In the early 1990s, Bruce Cole traveled to Russia on business, or more specifically, to help U.S. companies make connections during the capitalist feeding frenzy that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The people he met were generous, engaged and knowledgeable enough about democracy to understand that they didn’t have the first idea about how to do it. Soon after, Putin would restore an authoritarian sense of predictability, but for a brief moment, there was something else in the air.
Also in this issue, political columnist Michael G. Roskin traces the roots of the White supremacist Great Replacement theory, a bad idea that’s been around for much longer than it’s been in the news. Home and garden columnist Georgeanne Davis offers tips for taking care of those dooryard lilacs. And builder Jim Bahoosh goes back to the drawing board for a third time on plans for a new two bedroom home, using graph paper cutouts to organize the space.
