Jessica’s Reviews > Hotel Ukraine > Status Update

“So on one level we’re civilized but deep down we’re all cavemen?”

"He said that a despot feels he can get away with not following the rules because he is so powerful that society’s restraints and laws don’t apply to him. And the more powerful and alienated from society’s rules he is, the more brutal he can be.”

“Well, apparently we all have a small percent of caveman—otherwise known as Neanderthal—in our DNA, and the caveman got what he wanted with violence. It was only when society set rules and laws that punished them, that cavemen learned how to get what they wanted in other ways."

“Yes. And look what good that’s done. I’ve spent two decades exposing corrupt leadership and it’s as if nobody cares enough to do anything about it. There’s more corruption now than there’s ever been.... They’ll get used to it, and if they don’t know anyone fighting out there, they won’t feel involved. It will become the wallpaper of their lives, a distant war that drags on and on.”

It was classic Putin, he thought. Set the underlings against each other, give each of them enough power to make them loyal to him, but not so much that they might become a threat. By the same token, there were gradations of power, and Volkov obviously had more than Kazasky.

It was classic Putin, he thought. Set the underlings against each other, give each of them enough power to make them loyal to him, but not so much that they might become a threat. By the same token, there were gradations of power, and Volkov obviously had more than Kazasky.