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Banana republic refers to a country, typically central or south american, with an economy that's dependent primarily on a single export, e.g. bananas.
It doesn't mean what people think it means. I cringe every time I see it being used incorrectly, which is OFTEN, these days.
That is the origin of the word, but it means much more than that. Like many words, meaning and usage evolves. Or do you still refer to a Doctor as a leech?
Robin Wright of the New Yorker put it well last year: "The term—which originally referred to a politically unstable country run by a dictator and his cronies, with an economy dependent on a single product—took on a life of its own. Over the past century, “banana republic” has evolved to mean any country (with or without bananas) that has a ruthless, corrupt, or just plain loopy leader who relies on the military and destroys state institutions in an egomaniacal quest for prolonged power."
Or as Dictionary.com offers: "any exploitative government that functions poorly for its citizenry while disproportionately benefiting a corrupt elite group or individual."
Too many sympathetic DAs in progressive areas will just let them out.
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