gleeful chaotic mania now replaced by the word’s close etymological cousin: a maniac. The standard of living is somewhat better, but that hardly makes up for every other standard having collapsed into a pile of international villainy. Freedom House says the status of freedom is back to where it was in 1989 before the collapse of communism. According to Credit Suisse the 110 richest individuals in Russia own 35 percent of all Russian assets. (And Putin owns the 110 richest individuals.) Putin seems determined on world domination. Personally, Chechnya, South Ossetia, Ukraine, and Syria aren’t the parts of the world I’d care to dominate, but I suppose you have to start somewhere. This probably won’t end well. Bond villain plots rarely do. Economically, Russia is nothing but an oil puddle and a natural gas bag. Name other goods or services produced by Russia that you’d pay a kopeck for. (Value, at current exchange rate, .00013 cents U.S.) Okay, okay, if you’re a Republican presidential candidate there’s Internet trolling. And I forgot the caviar. But not the vodka, even Seagram’s is better. Russia’s oil and gas reserves are subject to depletion, and petrochemical energy sources probably face a long-term decline in value. My advice to a world with Russia in it is what might be called “Green + Gunmetal Blue”—erect wind turbines, install solar panels, and tell 007 to load his Walther PPK. TANZANIA (FEBRUARY 1997) Tanzania is not quite as poor as it used to be. Per capita GDP is now $2,851 compared to a mid-1990s inflation-adjusted figure of $1,768—a 62 percent improvement. Tanzania is no longer one of the poorest countries on earth without war or civil strife to excuse its poverty. It’s not, as it was when I wrote about it, poorer than Haiti, Chad, or Burundi. But it’s still damn poor. Tanzania is full of decent people, has ample natural resources, and no insurmountable social problems. This is more than can be said for the O’Rourke family. So why isn’t Tanzania richer than the O’Rourkes? One problem is that Tanzania remains effectively a one-party state. The country has been ruled by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (“Party of the Revolution”) since independence in 1961. As the CCM’s name implies, a lefty-thefty socialistic property appropriation and capitalism exorcism ideology is espoused. The symbol of the CCM is a crossed hammer and hoe. But being effectively a one-party state is a weak excuse. China is a one-party
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