Hidden Forces播客第160期邀请了《窃国者》作者汤姆·伯吉斯，探讨了西方国家新兴的“窃国者”现象。他们利用政治共识，通过非法手段获取巨额财富，并以此影响法律，构建了一个自我循环的腐败体系。这种现象不仅威胁着资本主义制度，更引发了民众对政治体系的信任危机，为极端主义提供滋长的土壤。

🤔 **政治共识下的“窃国者”现象**：西方国家近年来出现了一种新型的“窃国者”，他们利用政治共识，通过非法手段获取巨额财富，并以此影响法律，构建了一个自我循环的腐败体系。这种现象不仅威胁着资本主义制度，更引发了民众对政治体系的信任危机，为极端主义提供滋长的土壤。

💰 **“窃国者”的运作模式**：这些“窃国者”通过复杂的犯罪网络，包括洗钱、政治腐败等手段，获取巨额财富。他们利用财富影响政治决策，推动有利于自身利益的法律法规，从而进一步扩大自身利益，形成一个自我循环的腐败体系。

📰 **媒体的困境**：令人担忧的是，揭露“窃国者”现象的媒体机构，也经常受到这些势力的影响，无法客观报道真相。这种现象加剧了民众对媒体的信任危机，进一步加剧了政治极化。

🗳️ **民众的愤怒与极端主义**：随着“窃国者”的猖獗，民众对政治体系的信任度不断下降，对政治人物的失望情绪日益加剧。这种情况下，极端主义思想更容易得到传播，成为社会稳定的隐患。

✊ **需要采取的行动**：为了应对“窃国者”现象带来的威胁，需要采取一系列措施，包括加强反腐败工作，提高政治透明度，加强媒体监督，以及提高民众的政治参与度，才能有效地维护社会公平正义，确保政治体系的健康发展。

In Episode 160 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Tom Burgis, an investigations correspondent at the Financial Times who is also the author of Kletopia, a book that chronicles the world of dirty money, with its complex web of criminals, money launderers, and politicians who enable it.  

In recent decades, we have witnessed in the West the rise of a new kleptocracy that knows no boundaries and obeys few laws, which is enabled by a sort of political consensus to loot. This looting has become so pervasive that the money extracted by its members is enough to buy the political power needed to change the laws and loot some more. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of fraud, criminality, and widespread corruption of the very systems of liberal, democratic capitalism that these kleptocrats depend upon for their survival.  

Unfortunately, the conduits through which we learn about this phenomenon are themselves often held captive, to one degree or another, by these same forces. The more obvious their looting becomes and the more our elected officials choose to ignore or divert our attention away, the more radicalized and susceptible the electorates become to the promises of candidates who seek to fill the vacuum of trust left by our politicians with power.  

In their conversation today, Demetri and Tom discuss the nature of this problem and why it poses such a serious threat to the very systems that it seeks to exploit.

You can access the episode overtime, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.

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Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

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Episode Recorded on 10/19/2020