In my previous essay, I wrote about the Russian oligarchs, those who rule the few. This article addresses the oligarch above all oligarchs…Czar Putin.

Czar Putin

Now, Czar Putin asserts that his annual income is about $140,000 and that he lives in a modest 800-square foot apartment. If true, I live in a three times larger home than his. Those in the know monetarily estimate that his net worth is around $200,000,000. Some claim that Putin is the richest man in the world.

In my article about the oligarchs, I didn’t mention watches. Nonetheless, Putin collects timepieces.  It is reported that Putin has a watch made by A. Lange & Sohne Toubograph, which costs a half-million dollars.

Putin's watch

Czar Putin has a home similar to a home that I would like to own, on the Jersey seashore but on the Black Sea. His Black Sea beach home is 190,000 square feet.

Putin’s beach home

While the Russian government claims that some oligarch owns that beach home, why does Putin’s security service guard it? Also, there is a no-fly zone above his modest abode.

This is Putin’s yacht, which cost $100,000,000.

I have a blue yacht.

In addition to Czar Putin’s opulence, he is said to own another dozen and a half other homes, seven hundred cars, six dozen planes, and helicopters.

So, what is it that drives Czar Putin? As with other run-of-the-mill oligarchs, there is more than getting more watches, homes, cars, yachts, etc.

This wannabee czar suffers from ICC, which stands for Inferiority Complex of Czars. He wants to be a bigger man, a macho man. This diminutive ruler rules a country that he wants to be a superpower. Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago and still hasn’t seized a single city in that country to date.

Putin wants to be a 21^st century Peter the Great. However, Putin has become Xi Jinping’s lapdog. Xi is bigger and more powerful than Putin. What is more galling is that Putin needs Xi’s help.

Putin and Xi

Putin didn’t read The Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh wanted to be remembered as a great oligarch that ruled the city-state of Uruk in Sumer five millennia ago. Gilgamesh finally saw the light and realized that he couldn’t achieve immortality. Putin needs to take heed of Gilgamesh’s famous mantra, “Forget death and seek life.”