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How does sacrificing America's lead make American oligarchs richer? That doesn't even make sense.

by refurb 6mo ago

vincnetas 6mo ago
basically make decisions that make no sense but benefit you financially. Sample. you run a printing business. you dont own it just run it. you sell your main printer and assign a performance bonus to your self. next month your business is closed because you dont have equipment to print, but you also have your bonus in pocket.
bijowo1676 6mo ago
just like stock trader, you can get rich from going long, you also can get rich by shorting the economy (selling short). this is what trump is doing: selling America short
toyg 6mo ago
It does, it's textbook "banana republic". Dictator and close circles enrich themselves, everyone else gets poorer. US voters were so worried that South America would come to them, that they have become the worst of South America.
- refurb 6mo ago
  Well we know the US doesn't have a dictator, so that's not a good example. This all sounds incredibly hand wavey "oh, they just do things that benefit themselves but tank the US economy". From what I've seen all the oligarchs in the US got rich when the economy was doing well. Do you have a specific example of someone who got rich by "tanking the US economy"?
  - toyg 6mo ago
    > we know the US doesn't have a dictator Even most dictatorships don't "have a dictator". They have a "great leader" that coincidentally gets voted in again and again, for whom constitutions are amended, and who happens to have his own "revolutionary" irregular militias, not-so-secret police grabbing people on the streets in plainclothes (or worse), a subservient parliament rubber-stamping decrees, etc etc. Even without some of that, the "unitary executive" theory, as implemented by George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump, is effectively a temporary dictatorship in all but name. > all the oligarchs in the US got rich when the economy was doing well. You can make bank when things go bad. Look up the European currency crisis of the 90s, when folks like Soros amassed their billions. Or the few who got 2008 right. Whoever is betting with incredible timing on Trump's unexpected policy shifts, every other week, is definitely not getting poorer. And when the economy tanks, assets get cheap - which is great if you have accumulated cash.
    - refurb 6mo ago
      No, actually those countries do call them dictators - I’m not aware of any similar to what you’ve described. A very few select oligarchs got rich during the European currency crisis - and anybody oligarchs got hammered. How do the oligarchs decide? Do they meet in secret?
heavyset_go 6mo ago
Look at post-USSR Russia
AngryData 6mo ago
As an analogy, you can pump the yield of your crop fields by 50% if you are willing to deplete the soil and cash in on 100 years of careful building of the topsoil layer. The person doing it wins out in the short term 10 years, but society loses out long-term when they gotta spend another 100 years of much lower yields to build the top soil back up to healthy levels. Meanwhile the 10 year guy already made his money and sold off whats dregs are left to seek the next snatch and grab operation.

How does sacrificing America's lead make American oligarchs richer? That doesn't even make sense.

by refurb 6mo ago

How does sacrificing America's lead make American oligarchs richer? That doesn't even make sense.

basically make decisions that make no sense but benefit you financially. Sample. you run a printing business. you dont own it just run it. you sell your main printer and assign a performance bonus to your self. next month your business is closed because you dont have equipment to print, but you also have your bonus in pocket.

bijowo1676 6mo ago

just like stock trader, you can get rich from going long, you also can get rich by shorting the economy (selling short). this is what trump is doing: selling America short

toyg 6mo ago

It does, it's textbook "banana republic". Dictator and close circles enrich themselves, everyone else gets poorer. US voters were so worried that South America would come to them, that they have become the worst of South America.

refurb 6mo ago
Well we know the US doesn't have a dictator, so that's not a good example. This all sounds incredibly hand wavey "oh, they just do things that benefit themselves but tank the US economy". From what I've seen all the oligarchs in the US got rich when the economy was doing well. Do you have a specific example of someone who got rich by "tanking the US economy"?
- toyg 6mo ago
  > we know the US doesn't have a dictator Even most dictatorships don't "have a dictator". They have a "great leader" that coincidentally gets voted in again and again, for whom constitutions are amended, and who happens to have his own "revolutionary" irregular militias, not-so-secret police grabbing people on the streets in plainclothes (or worse), a subservient parliament rubber-stamping decrees, etc etc. Even without some of that, the "unitary executive" theory, as implemented by George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump, is effectively a temporary dictatorship in all but name. > all the oligarchs in the US got rich when the economy was doing well. You can make bank when things go bad. Look up the European currency crisis of the 90s, when folks like Soros amassed their billions. Or the few who got 2008 right. Whoever is betting with incredible timing on Trump's unexpected policy shifts, every other week, is definitely not getting poorer. And when the economy tanks, assets get cheap - which is great if you have accumulated cash.
  - refurb 6mo ago
    No, actually those countries do call them dictators - I’m not aware of any similar to what you’ve described. A very few select oligarchs got rich during the European currency crisis - and anybody oligarchs got hammered. How do the oligarchs decide? Do they meet in secret?

heavyset_go 6mo ago

Look at post-USSR Russia

AngryData 6mo ago

As an analogy, you can pump the yield of your crop fields by 50% if you are willing to deplete the soil and cash in on 100 years of careful building of the topsoil layer. The person doing it wins out in the short term 10 years, but society loses out long-term when they gotta spend another 100 years of much lower yields to build the top soil back up to healthy levels. Meanwhile the 10 year guy already made his money and sold off whats dregs are left to seek the next snatch and grab operation.