This month the Russian magazine Snob published a fascinating correspondence between political prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky and opposition figure Ksenia Sobchak in which the two exchanged views on questions ranging from splits within the elite, the civic conscience of business leaders, and their personal experiences of political awakening.

Asked by Sobchak if he thought that Russia was ready for democracy, Khodorkovsky wrote: “The question about the readiness of Russian society for democracy is similar to the conception of democracy as a luxury.  Democracy is not a symbol, not a fetish, but a mechanism for managing a complex modern society not through forcible unification (as in the case of authoritarianism), but through co-ordination of the interests of individuals and their associations.  Humanity has not come up with better mechanism for a large country with an educated population.  Russia is a sufficiently large country, and the population is sufficiently educated.”

In turn, Khodorkovsky asked Sobchak if she thought that Russia’s elites would always be afraid to speak out, or if they may become emboldened by recent events.  Sobchak responded: “Yes, big money loves quiet, and there are few who are ready to openly express their dissent openly.  Yes, business is scared, while the ‘Khodorkovsky affair,’ like the legend about the ‘headless horseman,’ lives on in the minds, the hearts, and – the main thing – the wallets of entrepreneurs.  The system whereby the oligarchs all cover each other’s backsides makes the ‘captains of business’ extremely vulnerable before the power:  a criminal case can be hatched against any one of them for old sins, and nobody wants to pull the tiger’s whiskers by engaging in public criticism.  However, I’m beginning to get the feeling that fear no longer has such a strong hold on these people.  This is no longer horror that paralyses the will, it is more apprehension and cautiousness.”