Bezos is rich and we enshrine that in a lot of ways in the US, but it’s irrelevant to someone like Putin, who’s demonstrated time and time again his willingness to kill billionaires. The reality here is that Bezos is just a person and he can be a coward, and still command media empire. And right now there’s a lot for him to be afraid of.
The weird thing about Putin’s Russia is that it has no oligarchs, really. Specifically, the idea is that an oligarch is someone who’s wealth allows them access to political power, while in Russia, it’s the other way around - political position allows people access to wealth. Conversely, when they fall out of favour, their money doesn’t protect them - it simply goes away.
The USA, on the other hand, has plenty of oligarchs, and thinking they’re taking sides in politics because they fear Trump is idiocy. These are the people buying islands and building doomsday bunkers in New Zealand. These are the people who shoot themselves to space and copy haircuts of Roman emperors. They’re picking sides because Matt Christmann was right.
Bezos is rich and we enshrine that in a lot of ways in the US, but it’s irrelevant to someone like Putin, who’s demonstrated time and time again his willingness to kill billionaires. The reality here is that Bezos is just a person and he can be a coward, and still command media empire. And right now there’s a lot for him to be afraid of.
The reality is precisely the opposite.
The weird thing about Putin’s Russia is that it has no oligarchs, really. Specifically, the idea is that an oligarch is someone who’s wealth allows them access to political power, while in Russia, it’s the other way around - political position allows people access to wealth. Conversely, when they fall out of favour, their money doesn’t protect them - it simply goes away.
The USA, on the other hand, has plenty of oligarchs, and thinking they’re taking sides in politics because they fear Trump is idiocy. These are the people buying islands and building doomsday bunkers in New Zealand. These are the people who shoot themselves to space and copy haircuts of Roman emperors. They’re picking sides because Matt Christmann was right.