Could the proto-fascist threat be a drag on the economy?

[RealGuyinChicago]

This country endured an attempt to overthrow the government. And now, Republicans and proto-fascist movements like the Oath Keepers are constantly threatening to launch a civil war.

Does it occur to anyone that the threat of a right-wing, authoritarian armed rebellion might have an impact on investor sentiment — especially among foreign investors?

It’d be hard to quantify. But I don’t see how our current political instability wouldn’t have an economic impact.

Thoughts?

[Walleye]

1. Of course. They want a bad economy to make Joe Biden look bad

Don’t forget these people are insane

[RealGuyinChicago]

3. It's worse than that

They want us dead. And the violent rhetoric is not going away.

It’s hard to measure how much this political climate affects business spending and consumer behavior. But there’s no way the impact is zero.

[emulatorloo]

2. Agreed. If I were a foreign investor, I'd be pretty leery about investing in the US

I am optimistic though that DOJ will act and that Democrats can restore stability

[RealGuyinChicago]

5. I hope so

But I think the odds are high that an active armed insurgency will emerge in late 2022 or the first half of 2023.

[C_U_L8R]

4. Steer clear of pork rind and cheez doodle futures.

Besides that, the magats don't carry a lot of economic clout. Just see the lowlife brands who advertise on Faux if you want proof of that.

[applegrove]

6. They sell all over the world. They no longer care about the middle class buying power in the USA.

[unblock]

7. for the most part, a fascist government is good for "the economy", but only in a narrow sense

fascists governments work closely with powerful industry leaders, so businesses get what their leaders want.

unfortunately, this is mostly tax cuts, "freedom" to pollute, "freedom" to bust unions, etc.

so it's really great for businesses, their owners, and their ceos.

but in turns the economy from a productive one into an extractive one. the rich extract wealth and neither they nor the government return it to the poor or reinvest it in infrastructure, etc.

eventually the economy rots and the poor can't afford to buy, and they have health problems due to pollution. that said, they'll work for less and less.

from there, a fascist country could continue provided there's another rich country who will buy, because the domestic economy no longer can.


in america's case, this is a problem but given that we're the strongest economy right now, our economy could stomach quite a number of years or decades of fascism before we would really collapse.

in short, it will take a long time to turn us into a real sh*thole country, but republicans sure are gonna try.