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In the global clash between democracy and oligarchy, the US is switching sides -- [Opinion] (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 day ago by randomname@scribe.disroot.org to c/world@quokk.au
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This is an op-ed by Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, and a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

As Trump empowers Russia and the far right, he is laying the foundation for undermining democracies around the world.

Since the end of the second world war, liberal democracies have stuck together โ€“ led by the US. On the opposite side have been authoritarian states, led mainly by the Soviet Union, followed, after the demise of the Soviet Union, by Russia and China.

But all this is rapidly changing. Russia and China have morphed into oligarchies, run by small groups of extraordinarily wealthy people.

The US has been moving from a democracy to an oligarchy as well โ€“ and is doing so at lightning speed under Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

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[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 5 points 1 day ago

But all this is rapidly changing. Russia and China have morphed into oligarchies, run by small groups of extraordinarily wealthy people.

The US has been moving from a democracy to an oligarchy as well โ€“ and is doing so at lightning speed under Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Reich generally has good takes but this is just naive. The real difference between now and 50 years ago, is that now the oligarchs have zero desire to play ball under the social contract.

They outright have contempt for people, the type of contempt that was reserved for the poors but they really view everyone as their slave. So the social policy reflects that. They take everything, and fick all you gonna do about it, boy. Federal government is on their side.

this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2025
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