Even more astonishing is the realization that this is something private business can do.
Just think what astonishing things Russia could create in the space industry if the efforts of government officials were directed not toward funding fur-coat storage palaces, building astonishingly expensive Olympic Games, or dismantling the Academy of Sciences, but toward genuinely encouraging technological development.
Still, this cannot last forever. Corruption cannot remain the eternal purpose and backbone of power.
We’ll drive the crooks out, and Russia will reclaim its leadership in the space industry. Kind, bearded Russian space marines armed with Gauss rifles will land on Omicron Persei 8 and shake hands with the locals, tie St. George ribbons (a Russian military remembrance symbol) on them—not seize their territory, but treat them to kulebyaka and rasstegai (traditional Russian pies).