In my opinion, the current government is only making money for themselves. They aren't deliberately harming the people; they're just neglecting them, leaving them to fend for themselves, and without authority, the people descend into chaos. If things get really bad (elections or a particularly large rally), they'll put on a show of activity, sometimes successfully. But the rest of the time, the people are simply ignored. I read Veller, and he writes that a country only prospers when the government is at least somewhat interested in the well-being of the country. Currently, the government only represents four interests: power (connections), authority (the government itself), money (businessmen), and goods (factory owners). The last two are optional. Although Putin is somewhat better than Bush or Yeltsin.