Historically, dictators aren’t deterred by bad times. Instead they use and manufacture bad times for a host of things centered around grip on power and subjugation of opposition. We’re not fully there yet, but look at Russian history since 1991 and consider that King in Orange loves everything about it. Once he’s done consolidating federal power, he’ll move on to crippling state governments and whatever is left of free press.
There really was no need in his era. By 1990 Soviet economy was almost nonexistent. True indicators were (and still are) classified harder then their nuclear secrets but by the time the standoff between USSR and RF was resolved, his only option was picking up the rotting pieces, propped up by the perennial exports of raw stuff.
As far as modern Russian “data” reliability, they report nominal GDP of $48k PPP and $15k nominal, compared to $86k in US. But while in US, pretty much every professional takes home somewhere around that figure , if you’ll ask a Russian nurse, teacher or construction worker if they bring home anything remotely resembling that, they’ll laugh you out the room. Median nurse in Ufa - relatively wealthy oil and and gas producing regional capital - makes a median of 44000 rubles or around $420 before tax. And it’s been at a miserable levels, compared to similarly “civilized” countries, even throughout the boom in crude prices that enabled ostentatious shows of pseudo wealth that were synonymous with Moscow in 2000s.
It’s a shithole by design - a nurse making barely enough to eat can’t afford to protest or even question her superiors.
"Still, it’s a heartbreaking tragedy that the economy will need to falter yet again before enough American voters realize the truth about incompetent MAGA autocrats."
But you know they won't accept that realization. I feel like this is a price they're willing to rationalize away because of everything else Trump offers them. They will soothe that financial pain with the pain being inflicted on everyone else.
Of course they’ll rationalize it away. NOT doing so means, recognizing that they have been wrong all this time (and they will never admit that). And even if they could bring themselves to admit the Republicans have failed, they would never be able to move so far along that line to reach the point where they admit Democrats have been better.
These are the people who say measles is not so bad because it only killed one of their five unvaccinated children. (Actual statement of a mother in Texas who will NEVER allow herself to admit she effectively murdered one of her children.). They will NEVER stop voting for those who are hurting and killing them.
Generally agree but Argentina’s poverty rate is back to pre-Milei levels, unemployment rate is lower than that and incomes have been growing. Basically a pretty standard textbook response to shock therapy.
Milei is also the one person on that list that I don’t think you can really characterize as authoritarian - very different from Putin, Orban and Erdogan. Argentina’s situation (already in crisis) when he took over was also very different than where those other countries, or US for that matter, find/found themselves.
» “At some point, voters will finally understand that Republican autocrats should never again be stewards of the national economy. Nothing but disaster follows” «
You’re drastically under estimating the stupidity of American voters. Republicans have been disastrous at handling the economy for, well, close to a century really. And people STILL fall for the lies that R’s are fiscal conservatives and will improve things.
If the American voters haven’t caught on by now there is absolutely no reason to believe they ever will. Trump will not make them see the light because they are to invested in keeping their eyes closed.
Even worse, I'm hearing he's going to slap tariffs on a lot of products on April 2. Welcome to a massive recession, if not another depression. At some point, foreign sellers are going to just walk away from the US markets. I think that's part of the plan. 🤔
I think the world walking away from the US would, in many ways, be a good thing.
While it’s nice to think of ourselves as being a shining example of democracy and liberty and freedom the fact is we simply haven’t been for a very, very long time.
Historically, dictators aren’t deterred by bad times. Instead they use and manufacture bad times for a host of things centered around grip on power and subjugation of opposition. We’re not fully there yet, but look at Russian history since 1991 and consider that King in Orange loves everything about it. Once he’s done consolidating federal power, he’ll move on to crippling state governments and whatever is left of free press.
You mean Boris Yeltsin sledgehammering the economy?
There really was no need in his era. By 1990 Soviet economy was almost nonexistent. True indicators were (and still are) classified harder then their nuclear secrets but by the time the standoff between USSR and RF was resolved, his only option was picking up the rotting pieces, propped up by the perennial exports of raw stuff.
As far as modern Russian “data” reliability, they report nominal GDP of $48k PPP and $15k nominal, compared to $86k in US. But while in US, pretty much every professional takes home somewhere around that figure , if you’ll ask a Russian nurse, teacher or construction worker if they bring home anything remotely resembling that, they’ll laugh you out the room. Median nurse in Ufa - relatively wealthy oil and and gas producing regional capital - makes a median of 44000 rubles or around $420 before tax. And it’s been at a miserable levels, compared to similarly “civilized” countries, even throughout the boom in crude prices that enabled ostentatious shows of pseudo wealth that were synonymous with Moscow in 2000s.
It’s a shithole by design - a nurse making barely enough to eat can’t afford to protest or even question her superiors.
"Still, it’s a heartbreaking tragedy that the economy will need to falter yet again before enough American voters realize the truth about incompetent MAGA autocrats."
But you know they won't accept that realization. I feel like this is a price they're willing to rationalize away because of everything else Trump offers them. They will soothe that financial pain with the pain being inflicted on everyone else.
Of course they’ll rationalize it away. NOT doing so means, recognizing that they have been wrong all this time (and they will never admit that). And even if they could bring themselves to admit the Republicans have failed, they would never be able to move so far along that line to reach the point where they admit Democrats have been better.
These are the people who say measles is not so bad because it only killed one of their five unvaccinated children. (Actual statement of a mother in Texas who will NEVER allow herself to admit she effectively murdered one of her children.). They will NEVER stop voting for those who are hurting and killing them.
Apparently they plan to just keep screwing us over and over and over. Just sickening!!
Generally agree but Argentina’s poverty rate is back to pre-Milei levels, unemployment rate is lower than that and incomes have been growing. Basically a pretty standard textbook response to shock therapy.
Milei is also the one person on that list that I don’t think you can really characterize as authoritarian - very different from Putin, Orban and Erdogan. Argentina’s situation (already in crisis) when he took over was also very different than where those other countries, or US for that matter, find/found themselves.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/expert-reports-say-argentinas-poverty-rate-has-fallen-to-368.phtml#:~:text=Argentina's%20poverty%20rate%20accelerated%20to,percentage%20points%20from%20its%20peak.
» “At some point, voters will finally understand that Republican autocrats should never again be stewards of the national economy. Nothing but disaster follows” «
You’re drastically under estimating the stupidity of American voters. Republicans have been disastrous at handling the economy for, well, close to a century really. And people STILL fall for the lies that R’s are fiscal conservatives and will improve things.
If the American voters haven’t caught on by now there is absolutely no reason to believe they ever will. Trump will not make them see the light because they are to invested in keeping their eyes closed.
Even worse, I'm hearing he's going to slap tariffs on a lot of products on April 2. Welcome to a massive recession, if not another depression. At some point, foreign sellers are going to just walk away from the US markets. I think that's part of the plan. 🤔
I think the world walking away from the US would, in many ways, be a good thing.
While it’s nice to think of ourselves as being a shining example of democracy and liberty and freedom the fact is we simply haven’t been for a very, very long time.