The difference is the kind of kleptocrat. For a long time most of the west has had Establishment capitalists, people who have organized the status quo to benefit themselves and protect their wealth.

What we are witnessing now is the displacement of the old Establishment by a new breed, Disaster capitalists, who don’t care about the status quo and thrive on social and regulatory chaos.

Russia has had this breed ever since the fall of the USSR. America is getting a taste of it now.