Because many people today don't have a good grounding in civics, I'm pleased to introduce the "Political Word of the Week" for your enjoyment and edification.
This week's word is: KLEPTOCRACY
Kleptocracy refers to a form of government or political system in which those in power exploit their positions to enrich themselves and their associates, often through corruption, embezzlement, and other illegal means. In a kleptocracy, the ruling class uses its authority to siphon off wealth from the state or public resources for personal gain, leading to widespread economic inequality and the marginalization of the general population. The term "kleptocracy" is derived from the Greek words "kleptes," meaning thief, and "kratos," meaning rule or power.
🇷🇺 Akhmat Kadyrov, the 18-year-old❗son of the authoritarian ruler of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been appointed the region's minister for youth and sports.
If #LaraTrump were to become co-chair of the #RNC, it would let #Trump have a family member in a prominent position & give him a level of trust & insight as his campaign seeks to meld with the RNC.
#LaraTrump has worked closely w/the cmte for several years, & she is seen as a prolific fund-raiser (no comment). She also would be trusted by the #Trump family (till she isn’t) which has put an imprimatur on almost every aspect of TFG’s #political life & which closely watches how resources are allocated (i.e. how much to them?).
Trump stands up and walks out during Roberta Kaplan's closing. “The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose & walked out of the courtroom,” #JudgeKaplan says. This is an unusual breach of decorum, & Roberta Kaplan continues as though nothing unusual happened.
I've just listened to a left wing podcaster whom I really respect say "I'm going to have to work till I'm dead to make sure I can leave my kids as much as possible, so they can survive..."
No! No! No!
Work as hard as you can to achieve socialised housing – all housing, not just for 'the poor' – and a universal #BasicIncome (or better still, full #communism) so that EVERYONE'S kids can not just survive, but live gracefully.
Yes, it almost certainly is true that, if #capitalism continues, your kids will never have a secure home. But if you get conned by capitalism into playing beggar my neighbour in order to win your kids a better future, well, that's a game that only the rich can win, and your kids will STILL never have a secure home.
The #kleptocracy have stolen so much in western societies that if we socialise the wealth, almost everyone will be better off.
"The world’s richest and most powerful oligarchs are depending on America’s Republican Party to make the world safe for their 21st century form of autocratic kleptocracy. And Donald Trump, who’s been owned by the KGB/GRU since the 1980s, is their man who’s leading the charge."
#Trump poses the biggest #danger to the world in 2024
“A shadow looms over the #world. In this week’s @TheEconomist edition we publish The World Ahead #2024, our 38th annual predictive guide to the coming year, & in all that time no single person has ever eclipsed our analysis as much as #DonaldTrump….
“Trump’s claim to have won the election in 2020 was more than a lie: it was a cynical bet that he could #manipulate & #intimidate his compatriots,” & if he wins it will have worked.
"Having won back power because of his election-denial in 2020, he would surely be affirmed in his gut feeling that only losers allow themselves to be bound by the norms, customs & self-sacrifice that make a nation”.
"A final bouquet for Putin was delivered at the end of October, when a new poll in France put Marine Le Pen, an extreme nationalist with long-standing ties to Russia, atop the pack of plausible candidates in the 2027 French presidential election. Though Le Pen has condemned Putin’s invasion, she has also opposed arming Ukraine — and her party for years relied on a multimillion-dollar loan from a Russian bank, paid off just this fall."
It’s so obvious that the oligarchs are playing for a takeover…yet people can’t seem to realized they would have to get off their asses to stop it, otherwise they can kiss their free asses goodbye.
They’re taking away our free media and replacing it with fascist social media…yet people/corps have stayed onboard those hate superyachts…not promising.
#Kleptocracy’s inner machinations: powerful California lobbying firms — including those with ties to Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state Democratic leaders — are effectively acting as double agents for both the culprits of climate change and its victims, according to F Minus…lawmakers are preparing to vote on a climate bill
The Security Service of Ukraine pressed criminal charges against Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman for financing Russian aggression toward Ukraine.
SBU said he used Alfa Bank assets to finance 2 billion rubles (approx $20Mil USD) at military factories - including Tula Ammunition Plant (produces cartridges) and Yalamov Ural Optical-Mechanical Plant (manufactures high-tech equipment for Russian warplanes and helicopters)
@wendysiegelman I'm not saying it is ok to invade another country. I'm not saying Putin's Russia is ok or is financed properly. What I am saying is, IF MY GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATES BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF MINE AND MY KIDS' AND MY GRANDKIDS' potential income, creating a deficit that can only be paid off via mine and my kids' and my grandkids' taxes going generations into the future, FOR WARS THAT NONE OF US VOTED FOR... you might want to call that a #kleptocracy as well
“The Deputy WH Counsel reiterated to Co-Conspirator 4 [#Clark] that there had not been outcome-determinative fraud in the election & that if the Defendant [#Trump] remained in office nonetheless, there would be ‘riots in every major city in the United States.’ #CoConspirator4 responded, ‘Well…, that’s why there’s an #InsurrectionAct.’”
The #InsurrectionAct allows the president to deploy the US armed forces against American citizens. The alleged plot inside the WH was not merely to invalidate an election; it included the possibility of unleashing the American #military against its own people.
While the Planet Burns: Billionaires Are Busy Hunkering Down for the Apocalypse
In a world hurtling towards catastrophe, the super-rich prefer bunkers to solutions.