A telling piece of begrudging admiration for Western institutions from pro-war Russian “Z-author” Dmitry Konanykhin:
“For at least 30 years, the United States has had an expert ecosystem made up of absolute American patriots who cycle between 17 intelligence agencies, federal departments, the State Department, universities, think tanks, and presidential administrations.
This constantly circulating class of professionals ensures the continuous scouting, selection, monitoring, and nurturing of talented young prodigies — ‘tadpoles’ — at the university level and within the R&D bureaus of defense corporations, all the way to NASA and the Department of Energy (including the nuclear complex).
Next, these specialists ‘marry’ the selected talent with a state-backed system for ‘independent startups’ that provides the necessary infrastructure.
We have no such class of specialists. Not only is our intelligence community locked in its own maniacal, KGB-style [Chekist] snobbery, but it is also functionally illiterate in the old Soviet fashion and completely clueless when it comes to emerging technologies.
This is exactly why alternative structures are being set up in Russia, but they simply lack muscle due to a severe talent shortage. The deeply depressing experience of the previous iteration of the Advanced Research Foundation [Russia’s attempt at DARPA], which collapsed under the weight of old-school Soviet military cronyism [blat] and nepotism, is still fresh in our minds.
Wherever state money appears, well-connected children and grandchildren multiply like cells by mitosis, which is completely incompatible with engineering creativity. The main curse of these efforts is the lingering, deeply entrenched system of Soviet-era thinking and family cronyism within the leadership structures of our manufacturing sector and specialized heavy machinery industries.
The Americans used to have the same issues — the same corruption and nepotism — but that is precisely why they moved earlier to eliminate nepotism in the management of military R&D.
After all, the famous DARPA is not omnipotent, to put it mildly. That is why they have In-Q-Tel [the CIA’s venture capital firm] and other funds. That is why the US (JUST LIKE THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN THE PAST!!!) utilizes a system of horizontal career mobility that is utterly unthinkable under our Soviet-style setup: a talented individual can be a diplomat, an engineer, a presidential advisor, a university professor, a talent scout for young minds, and a multimillionaire all in one lifetime.
For us, this is impossible: our social system is completely choked by Soviet-style cronyist thrombosis. A talented officer cannot transfer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, move from there to Roscosmos [the space agency], then to a university, then back to the Advanced Research Foundation, then to the SVR [Foreign Intelligence Service], and finally back to the army. It’s impossible. But it is only impossible within the framework of the Soviet mindset.
It is time to learn from the Americans and restore a proper, meritocratic Table of Ranks for our entire society. A basic de-communization is long overdue and overripe. Look at the sheer efficiency of the young institutions the Americans built on the territory of what used to be Ukraine. It is these young officers and young specialists who form the backbone of an absolutely cannibalistic regime. We must become more efficient if we want to achieve Victory.“
