‘Golden billion,’ Putin’s favorite conspiracy, explains his worldview and strategy – By Charles Maynes (NPR) / Nov 21, 2022
MOSCOW — As the war in Ukraine approaches the nine-month mark, Western governments have repeatedly accused Russia of imperialist expansionism, nuclear blackmail, weaponizing food, energy and winter — and a host of other hostilities that put the welfare of millions at risk.
Yet there’s an increasingly common counternarrative in Moscow that argues it is the West instead that intends to subject the masses to misery.
Welcome to the “golden billion.”
An idea that first emerged in the twilight years of the Soviet Union, the golden billion is a conspiracy theory that posits a cabal of 1 billion global elites seeks to hoard the world’s wealth and resources, leaving the rest of the planet to suffer and starve.
CONTINUE > https://www.npr.org/2022/11/21/1134445639/russia-putin-conspiracy-theory-golden-billion
