Comment by apetrov
It’s been very tightly intertwined with the position. When you retire, your wealth is gone, and sometimes retirement equals a purge. I wouldn’t call this being among the wealthy elite by any means. Today, you live in the center of Moscow, and tomorrow you’re an ‘enemy of the people’—good luck proving otherwise.
> and sometimes retirement equals a purge
That's just dictatorships man, you gotta keep playing the game well or you end up tortured to death in a salt mine.