But capitalism is also cruel.

But financial markets are a harsh and fickle taskmaster.

And the way West Germany rolled over the wreckage of its East German neighbor seemed almost like an act of cruelty.

Indeed, such is China s political system that only the strongest advance. One fallen princeling, Bo, has been accused of cruelty and corruption traits that are endemic in China s cloistered but fragmented oligarchy, which values family lineage and relies on networks of allies.

It gained credibility from the fact that its creator dismantled a cruel and destructive system, and left behind a more prosperous and humane China. But that credibility has been used to justify the maintenance of a system that is now hampering China s continued progress.

A month later, Putin reinforced this image of Russians as the morally superior victims of a cruel and uncompromising West. We are less pragmatic than other people, less calculating, he asserted, before adding that Russia s greatness and vast size means we have a more generous heart.