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Trevor Kerr's avatar

Yes, yes, yes, but *some* of those "extremely rich people" will survive the chaos, grow richer because of it.

Re-play Jarvis Cocker's 'Running the World' or refer H.S. Thompson's 'Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas'.

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Todd Bass's avatar

Your analysis gives far too much significance to the expropriation of a fraction of Russian oligarch's wealth by the U.S.

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Karl Polzer's avatar

As far as history goes, it seems there's always room for the Middle Ages:)

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Anton Cebalo's avatar

Nice write-up. As per point #2, this was arguably already in motion prior to the war. For example, at the height of the pandemic, even U.S. businesses had to succumb to political will and pressure from above. Due to the conditions, the U.S. state was forced to manage its productive forces toward a politically-directed social end in a way that hasn't been seen since WWII.

The interesting thing is, economic forces are beckoning to political will precisely at a time when the authority of political power is at its lowest in most democracies. So, it remains to be seen whether this relationship between 'the political' over 'the economic' will hold. Germany is already seeing this pressure play out with its dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

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