I think everyone will agree the core thesis that a "primitive" economy based on natural resources will not make Russia a great country in the future is true.
The implication that it is fear that's keeping a more modern, complex and innovative economy from a evolving is more nuanced.
I think dictatorships like Singapore are not necessary bad for a strong and diverse economy. I think a true democracy is better, but not by much pure in economic terms. I think it's much better for your humanity.
What really plagues Russia is chaos, corruption and lawlessness. That's what's keeping the small and mid sized business down, they are the ones that could diversify the economy.
Being a dictatorship is not inherently bad for the economy. But as you say democracy tends to be better for your humanity, so to speak.
Being a dictatorship magnifies the impact of the quality of the leadership/rulers. In most western democracies our governments are relatively weak. Their ability to help or hinder the economy is somewhat limited as they generally don't directly control the organizations that make up the economy. On the other hand in a country where the government wields absolute power the government's impact is enormous.
Historically most governments around in the world haven't been great so the countries that have done consistently well are those whose governments have limited influence over the economy ie democracies.
Its not that democracy helps your economy. It just dilutes the governments ability to fvck it up.
I don't think anyone would disagree that, in theory, the ideal government is a wise, benevolent dictator. The primary problem, in practice, is finding such a dictator (the secondary problem, of course, being how to get rid of him when he turns out to be insufficiently wise and/or benevolent after all).
Democracy is actually a pretty terrible way to run things; as Churchill said, it is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried so far.
The implication that it is fear that's keeping a more modern, complex and innovative economy from a evolving is more nuanced.
I think dictatorships like Singapore are not necessary bad for a strong and diverse economy. I think a true democracy is better, but not by much pure in economic terms. I think it's much better for your humanity.
What really plagues Russia is chaos, corruption and lawlessness. That's what's keeping the small and mid sized business down, they are the ones that could diversify the economy.