Low Information Voter on Nostr: I read a really thought-provoking article back in 2004 or so, comparing regimes in ...

I read a really thought-provoking article back in 2004 or so, comparing regimes in terms of how much of the population is regarded as part of the "torturable classes". Obviously this can never be a hard metric, but its an interesting framing.

Here in Australia, maybe the poorest 20% can be tortured by security forces without fear of repercussions. In Saddam Hussein's Iraq it was close to 100% of the population, if first person accounts I've heard are to be believed.

Russia and Ukraine would fall somewhere in the middle.

I have a low opinion of Russia's govt, but I have an even lower one of Ukraine's.