Hot topic political thing about thing currently happening

[yavuzovic]

Putin's first election was legal and, in the beginning, he was popular. While his foreign policy was always to expand Russia to the former USSR borders, in the interior, his policies had improved the living conditions of his people. Then, things changed with oppression, with the law amended to let him stay in office for multiple terms, and the rest is history.

Exact same story in Turkey. First 8 years of Erdogan were economically the peak of Turkey for an ordinary citizen, and that's still a popular argument among his supporters.

[PRINCE WILLIAM]

Which is not the case now, right? The economy has taken a deep plunge.

[yavuzovic]

Which is not the case now, right? The economy has taken a deep plunge.

Exactly, authoritarianism bring corruption, which brings decline. Although GDP has grown, this doesn't reflect the average person, which got poorer.

[PRINCE WILLIAM]

This happens because the GDP includes everything in the country, including the arm industry. Turkey exports weapons and other military equipment, which brings money to the state but not the people, who may go hungry.
In the first years after WWII, the USSR's economy and industry markers showed a stunning development rate of 632%, but the people were poorer than ever. That was because the main effort was in arms, the atomic programme, and space.
It is not enough to have prowess; it has to benefit the people, or the country cannot go on. Authoritarian regimes usually make this mistake. I'd say this happens partly because a strong army is essential for keeping them in power.