Comment by Evgeniy Dainov:
Any observant person who travels around the USA long enough is sooner or later struck by how close to the surface of things the “Third World” is. That's what we used to call former colonies robbed 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 one walks along the south-north axis). Tacky street stalls are popping up, as 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. Only now do I realize that there is something else besides money: the vast, complex, detailed construction of democratic institutions, mechanisms, and habits.
At the moment, there is still money in America. But the Third World is visibly surfacing: ruthless rich people who have amassed a fortune (and want more) from the plundering of the country's human and natural resources are in power.
They mock the very idea that they should be subject to the law; and when asked about values, they reply (like Pete Hegseth, Trump's Secretary of Defense): "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-conscious as an oligarchy, are feverishly dismantling the entire structure of democracy in order to remove restrictions on their whims. Their goal is also visible: 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 a state backing. So they are laying off tens of thousands of employees and closing agency after agency and department after department.
The interesting thing about this 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 fire aviation safety officials, and there have already been a number of plane accidents since the beginning of their rule. They have fired all the veterinary inspectors for the bird flu that is currently sweeping the country. They have shut down 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 is not only removing institutional obstacles to its predatory (by definition) will, but also creating 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 insinuate that they can no longer rely on the institutions that protect them, people stop asking questions and demanding things. Although the scale 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 foreign front, the Trump oligarchy is also doing things that have long been familiar. It sides with the bullies (in its eyes - the "strong"), so that with their help it can cut the weaker ones into pieces. This is the essence of Trump's approach to Ukraine, for example. After demanding that she give him half of her natural resources forever (without her receiving anything in return), he ordered his cronies to join forces with Vladimir Putin's lackeys in order to dismember Ukraine, and in the future - Bulgaria and beyond. And, again following the familiar Third World tactics, Trump directly accused the Ukrainians of having "started 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 USA into Zimbabwe is extremely dangerous, because - unlike Zimbabwe - In this case, we are talking about a country that is enormous in power, capable of causing mischief on a grand scale.
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.