,
5 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
A characteristically stimulating post from @BrankoMilan on Putin and the advantages of stable kleptocracy. But the point is a lot more general 1/ glineq.blogspot.com/2019/07/oligar…
Branko says that for much of the world the choice is between stable and unstable kleptocracy, which is true. I'd just add that for most of history that was the choice everywhere. Until the Industrial Revolution, stable kleptocracy was pretty much what "civilization" meant 2/
The Roman Empire was government of, by, and for an exploitative elite; but there were rules, there was stability, and the society appears to have been richer, even for the plebs, than any preindustrial society until maybe the 17th century. 3/
The Dark Ages basically were a collapse into unstable kleptocracy; the barbarians weren't necessarily any more grasping than Roman senators, the problem was that you never knew which barbarian would be seizing this year's harvest 4/
Also, stable kleptocrats can develop social graces and good taste, patronize poetry and painting, etc. They can also develop an effective propaganda machine that declares their rule blessed by God etc. But government for ordinary people is recent, and may not last 5/
