You know, I read especially carefully almost all the media coverage about "Peskov’s watch," where Peskov was being defended or let off the hook. What interested me most were the comments. It was very interesting to see that even the audience of utterly bought-and-paid-for outlets like LifeNews and so on was remarkably unanimous: we don’t believe it, don’t feed us fairy tales, we hate these bastards—what is there even to discuss after a watch worth 37 million rubles (about US$600,000 at the time)?
You don’t see that kind of unanimity when you write about corruption on a larger scale (like Shuvalov’s apartment) or really massive corruption, like the Rotenbergs’ Gazprom kickback schemes. Not everyone can make sense of those arrangements, offshore chains, or even an apartment in central London—how are you supposed to grasp that if London is just some abstract city to you, where people drink tea and Sherlock Holmes lives?
Besides, apparently stealing money to buy an apartment or a palace is at least seen as rational behavior for a corrupt official, whereas a trinket on the wrist that costs as much as an apartment looks 146% like pure obscene excess. At that point even the standard line—these ones have already stolen their fill, and if others come in they’ll just start all over again—stops working, because it becomes obvious: these people will never steal enough to satisfy themselves.
All this is just to say: try the newly released joint game from Meduza and the ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation), "A Valuable Shot: Guess How Much Officials’ Jewelry Costs."
It’s obvious enough already that they steal at Moscow City Hall, but when you find out how much the jewelry set costs that Moscow Deputy Mayor Rakova piled onto herself before heading to a government meeting, the realization hits differently. It even starts to take on notes of class hatred.
This game isn’t really for readers of my blog—you don’t need enlightening—but through you I’d very much like to get it to your mothers and grandmothers.
Just go up to your favorite female relative and say: listen, take a look at a couple of photos—there’s an interesting quiz here. I want to see whether you know your way around women’s jewelry.
She’ll have something to talk about with her friends on the phone.
A separate request: please help spread the game on Odnoklassniki (a Russian social network popular with older users) and other places like it.
If you come across a local internet forum where people are discussing the cancellation of transit benefits for pensioners, immediately drop this link with the words: "Oh, isn’t this that Yarovaya from United Russia who voted to cancel benefits? Help me out—I can’t quite make out what she’s wearing around her neck."
You can also play the "fighting the fifth column" game. Go into the most "patriotic" public group you can find and write: let the liberal scum calm down—those earrings could only have been given to Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
And so on—you get the idea.