(07-24-2018, 12:30 PM)Adam2012 Wrote:

(07-24-2018, 12:50 AM)JagNGeorgia Wrote: Oligarch is just another word used to villainize rich people in Russia. Honestly, what's the difference in their rich people and our's?

Hint: the collusion is allegedly between Trump and their government. Are you saying he isn't colluding with the government but instead other rich people?



If his words don't mean anything, then why do you complain when he doesn't throw Russia under the bus?

If his words don't mean anything, then why do you complain about them?

Oligarch is not just another name to villainize (sic) Russian rich people. It specifically refers to the group of crooks and thieves, including Putin, who stole the assets of the former Soviet Union from the Russian government and people and made themselves incredibly rich and who now rule Russia. So, unless you want to lump people like Donald Trump into a group of American "oligarchs", yes there is a difference in their rich people and ours.

Russian history always helps. A good place to start is Armageddon Averted, by Stephen Kotkin. Of course there are many others as well.

I said Trump's tweets don't mean anything - not his words. He's the President. His words, especially when he's agreeing to the views of a Russian dictator, mean a lot. His tweets tend to be blather meant for his base - so they stop talking about Putin, or payoffs to a Playboy model, or Michael Cohen, or Paul Manafort's pending trial, or Rocket Man, or trade wars, or whatever stupidity has occurred this week.

Oligarchs from from the 80s and 90s are not necessarily the same as the affluent in today's Russia. The term, however, is used to describe both. Rich people, in every country, are politically influential. Do a lot of them control Russia or still maintain their wealth because of what they did? Sure. My point is that we still use the word because it adds a certain level of villainy to the person and isn't applicable to every one that it is used to describe.

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