January 24th 2026

Kleptocracy

Kleptocracy

Let us call it what it actually is.

A kleptocracy. To rule by a class of thieves.

Coined in the early 19th century, this term describes a government where leaders abuse political power to personally embezzle or expropriate a nation’s wealth.

As the brilliant and prescient Sarah Kendzior has written, Trump is a kleptocrat more than a fascist.

He is only interested in stealing all he can for himself, his family and his inner sanctum. He cares not a wit about the United States, its people, or what happens. He will sell it for parts to profit himself.

The world is run by kleptocrats, who keep their minions to heel through blackmail, coercion, force, embezzlement, bribery and elite enrichment. They name their chief weapons with publicly acceptable terms like tariffs and sanctions.

They piss on the agreed-upon laws of the state and world, then create laws or, better, occupy the highest courts in the land that protect them while throwing everyone else into the bonfire.

When you watch Trump and his aides bloat with wealth, when you observe the true puppeteers of the world, the kleptocrats, who have no interest in borders, nation-states, or an international rules-based order, through this lens, it changes both what we see and how we might think about creating change.

The world is run by a loose group of mafia dons. These dons do not gather and plot. Their investment is ensuring their game goes unobserved by creating relentless distractions and mini-wars. To this end, they support each other. The more distracted we are, the easier the looting.

​Mark Carney was bold to name it. The international rules-based order has only ever served the elite. Yet his solution is more of the same, involving the middle states like Canada, collaborating against the hegemony. But the true hegemon is not a state.

The global house of kleptocracy must be broken down. The key players exposed for the criminals they are. Only then might we advance to a more equitable, syntropic, humane world.

Photo Taken January 24th, 2019, Article published January 24th 2026

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