Comment by Evgeny Dainov:
Any observant person who travels around the USA long enough will sooner or later be struck by how close to the surface of things the “Third World” is. That's what we called the former colonies plundered by our own rulers before the advent of political correctness.
In America, there are roads with craters similar to those in Northwestern Bulgaria. There are abandoned neighborhoods and entire towns. In New York itself, the Third World begins somewhere above 72nd Street (if you walk along the south-north axis). Tacky street stalls are popping up, the kind I've seen mostly in Uzbekistan, and groups of young people hanging around corners, looking bad, just like in TV reports from the Arab world.
There are democratic institutions, mechanisms, and habits
For a long time I thought that the only obstacle to the Third World surfacing in America was the enormous amount of money that the country produces - and with which it maintains the thin upper layer of civilization. It's only now that I realize that there's something else besides money: the vast, complex, detailed structure of democratic institutions, mechanisms, and habits.
Right now, there's still money in America. But the Third World is clearly emerging: the power is held by ruthless rich people who have made their fortunes (and want more) by plundering the country’s human and natural resources.
They scoff at the very idea that they should be subject to the law; and when asked about values, they reply (like Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary): “I can’t shoot with values.” I can’t wait for someone to ask them what they think about principles, ideals, virtues.
Oligarchs Dismantling Democracy
The signs of the Third World are everywhere in American affairs. The ruling rich, self-consciously oligarchy, are feverishly dismantling the entire edifice of democracy to remove the constraints on their whims. Their goal is also to destroy the federal government – the central government in general, so that they can more easily impose their will on the individual states, left without state support. That is why they are laying off tens of thousands of employees and closing agency after agency and ministry after ministry.
The interesting thing about this case is that the layoffs and closures are concentrated in areas on which the life and death of American taxpayers depend. The oligarchs continue, for example, to lay off aviation safety officers, and right from the beginning of their rule there have already been a number of accidents with airplanes. They have fired all the veterinary inspectors for the bird flu that is currently circulating throughout the country. They have closed the task forces working in Mexico to prevent the production and transfer of fentanyl to the United States. They have stopped most research in the field of medicine and epidemic prevention.
In short: on the domestic front, the ruling oligarchy not only removes institutional obstacles to its predatory (by definition) will, but also creates risks to the lives and health of citizens. The goal is obvious: when you make people fear for their lives - and at the same time, you suggest to them that they can no longer rely on the institutions that protect them, people stop asking questions and asking for things. Although the scope and ruthlessness of this offensive is new, its essence is not. This was done, for example, by the irreplaceable president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, who turned the most developed and democratic country in Africa into a poor and neglected pigsty.
On the side of the bullies?
On the external front, the Trump oligarchy is also doing things that have long been familiar. She sides with the bullies (in her eyes - the "strong") so that she can use them to cut up the weaker ones. This is the essence of Trump's approach to Ukraine, for example. After demanding that it give him half of its natural resources forever (without her getting anything in return), she ordered her cronies to join forces with Vladimir Putin's lackeys in order to dismember Ukraine, and in the future - countries like Bulgaria and beyond. And, again following the familiar Third World tactics, Trump directly accused the Ukrainians of "starting the war". I expect the American president to declare Russia a victim of Ukrainian aggression in the coming days.
In fact, I know what we will hear soon from the Trump administration, since I have already listened to Sergei Lavrov's statement in Moscow: "The Nazi Ukrainian regime is waging a colonial war," it was said there.
The transformation of the United States into Zimbabwe is extremely dangerous, because - unlike Zimbabwe - in this case we are talking about a country of enormous power, capable of causing enormous mischief.
Is there a way out?
There is a way out. And as always, there are no exceptions - all that is required is courage. Americans must, if they do not want to live like Zimbabweans, organize themselves and stop the oligarchic coup in their country. Europeans must also organize themselves - not only to prevent Putin from invading Europe, but also to save the very idea that the First World - the world of law, decency and peace - is still possible.