Not Economic

This is political, not economic. The coal miners came out because they were not paid. The people coming onto the streets of Moscow are very well off. These are people protesting because they were humiliated. They were not asked. They were just told, "Putin is coming back."

-- Viktor A. Shenderovich, a political commentator on Echo of Moscow radio, on why a surprising number of Russians are demonstrating against the government, New York Times, 12 December 2011