András Forgács W: While the exact reasons and circumstances for these people coming into be might be different, the end result is on a surface level seems similar, I give you that. But Eastern European countries never really had resolute enough institutions to weather them. The West does - for the most part

Conversation with my cleaning lady: “So what’ll happen with Trump? He’s not going to jail? Yeah I figured. People like that don’t go to jail, it’s the same in Bulgaria.” Thanks Trump voters for your efforts to turn America into Bulgaria

I'm kinda really bummed out any time Eastern Europe is mentioned in a pejorative way

Fair, but I think her comment that it’s very difficult to jail oligarchs there cuts to the heart of it. Trump is exactly the kind of figure who has wrecked so much in Eastern Europe over the past 35 years and his voters are helping do the same in the US: rip up the country so predators can eat it

I know it's not intended in that way, but it kinda looks a bit... exceptionalistic? (I know that's not a word, pls bear with me) As if signalling "It can't possibly happen here, we are way better than those people over there"

I'm not trying to dunk hard on you, these things are just a pet-peeve of mine, of course this can happen anywhere, we are human, if the circumstances align those will *inevitably* going to be a fertile ground for grifters like the trump

While the exact reasons and circumstances for these people coming into be might be different, the end result is on a surface level seems similar, I give you that. But Eastern European countries never really had resolute enough institutions to weather them. The West does - for the most part

Obviously, I'm not a political scientist or a historian, I'm a self-taught expert in exactly one country when it comes to authoritarianism

I think Americans forget how many white folks of privilege don't go to prison for their crimes. We do the exact same thing as the many countries we deride. Even Nixon didn't go to prison. And he should have. People forget that Oliver North did a bit of community service.

last time I've herd of Col. Ollie, he was in the leadership of the NRA, not exactly a failed career

*heard damn it

I like this image of you with a crook, herding a flock of privileged criminals in suits across a pasture.

He wasn't applying for food stamps that is for sure. He slaps his name on novels written by others.

I quibble with the thrust of “the exact same thing”. As skewed as the rule of law may be in the US, it is vastly superior to Russia, China, Saudi, Venezuela etc and that is ultimately the reason why Western countries are rich and people want to live there.

We can still point out the inequity. Signed a person who grew up a poor child in Reagan's America.

💯

We might want to discuss the fact the US legal system is based on imprisoning as many people as you can in order to have a free forced penal labour. So I'll pass on the "vastly superior" comment

The rule of law is evidently better than in named countries for several reasons, but "vastly" is overplaying it and ignores how fragile and close to moral bankruptcy any legal system is.

I totally disagree with you on fundamental grounds about this, so it probably is a subject we cannot fruitfully discuss on bsky

Just gonna jump in here… it’s important to distinguish between rule of law and rule by law. The latter, common in China and Russia, eg, is vastly inferior to rule of law. Latter has a democratic basis. Lines are blurred when laws are written to suit party whim. But the degree of democracy matters.

All of these things are relative, but the West’s great strength is that is gets closer than anyplace else to applying the rule of law to everyone. This is the chief source of its power and wealth as well as the reason why everyone wants to live there.

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