesterday when I did a simple thing: I posted my own supermarket receipt on Twitter and suggested the supermarket chains are raising prices (i.e. profit margins) by more than they have to under the pretext of “inflation”. People had feelings about my shop (which was not done with Twittering my receipt out after the fact in mind) for a family of five (something people often forget — teens eat like adults). But what I am haunted by is how the heck are refugees managing on €260 per month per adult? How??? Yes, the receive some additional money (Familienbeihilfe) if they have children, and if they were lucky to receive a “Klimabonus”, but that was a one-off. And of course if they live in private housing and could find work, it is a different financial picture. It is no wonder in my Telegram group at least once every few hours someone asks in a panic why their Klimabonus paper didn’t arrive yet. Others ask for the “law” which says how much they can earn legally without losing benefits. Then we have to explain, again, there is no single law, it is nine different laws, and we can only provide rough info for Vienna and Upper Austria, thanks to Jenia (100% volunteer no one paid her for her time and expertise) who built this calculator to help Ukrainians make informed decisions before they go out and get a job that might leave them homeless (unfortunately also a possibility if you live in free housing given to you by the state).
Yesterday, I received panic messages from several residents of a large dorm in Vienna run by a major NGO. They were being asked to sign new tenant agreements, and one of the clauses specifically said that NGO staff could come in their rooms at any time, including when they are not home, without warning. So you can imagine how this went over. I tried to calm them down, explaining it was for sure a technicality and not to worry, but it was really hard to convince (I failed, I think) traumatised, vulnerable people, many of which have already lost their homes, that in Austria they will not be framed with illegal drugs planted in their rooms in order to make them homeless overnight (as you all know, planting illegal drugs is a common practice by Russian police). Perhaps one of the elements we don’t talk about enough of being a “refugee” aside from feeling like a second class citizen in a new country is the loss of home. Your new home cannot feel like a forever home if you don’t have ordinary property/tenant rights (no one else can come in without your permission) to the little room and roof you do have, temporarily, over your head. I am frankly surprised staff of such organizations are not trained nor instructed to be more sensitive to this. But then again, I have seen many examples this year of failing upwards when it comes to the hiring choices of NGOs.
In grocery card news, my little pile is now around two dozen. The amazing single mom originally from Belarus who we helped buy two used bikes recently for Ukrainians living in rural Steiermark sent me another list of her new residents. I admire her optimism and always remind her I don’t know how long it will be before I receive more cards! It is now quite easy with the option to purchase online and simply email me the PDF(s) which I print and send on their way / deliver. I also have some folks still waiting at the arrival center. Prioritising moms with kids and women, and unfortunately having to say no to a few individuals I know firsthand will drink the entire €50 if I hand it to them. That is super hard but I feel I must say no because they are not living alone and their alcohol abuse impacts everyone else living in the arrival center, too.
This made me so happy this morning:
And this one!!! Just incredible. Even without a fridge, it is a fan favorite.
p.s. I spent another few hours this morning researching a potential venue for the fundraising bake & book sale I want to organize, and I saw such pretty spaces (for a fee, of course, which is not always transparent — annoying), but then I woke up and realized we should not really spend any money to generate money as a charity (as a business, you can and should of course). So I am back to square one. I know we need a bit of lead time to generate book donations (also a logistical question) and get bakers on board. I am thinking about Sunday April 23 after all the Easter & school breaks. I like the idea of a Sunday afternoon because everything else “shopping” is closed (lol). So I’ll keep you posted…