The Great American Kleptocracy

Kleptocrat

So there’s a fascinating article in the current Foreign Affairs. Is America a Kleptocracy? Here’s how life could change for the rich, poor, and everyone in between by Jodi Vittori, who is described as “a professor of the practice and co-chair of global politics and security at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.”

Professor Vittori’s answer to her own question is “yeah, maybe not quite yet, but we’re definitely on our way there soon.” And she adds that being ruled by mega-crooks is going to impact us all in a lot of ways, and none of them will be pleasant. Expect prices to go up (everywhere!) and democracy to be increasingly unavailable at any cost.

And the question is what to do about it all. Personally, I’m afraid that so long as people like Trump, and his enablers, and the tech-bros are running things, there isn’t much we can do about it. They’ll just keep stealing and stealing, until the whole system collapses into ruins.

Still, Professor Vittori says there may be ways of fighting back. Some countries have managed to use a combination of legal action and non-violent protest to bring down the Kleptocrats. She cites in particular techniques developed and promoted by USAID.

Only, USAID was one of Trump’s top targets, and maybe we know why. It taught too many people how to resist him.