Don’t believe in the big lies by small men.
To the Putin admirers in general and GOP autocrats in particular.
Tucker Carlson is supposedly an intelligent, well-educated man who, for years, was part of the Fox News propaganda network. However, Tucker Carlson's trip to Russia to interview Vladimir Putin showed us a man who was unprepared and even bedazzled just to be in the same room as Vladimir Putin. Tucker Carlson acted like many other GOP politician or pundits who admires Vladimir Putin, the ultimate authoritarian. In fact, it now appears the propaganda networks are convincing voters that an autocratic system is the logical next step after a democracy, an idea undeniably promoted by Donald Trump.
Let us be clear. A dictatorship never has and never will bring economic prosperity to any country or its people except for the few individuals the dictator favors at any given time. A dictatorship serves to control people. It doesn't matter whether it's a leftwing communist/socialist dictatorship or a fascist rightwing dictatorship. The centrality of decision-making and power stifles human ingenuity, crushes socio-economic progress, and destroys liberty.
To put it in perspective, look at Russia. From 1918 to 1990, Russia was a leftwing Bolshevik Dictatorship. Its military and security forces threatened other nations regularly, but on the home front, they served primarily to keep their people in check and prevent them from leaving the country. During the 1990s, Russia was in a transition, which incidentally coincides with the only years Donald Trump was not married to a woman from the former Soviet Union. After the implosion of the Soviet regime, Russia could have chosen a different path, the democracy its people craved, bringing the Russian people into the future as most other former Soviet Republics did. However, to save himself, a corrupt Russian Prime Minister, Boris Yeltsin, chose another corrupt politician as his successor, Vladimir Putin. In his drunken stupor, Yeltsin was only concerned about himself and had no real vision or concern for Mother Russia. Since 1999, Vladimir Putin has succeeded in turning Russia into a right-wing fascist dictatorship camouflaged as a democracy. The military and security service still serve to keep the Russian people in check, arresting, punishing, and even indiscriminately killing Russians who disagree with Vladimir Putin.
When in Moscow, Tucker Carlson, still bedazzled, showed us videos of a few examples of grandeur, e.g., a subway station. But let us be clear. RUSSIA IS A NOT A RICH COUNTRY. It has a wealthy elite, but most people live miserably with poor healthcare and education. Here are some facts. Russia's population is 144 million, with a GDP of $4.14 Trillion. Compare that to the United States, which has a little over twice as many people, at 340 million, but the GDP is almost seven times bigger at $27,36 trillion. Now, compare Russia to its neighbor, the EU, which includes many former Soviet Republics. The EU has 448 million people, or more than three times the population of Russia, but its GDP is 5.8 times bigger than Russia's. However, Russia is the largest country in the world by area and one of the three biggest nuclear powers. But in its hundred-and-six-year history after the Bolshevik revolution, it has little to show for it besides its bullying power.
To gain perspective and understand the United States and its Allies' true global power that the Russians and the Chinese are so determined to undermine. We add the GDP of some of our closest allies, the UK, Canada, South Korea, Australia, and Japan, to that of the USA and EU and combine the GDP of our principal adversaries, Russia and China. The United States and its Allies account for 12% of the world's population but produce over 65% of its GDP. Russia and China have a combined population of over 1.5 trillion people, or 19% of the world population, delivering 22% of the global GDP. The so-called West is vastly more successful, and Putin's Russia, with less than 2% of the global GDP, is a rotten apple in the basket, underhandedly trying to spoil what we have been able to achieve due to our sometimes messy but complex liberal democracies, narrow-minded people cannot get their heads around.
When studying Russia, it is also noteworthy to mention the long list of former insiders, oligarchs, or influential businesspeople in Russia who have fallen out of favor (or fallen out of windows), many killed or imprisoned, e.g., Alexei Navalny. The list is as long as the list of former Trump political associates and former participants in his administration whom Donald Trump now refers to as idiots, traitors, or worse. He, too, has called for some of his former administration officials to be eliminated or hanged. But the system in the USA doesn't allow it – YET. One should ask: "Did Trump have poor judgment when appointing those he now calls names?" It also seems evident that those current spineless political operatives who hope to be part of Donald Trump's inner circle and benefit from being loyal will eventually have it coming, too. It would be delusional to think otherwise. To believe they can all remain in favor forever. Even if a few manage to stay close and loyal by surrendering their ability and will to reason and act morally – what about their sons and daughters, mothers and fathers who think differently? What will happen to them?
The big question is: What do those who favor an autocratic regime want? What's in it for the American people? For Trump, it is easy to predict; he wants to stay in power until he dies, and then he will likely betray his sons and hand the United States over to Tzarina Ivanka. But for the American people? Can we believe the most flawed, narcissistic ex-president, who sits on a golden toilette bowl, or maybe he doesn't even defecate as another God Dictator, Kim Jong Un, claims? Can we trust Trump to look out for us once he no longer needs us and our votes to stay in power? Or is the scheme even more sinister? Do the autocrats want an isolated white Christian America with no other political agenda than power and retribution? In the long run, that didn't work out for Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, and it won't work for the United States of America.
The United States and its constitution are unique, and there is no historical precedence for our two-hundred-forty-eight-year democratic history. We, the people, must march on to protect our precious ideals and a democratic path forward. We still have work to do. Together, we must strive towards a more perfect union. We cannot believe the big lies of small men like Putin and Trump, who intend to destroy the idea of America by dividing us.
Note: Published 2023 GDP data.