Western countries have become "countries of the golden billion" due to their ideas and plundering of other nations, according to Putin. Only the states that are part of the EU can make sure high growth dynamics. Russia should lead among these countries.
History isn't just a source of historical propaganda. Historical truths are not always easy to understand. In his 1999 policy essay, Putin stated that Russia would have to catch up to Portugal in the next 15 years to be considered a developed country. Since then, more than two decades have passed. Portugal's GDP is $24,500 according to the International Monetary Fund. Russia has a total of $12,500.
GDP per capita doesn't reflect the purchasing power of the population. Life expectancy is a more reliable indicator of well-being. Russia has an indicator of 72.95 while Portugal has an indicator of 82.7.
Russia still wants to crush Ukrainian statehood.
When authoritarian states start to reform, they achieve high growth rates in the first year. The model of "sovereign democracy" is popular.
The events of several decades are seen as the projection of a long-term trend in this case. Steady growth is shown to be the trick to fast growth.
After reaching a peak, authoritarian countries can become stagnant. In the 1960s, Khrushchev set himself the task of catching up to America and the USSR developed very quickly.
To catch up with the poorest state in the west was the modest goal set by Putin. Russia doesn't have the ability to do such a task. The growth rate of the Russian economy started to decline before the annexation of the peninsula. Putin would have to live and rule Russia until 2065 in order to catch up with Europe's least developed countries.
Portugal has been overtaken by some former communist countries since the fall of Communism. The Czech Republic is one of the countries that are listed. It seems that other countries will soon succeed as well. All of these countries are subject to the dictates of the West according to Putin.
The slayer of economies was weaponized.
The case of Portugal speaks against Putin the most. The first Western empire to colonize Africa, Asia, and the Americas was the one that abandoned its colonies. Portugal would become one of the wealthiest countries in Western Europe if the wealth of the West was built on plunder. It is one of the poorer ones.
There are countries that never had colonies in the list of the richest. One of the colonies was once a colony of Russia.
It is a compliment to compare Putin to Hitler. One of the best armies in the world was behind Hitler. Putin's puffed-up and offended cheeks are the only thing that supports him. South Korea is 140 times smaller in size and three times smaller in population than Russia. The Russian army cannot fight the smaller Ukrainian army. If the Russians continue to advance at the same pace as they are now, it will take a long time to get to the western border of Ukraine. Never.
The Russian situation is similar to the tale of the sour grapes by the fox. Russia can't become a normal Western state because they don't have the same rules of behavior. We will follow a different route. Russia is now threatening to subject the rest of the world to its delusions.
The narrative about civilizational quirks is false because it assumes that people living in poverty and lawlessness are a result of their civilizational quirks.
A survey shows that more than 70% of Russians are in favor of a war against Ukraine.
People get used to that state when they are deprived of these rights. Some people come to terms with their powerlessness and others are put on an illusory treatment for being poor.
The moral of this fable is the same: one's own path is a direct way to the third world.
You can read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine.
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