Black Jack

“I’ll Build My Own…”:The Political Course of Putin in Historical Perspective

"I'm going to build my own theme park with blackjack and hookers" is a memorable quote from Futurama, a well-known American animated series. In Russia, this phrase has taken on a life of its own, becoming a widely recognized meme. It is used, first, to express disagreement and a desire to take an alternative path; and second, to assert that one’s own endeavor will be much more successful than the one being rejected.

In one way or another, this phrase could be applied to the political course Vladimir Putin has chosen. Indeed, he has not only declared his intent to follow a different path, but has also set out to construct his own “amusement park” - a bizarre fusion of Tsarism and Communism, drawing, in my view, on the worst aspects of both eras.

This hybrid vision includes elements of a planned economy, extreme wealth disparity, and the near-total absence of a middle class - traits of Tsarist Russia. At the same time, it revives features of Soviet rule: servile obedience to authority, the conflation of the bureaucratic apparatus with the state itself, rigid social stratification with no mobility, and the total surveillance and control of citizens by the NKVD, KGB, or whatever its latest incarnation is called today.

An “amusement park” like this is certainly not for everyone, but at least its general outline is clear. The “blackjack” component is fairly self-explanatory. The only question that remains is: who are the unfortunate “hookers”? To find the answer, let us turn to Russian history.

Sex Did Not Exist in the USSR - But Prostitutes Did

As the old Soviet saying goes, “There was no sex in the USSR.” And yet, there were prostitutes. By the twilight years of the Soviet Union, a particular type of sex worker had emerged - the so-called inter-girls (inter-devochki), women who “serviced” foreign men. Naturally, in a country where every foreign visitor was closely monitored by state security, these women maintained close ties with the intelligence services. Many were deliberately placed in the path of selected targets, tasked with extracting valuable information for the KGB.

However, this tactic was not limited to foreigners. The KGB employed similar methods against the Soviet elite. It was common practice within the agency to maintain a papochka - a personal file containing compromising materials - on every prominent official. These files served as tools of leverage, ensuring compliance when needed.

The materials collected typically fell into two categories: professional misconduct, which could serve as grounds for imprisonment; and personal indiscretions, which could be used to pressure the target via their spouse.

Prostitution in Tsarist Russia: A Dark Legacy

Unlike the Soviet Union, where prostitution was officially banned (yet secretly exploited by the state), in the Russian Empire it was fully legalized. And among the ranks of registered prostitutes, a significant number were Jewish women.

But how did that happen? The answer is quite simple.First, the legal restrictions imposed on Jews in the Russian Empire played a crucial role. Jews were confined to the Pale of Settlement, a designated area they were not allowed to leave unless they met specific criteria. A Jewish man could enter a major city if he belonged to a certain profession - such as a doctor. A Jewish woman, however, could enter legally only as the wife of such a man, or as a registered prostitute. Some Jewish women, desperate to escape the crushing poverty of the Pale and seek a better life in the cities, faked documents to enter the latter category. Many fell victim to deception and coercion, finding themselves trapped in a system from which there was no escape.

Second, as mentioned earlier, Jewish communities in the Pale of Settlement often lived in extreme poverty. And, as history has shown time and again, destitution sometimes drives women to make desperate choices.

Echoes of the Past in Modern Russia

Whether the current Russian president - who openly idolizes the Russian Empire on the one hand and the KGB on the other - will draw upon this historical precedent in building his own “theme park” remains unknown.

However, a peculiar trend in contemporary Russian discourse suggests a disturbing parallel. The Russian-speaking internet is full of discussions, television programs, and even casual jokes centered around high-class escort services. The archetype of the elite escort, as perceived by the modern Russian mainstream, is strikingly consistent: a dark-haired, brown-eyed brunette with an exotic allure - one who does not quite resemble the stereotypical Russian woman.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But the most disturbing aspect of this phenomenon is that these ideas - about amusement parks, prostitutes, and the symbolic “blackjack” (or perhaps “Black Jacob” - a pun that evokes both the card game and historical figures) - seem to form the very foundation of Putin’s vision, along with that of his conservative revolutionaries.