As an analogy, you can pump the yield of your crop fields by 50% if you are willing to deplete the soil and cash in on 100 years of careful building of the topsoil layer. The person doing it wins out in the short term 10 years, but society loses out long-term when they gotta spend another 100 years of much lower yields to build the top soil back up to healthy levels. Meanwhile the 10 year guy already made his money and sold off whats dregs are left to seek the next snatch and grab operation.

It does, it's textbook "banana republic". Dictator and close circles enrich themselves, everyone else gets poorer.

US voters were so worried that South America would come to them, that they have become the worst of South America.

basically make decisions that make no sense but benefit you financially. Sample. you run a printing business. you dont own it just run it. you sell your main printer and assign a performance bonus to your self. next month your business is closed because you dont have equipment to print, but you also have your bonus in pocket.

Look at post-USSR Russia

just like stock trader, you can get rich from going long, you also can get rich by shorting the economy (selling short).

this is what trump is doing: selling America short