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To: Kaslin

Not a fan of this policy.

However, I think it’s entirely reasonable to note that a billionaire in Russia did not acquire or keep his wealth in the same way a US billionaire did.

Here, AFAIK all billionaires acquired their money legally and more or less morally, by providing goods and services others wanted to buy. Or perhaps, like the Walmart guys, they inherited their money from somebody who did.

In Russia most of them prior to the collapse of USSR were either mafiosi or political bigwigs, and they grabbed the suddenly available state assets more effectively than others. IOW, they were better thieves. To keep their money they must be in bed with Putin, or at least not oppose him openly.

Russia is at present the very definition of crony capitalism, more so even than China. It is morally repugnant to portray those who acquired vast wealth under such a system as equivalent to those who acquire wealth under a somewhat more free market system.


8 posted on 07/23/2014 5:15:46 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins all the battles. Reality wins all the wars.)
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To: Sherman Logan

Behind every fortune is a crime?


13 posted on 07/23/2014 5:49:22 AM PDT by urbanpovertylawcenter (the law and poverty collide in an urban setting and sparks fly)
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