- cross-posted to:
- chapotraphouse
- cross-posted to:
- chapotraphouse
cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/467394
My first time trying cross-posting, hope I did this right
Source: Piketty's World Inequality Report 2022
I shared this deep in a dunk thread earlier and figured there's probably many comrades who haven't seen this data. I think it's very good rhetorically because a lot of libs have an incredibly vibes-based impression that the Soviet Union was just an Animal Farm old-boss-same-as-the-new-boss situation.
Instead, this demonstrates that Russia underwent one of the most dramatic inversions of income inequality of any country in recorded history.
For comparison here is the US over the same time period:
Show
China:
Show
And the UK:
Show
It blows my mind Piketty can make that first graph and still be a lib.
But also, feel like shit, just want them back
Genuinely the most frustrating thing about reading Capital in the 21st Century (which has some genuinely good shit in it but is frustrating to read as a leftist for obvious reasons) is his continued utter dismissiveness of socialist projects.
Like it betrays such a deep lack of curiosity that you're writing The Big Book of Inequality and don't think there might be anything of interest to consider about countries that dedicated their entire political economy to the concept.
Yeah I couldn't finish it because he has terminal brainworms which limit how far he can take his analysis. He has proudly said he hasn't read Capital, and it shows.
The graphs and data he put together for Capital in the 21st century are excellent though.