3 hours ago, Linkey said:

https://kimgriest.medium.com/real-reason-the-american-middle-class-is-disappearing-901cb78ababf

So these 1% welthiest are the "nobles", while maybe the FED bankers are "monarchs".

I specifically asked you about the democracies in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands and by what mechanism this "elite" of yours controls candidate selection. You have not answered that, preferring instead to continue to give examples from the USA.

If you make a criticism of "western" democracies, you cannot just base it on cherry-picked examples from the USA.

14 hours ago, Linkey said:

So these 1% welthiest are the "nobles", while maybe the FED bankers are "monarchs".

What’s the terminology in Russian?

Thus, Credit Suisse and UBS report that the proportion of wealth held by the richest 1% of Russians equals 56.4% and Russia tops the world’s list by this indicator. As measured by the Gini coefficient for wealth, Russia (86.9) shares 10th place with the United Arab Emirates among the 164 countries surveyed behind several African countries, as well as Sweden and Brazil.

https://econs.online/en/articles/opinions/super-wealth-in-russia-uneven-and-invariable/

Maybe it’s not democracy that’s the problem

8 hours ago, swansont said:

What’s the terminology in Russian?

Thus, Credit Suisse and UBS report that the proportion of wealth held by the richest 1% of Russians equals 56.4% and Russia tops the world’s list by this indicator. As measured by the Gini coefficient for wealth, Russia (86.9) shares 10th place with the United Arab Emirates among the 164 countries surveyed behind several African countries, as well as Sweden and Brazil.

https://econs.online/en/articles/opinions/super-wealth-in-russia-uneven-and-invariable/

Maybe it’s not democracy that’s the problem

I wonder how Sweden made the list. I have always been under the impression that all of the Scandinavian countries were more egalitarian than most of the rest of the world

On 1/31/2026 at 12:14 AM, KJW said:

I was a believer of the idea that a fair society should be run by computers. But since then, having experienced glimpses of what such a society would be like, I no longer believe in a society run by computers.

When the inputs that benefits certain people, as in the current problem's with social media, is a glimpse that can be frightening; but the evolution of an AI, with a reasonable facsimile of the 3/4 law's of robotics, is potentially the closest approach to the sunlight uplands.

"The fundamental problem with dealing with computers is that one can't negotiate with them."

I see that as the fundamental reason a computer is beneficial to society; the judiciary shouldn't be negotiable...

8 hours ago, npts2020 said:

I wonder how Sweden made the list. I have always been under the impression that all of the Scandinavian countries were more egalitarian than most of the rest of the world

That may be true, but they still decide who gets to vote...

10 hours ago, npts2020 said:

I wonder how Sweden made the list. I have always been under the impression that all of the Scandinavian countries were more egalitarian than most of the rest of the world

Confusing, because the map in the Wikipedia page shows a coefficient <30

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient

It also points out that the coefficient changes whether you are taking tax and public assistance into account, and that demographics has an effect.

It also doesn’t appear to distinguish between overall standard of living - it’s possible to have a high value with everyone above some “poverty level” of minimum income covering basic needs, or everyone below that level.

12 hours ago, npts2020 said:

I wonder how Sweden made the list. I have always been under the impression that all of the Scandinavian countries were more egalitarian than most of the rest of the world

It also depends a bit on how the various coefficients are calculated. E.g., income vs wealth-based calculations. Generally speaking, most indices show increase in both elements across most countries in the world. That being said, among Nordic countries Sweden has been dropping in the rankings, including compared to OECD. They still have a strong social net that limits some of the more extreme outcomes, though.

Here is an article from a few years back https://oxfam.se/en/news/globalt-index-visar-sverige-samst-i-norden-pa-att-bekampa-ojamlikhet/

In various reports it was indicated that Norway is doing much better. I believe the Gini Index of Sweden is hovering above 30 while Norway is around 26-ish.