I think they'd have thing or two to say about living under the rule of wealthy elites. We'd do well to listen to them.

I happen to know a lot of wealthy people who aren’t considered elite, nor have a lick of influence on the state of current affairs.

I don’t think Russians or North Koreans could say the same with a straight face.

They like it. Russians can leave if they want to.

Of course you're right, there's something worse, therefore capitalist, unrepresentative democracy is perfect.

How could I be so naive?

What’s the quote, something like: “democracy and capitalism are horrendous, but they’re better than everything else we tried so far”

People give communism a bad rap, but the soviets had maybe a quarter the resources, a much smaller population and logistical problems from geography and kept up with the US for decades, outpacing in several areas.