A quaint idea? Impossible you say? Sisyphean?
All that, but as a hypothetical, WHY NOT?
For context, Reuters, "U.S. launches 'KleptoCapture' task force aimed at Russian oligarchs;" and CNBC online, beginning:
Key Points
- Sanctions on oligarchs, along with the collapse of the Russian ruble, have swiftly brought the end of an era for an entire class of Russian elites.
- Two megayachts have already been seized over the past day — Alisher Usmanov's 500-foot Dilbar and Igor Sechin's 280-foot Amore Velo.
and continuing
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - A new U.S. federal "KleptoCapture" task force will work to further strain the finances of Russia's oligarchs to pressure the country to cease its invasion of Ukraine, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
The interagency law enforcement group will be dedicated to enforcing sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures designed to freeze Russia out of global markets, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
The task force's name comes from the word "kleptocracy," defined as corrupt individuals who misuse their powers to accumulate wealth at the expense of those they govern.
"To those bolstering the Russian regime through corruption and sanctions evasion: we will deprive you of safe haven and hold you accountable," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. "Oligarchs be warned: we will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds."
The task force will be run out of Monaco's office, and will be responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of sanctions. It will use civil and criminal asset forfeiture laws to seize assets obtained through unlawful conduct.
Washington and its allies have sought to up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and those closest to him to try to force an end to the assault on Ukraine, the worst attack on a European state since World War Two. More than 2,000 civilians have been killed.
The Justice Department has long had a team to track down assets belonging to kleptocrats from around the globe that are linked to crimes with an impact on the U.S. financial system, such as money laundering, sanctions evasion or foreign bribes.
If internationally possible, then with the will, a big IF, domestically possible.
Bill Gates - farmland baron, Dave Geffen - mega-yachtsman; Marley notes.
A closing hat tip to Howie Klein's "Will Russian Oligarchs Turn On Putin? One Did-- But He's A Criminal Who Lives In The U.S." That item begins with sorting out definitional nuances between
Autocrat- "an absolute ruler, especially a monarch who holds and exercises the powers of government as by inherent right, not subject to restrictions."
Kleptocrat- "a government official who is a thief or exploiter."
Plutocracy- "a government or state in which the wealthy class rules."
Oligarchy- "a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few."
Klein's item then segues into citing the two items presented in opening this post; ending in a What-Would-Bernie-Say closing; rather than linking to a Rastaman.
Bernie gives speeches. He does not do Reggae. Marley with morning coffee was nice. Having a roof over and heat, and coffee and a keyboard beats being stuck living in a tent, but still, justice could be spread around a bit more, this nation, where others do suffer more, admittedly, than the Crabgrass man.
Biden, following Trump's actual lead, did withdraw from Afghanistan; so now Putin enters Ukraine. The difference? Bordering land; access to the Black Sea via a warm water port site; and a 20th Century history of impossibly costly warfare in Europe; the last war having its Pacific Ocean aspect where one nation nuked another. Total war, if in current times, would destroy the planet. Putin putting his nuke mongers on alert is a reminder of that. A decent new world order is feasible. It need not be done in the framework that George "Willie Horton" Bush might have imagined.
We persevere, and a new world order, if just, might be a good idea. Diversity in populations might be suggested by the two Twentieth Century mega wars in Eurobe being between white guys, who earlier enslaved within empires others, who were not European white guys. It was an Asian nation that got nuked. While progeny of those there were put into U.S. concentration camps, independent of citizenship rights. Etc. Read Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and know that Apocalypse Now was based on the book.
Yes, we all know that. Yet reflecting on the thinking from time to time has value.
UPDATE: As the one sidebar item says, "Somebody had to pay for the truck."