Hello Mr. Prokhorov,
Recent shift in your professional life truly surprised me.
Politics, ha? Interesting. My initial reaction was "c'est pas vrai!"
I couldn't believe at first, then I watched all interviews with you on different channels; 1tv.ru, ntv.ru, vesti.ru, RT.com, etc.
Why would you think that life is forever and you should start a new career after achieving so much in the current one, was my first Q, of course to myself.
Was it discontent, self-hate, self-destructive attitude toward good life that you could enjoy from this point on with no worries? Someone wanted viciously ruin it for you? Someone wanted to take over your businesses while you were away? No one told you that you could do absolutely enormous good, much more than in politics, to your fellow citizens and your country while enjoying your private life? That's the shocking part of all.
How you came across the idea of doing most difficult and dangerous, in my opinion almost self-defeating thing for getting most possibly minimal results?
Have you seen US Presidents turning gray after 4 years in office? Look at their photos before and after.
But...
After patiently listening to you in your interviews I felt you might just wanted to take a try, give it a shot, so called.
"Mais oui" I said to myself, you sounded enthusiastic and it looked like you believe in your cause.
One thing doesn't settle with my logic; how possibly you can leave your positions in companies you own and head? What do you mean you resigned? You don't go to your offices anymore? Walked away just like that? Gave out the deeds, the shares, the keys? To whom?
You weren't using computers or cell phones. You still don't?
In politics also you're going to let others to tell you who has a massage for you?
You don't even read your own blog? Why are you keeping it then? That's why it looks so horrible?
This is too far beyond my imagination. Oh, la, la!
People around you will decide what's considered "important" for you to know about and how much of it? That's why I can't get your attention forever? Even a courtesy email back for more than a year now? Even from people who work for you?
What about many many zeros involved in your businesses that can be so called "missed" from balance sheets, especially that you publicly said that you are not good in accounting?
And, don't your accountants know now that you're not a good in it, because you declared it on TV? Now what, you're going to be absent from the neighborhood where the papers with the numbers are? Wow!
I'll get back to this later and explain things about zeros.
Let's go back to politics and its direct effects.
Ones you complained on TV to Pozner that you think twice to go out, such as to movies, because of cameras fallowing.
Do you understand that becoming a politician not only you can't complain about violations of your privacy as a private citizen, but you're actually going to ask for public's attention constantly, continuously and extensively?
Do you like that? Do you like shaking hands endlessly? Do you like news writing about your illnesses, that God forbid one day you might get as a human like anyone else? What about gossip?
Spend your precious lifetime on the roads?
Can you tolerate hate, ridicule or maybe a danger on your face?
You praised yourself that you made good timing of your choices and succeeded; handling freight in student years, co-oping, banking, then incorporating. Nice and dandy.
Now politics. Fine.
It's your life and all I can do is hope that you can and will succeed in this one too. You say you're stress resilient, don't you?
On 1tv.ru you said that you consulted with people but can't name them, "dayte im spokoyno zhit" you said. In another one - NTV.ru you said you made the decision all by yourself.
What difference does it make, you might ask? I'll tell you; if you listen to others and do what they want, you won't be better than them.
They will just use your name, fame and money, and TIME of course, which is THE MOST expensive and precious commodity for human in this world and you won't recover any passing single day of your life with any wealth whatsoever.
But, it is what it is, and I should tell to myself "ah viola, bien sur, c'est la vie." This is in your "favorite" language, isn't it? :) Not mine either. Just trying to cheer up and keep this going. See if I can help you with this.
Why would I care? Because I care about you and Russia for 2 reasons; spiritual and secular-practical, and, being a little more around the world and surviving on basic level as a person who never had help from anyone, living in America for 20 years and for sure, knowing its politics better than you, I was thinking that you could help your country much better with your wast fortune and knowledge of capitalism if you use it in indirect but wise ways.
There are other avenues that you could have much more impact on Russian social, economic and political life by doing your thing in an honest, decent and patriotic ways and helping the ones in charge of governing, who know world of insiders better than you do.
When in one of my postings I offered you my opinion to stay out of it, I meant external politics - the foreign affairs. It's a very sensitive field. It's not a throwing a ball when you clearly see the basket.
On internal one, which directly affects your life as a citizen, you have all the rights to your voice and participation, I would reserve my opinion and only ask you
"in which ways and how much," because there is a problem; a fine line of possibly linking them together.
Inevitably you already started bringing examples of so called other established democracies such as USA and Europe. From your highest of heights by traveling and enjoying things the way you wish they might look and feel different than it feels for people like myself who live and make a living here and who are innocent, decent, moral, educated, modest and not connected. Sometimes it can feel like a constant straggle of survival full of unfairness, lies, frauds, illegality - you name it.
Instead of bringing theoretical examples with wishful thinking, you should practice your ideas here, see what you could change, then take the skills and knowledge back to Russia and build the better one there. Just the thought.
I'll go into it with more details later.
Do not get me wrong, please. I don't give any advice to anyone whatsoever.
I comment on your interviews and speeches and ask you Qs that you can answer for yourself in the privacy of your soul searching. I don't need answers from you for myself.
My opinions also can be read on my other blog to one of the most listened to talk show host in this country through my profile.
I'll continue to do this with heavy heart, but high hope that some miracle can give you the news of this blog, so my efforts of putting all this precious time of my prime life on this won't be in vain.
Best regards.
