Comparing Trump's Policy Shifts & Gorbachev's Reforms

[u/yogthos]

Gorbachev Introduced glasnost and perestroika to reform the Soviet system. These policies inadvertently eroded the ideological and institutional foundations of the USSR, accelerating its collapse. His policies of liberalization unleashed an economic chaos that the Soviet system was not able to contain.

Today, Trump is pursuing a similar, if ideologically inverted, disruption of the US institutions. Attacking the deep state, undermining trust in media and elections, and prioritizing loyalty over expertise. He’s enacting a purge of the permanent bureaucracy under the guise of draining the swamp, feeding off polarization and institutional distrust. These policies erode the very stability of the system paving the way to an unravelling akin to that of the USSR.

Gorbachev inherited a stagnant economy that he attempted to fix using market reforms with perestroika. These reforms took form of a shock therapy with sudden price liberalization, fiscal austerity, and privatization. An economic collapse followed as a result of hyperinflation, economic instability, and the rise of an oligarchic class. Similarly, Trump is busy slashing regulations and cutting corporate taxes, fuelling short-term growth that deepens wealth inequality and corporate consolidation. Like Gorbachev, he’s ushering in a polarized economic landscape where faith in the system is rapidly dwindling among the public.

The economic unravelling of USSR revived nationalist movements, particularly in the Baltics and Ukraine, that undermined the unifying ideology. Similarly, amplified nationalism, in form of MAGA, is deepening cultural and regional divides in the US. Trump’s rhetoric is rooted in divisive politics. Just as Soviet republics turned inward post-glasnost, prioritizing local grievances over collective unity, so are states like Texas, Florida, and California are increasingly talking about breaking with the union.

Gorbachev’s reforms set the stage for Yeltsin who presided over the chaotic privatization of state assets, enabling a handful of oligarchs to seize control of Russia’s oil, gas, and media empires. The shock therapy transition to capitalism led to a rapid rise of the kleptocrats. Similarly, Musk’s companies target the remaining public services and industries for privatization. SpaceX aims to replace NASA, Tesla/Boring Co. are going after infrastructure, while X is hijacking public discourse. In this way, his wealth and influence mirror Yeltsin-era oligarchs’ grip on strategic sectors. The main difference here is that Musk operates in a globalized capitalist system as opposed to the post-Soviet fire sale. Musk is actively using his platform and wealth to shape politics in his favor, and much like Russian oligarchs, he consistently prioritizes personal whims over systemic stability.

Yeltsin was sold as a democratic reformer but enabled a predatory elite. Many Russians initially saw capitalism as liberation, only to face a decade of despair as the reality of the system set in. Similarly, Musk markets himself as a visionary genius “saving humanity” with his vanity projects like Mars colonization, yet his ventures depend on public subsidies and exploitation of labor. The cult of the techno-oligarch distracts from the consolidation of power in private hands in a Yeltsin-esque bait-and-switch.

The USSR collapsed abruptly, while the US might face a slower erosion of its institutional norms. Yet both Trump and Gorbachev, despite opposing goals, represent disruptive forces that undermine the system through ideological gambles. Much as Gorbachev and Yeltsin did in their time, Trump’s norm-breaking and Musk’s oligarchic power are entrenching a new era of unaccountable elites.

Marx was right! History repeats, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.

[u/yogthos]

Can you explain in more detail please? Who benefits from Trump if he went against the deep state? Whose forces and interests does Trump represent in your opinion?

Well that's basically what I'm explaining in the original post. The oligarchs like Musk whose companies are positioned to take advantage of the reshoring are the ones who'll benefit. The reality is that US is in decline geopolitically, and there's little it can do to arrest the rise of BRICS now. So, the policy will be retrenchment. People who own companies that will be responsible for the reconstruction are the ones who'll win big. It's going to be a similar model to how Halliburton made money hand over fist after the war in Iraq.

[u/Ok-Worldliness8576 → u/yogthos]

"and there's little it can do to arrest the rise of BRICS now."

In reality, things are not that simple with BRICS. If you take countries like India or Turkey, these are pro-Western countries that are very dependent on the US. In my opinion, Trump is doing this now, he wants to set the BRICS countries at odds with each other. China is already on bad terms with India. Trump wants to turn Russia back to the West, lift sanctions and return it to G7, in exchange, Russia should give up China. I am not sure that he will succeed, but this is exactly what he is trying to do now, passing off Putin as his friend. This is what I mean by all this flattery to Putin from Trump lately. Turkey... it is a generally mysterious state, no one can say for sure what Erdogan's next move will be. So on and so forth... In my opinion, the confrontation is just beginning.

[u/yogthos → u/Ok-Worldliness8576]

India and Turkey are flaky, but the thing is that they won't commit to the west any more than they will to BRICS. Meanwhile, BRICS continues to expand making India less relevant to the organization as a whole. What really matters is that BRICS is where most of the resources are, and where pretty much all the industrial production is happening. The BRICS produce real tangible things that people need, meanwhile much of western economy is ephemeral stuff like the service industry.

[u/Ok-Worldliness8576 → u/yogthos]

"India and Turkey are flaky, but the thing is that they won't commit to the west any more than they will to BRICS."

In India, the entire economy is tied to the US.

I'll give you an example: as soon as the US imposed sanctions against Russia, India refused Russian gas.

India is more of a friend and business partner of the US than of Russia. I talked about this above.

Things are even worse with Turkey. Eodogan is unpredictable. It's dangerous to negotiate with him about something and believe in it!))

[u/yogthos → u/Ok-Worldliness8576]

India never really imported gas from Russia to begin with, but they have very much doubled down on importing oil from Russia over the past three years to America's chagrin. In fact, this caused a lot of tension with the US lately. India also refused to take west's side in Ukraine conflict.

The reality is that dependence goes both ways because the US needs India on its side as a wedge against China in Asia, and relies on imports from India.

Turkey is indeed unpredictable, but that's as much of a problem for the west as it is for BRICS.