Pro-regime pundits rushed to issue denunciations and “rebuttals” of Carlson’s videos, while Senator Thom Tillis smeared him as a “useful idiot.” Their overarching message was clear: “Ordinary Americans, don’t believe your lying eyes.”
There’s nothing remarkable or surprising about the fact that Russia has nice metro stations and supermarkets – it’s the largest economy in Europe and the fifth largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Despite unprecedented Western sanctions, the Russian economy grew at a faster rate than all the G7 economies in 2023 and will probably do so again this year, according to the IMF.
The crucial difference between Russia and the United States is not the price of groceries or even the quality of public transportation. The crucial difference is the effectiveness of their political systems. The reason why Moscow is a nicer city than Washington, DC is because the former is run by competent technocrats while the latter is run by incompetent Democratic Party apparatchiks. As someone who has lived in both cities, I know firsthand which one is cleaner, safer, and offers an overall better standard of living.