Because Putin wants Russia to be the geopolitical superpower it was in 1960. It’s a hell of a lot easier to tear the rest of the world down than it is to build up Russia.

That’s part of why he’s so eager for war. The last big shakeup of the global order was WWII. He doesn’t have the patience to accomplish geopolitical power closer to the way China is, by slowly building up their economy over decades.

And he’s right that a bunch of people dying often helps the economy. The black plage was 1350, followed by the Renaissance around 1400-1600. We’re familiar enough with post WWII.

But that’s the dumb and evil way to grant power to labor. You can create more demand for labor without literally killing half your laborers. And it turns out having a real, healthy middle class is great for the economy.

Personally, I believe you could accomplish a similar effect by having a ridiculously high minimum wage and mandating a maximum of 32 hour work weeks. Seems like it might be worth experimenting with when the alternative “fix” is to kill half your people.