America has very little, if any, understanding of Russia and the Russian character. In a sense, she is Russia’s antipode in more ways than one, which, of course, should not a problem for one who has read or heard, but, more importantly, comprehended, the great wisdom, originating with Cervantes, that “de todo ha de haber en el mundo,” which exists in the English language as the proverb: “it takes all sorts to make a world.” The problem with America is her lack of understanding of what this “de todo” really means, and, even with those who do, their principled refusal to acknowledge the existence of a basic equality of all those different national character types. Apparently, anyone who does not conform to the American national type is inferior by definition, and, for the greater glory of freedom and democracy, must be nationally engineered.
On several occasions I have represented the basic difference between Washington’s and Moscow’s conduct of foreign policy as the difference between “It’s economics, stupid!” (modified, in the past few decades, as: “It’s ideology, stupid!” and “It’s Israel, stupid!”), and the classic Soviet quasi-Carvillian secret mantra “It’s politics, stupid!” which, in a nutshell, demonstrates the real difference between the Marxian insistence on the primacy of economics, and the Leninist appreciation of the primacy of politics.
However, to say that politics is the sole source of Russian behavior would be a great distortion. Mind you, in all those instances where I’ve been putting my emphasis on politics, I am referring to the principal source of Soviet/Russian foreign policy. But the Russian national character is vastly more complex, as I have also had more than one chance to point out. Philosophizing as a life preoccupation, God-seeking and soul-searching, aesthetical elitism, etc. My reader surely remembers me raising all these themes whenever I’ve been talking about the Russian character. And it is obviously the subject of Russia’s values that I am raising in this entry, as its title has revealed from the start.
From a certain point of view, there is a tremendous difference in the contraposition of “It’s politics, stupid!” and “It’s economics, stupid!” But, on the other hand, an equally powerful statement, as long as it is properly applied, insists that “It’s values, stupid!”
The Russian phenomenon has a long-standing cultural disregard for the economics factor but it balances out this apparent deficiency by being rich in the other two, namely in politics and in values. Conversely, modern America is unquestionably the richest country on earth, in terms of the economics factor, but impoverished in values, and increasingly inadequate in global politics.
In this context, it is interesting to read excerpts from the book Dictionnaire Amoreux de la Russie, by Dominique Fernandez, published by the French publisher Editions Pion, Paris, 2007. This is what he says, regarding the Russian values (as quoted from the article The Russians Are Back, by Gaither Stewart, printed in Pravda on August 12, 2008):
“For him, food, money, vacations are necessities, not values. Books, theater, music, forest hikes, gathering mushrooms, family solidarity, hospitality, voilà Russian values! The Soviet period didn’t undermine these basic values, but enhanced them! One important achievement of the Soviet system, Fernandez notes, was the low prices for culture enjoyment. Culture in Russia had no relation to wealth. Even low income people fill theaters and opera houses, concert halls and museums still today. And the Soviet state lavished support on artists of all types, a fact recognized even by Nureyev at one point, despite his ostensible defection to the West, chiefly for career advancement reasons…”
I readily subscribe to these commendably discerning words which serve to confirm what I have elsewhere said about the Russian values. Need I also add that these values go hand in hand with Russia’s distinctive propensity for socialism and her cultural, religious, and spiritual rejection of capitalism in all forms?
Now, I know that there are perhaps millions of people in America who actually possess values similar to the Russian values, and, had they “looked into the Russian soul,” they would have found a kindred spirit. They are simple professional people in down-to-earth occupations, fishermen and such, who want to live a simple life, and, basically, to be left alone. I would even call them “as American as apple pie.” But, unfortunately, these Americans are predominantly introverted. They are not the ones who are involved in the development of American foreign policy. Even worse, they are treated as bums and weirdoes by society at large, and seen as an aberration, rather than a variation, of the American national character. Too bad!
And lastly, a word to the wise: America will never understand Russia, and will never learn how to deal with her constructively, unless she stops looking at her through the money prism. Generally speaking, the world does not live by money alone.
On several occasions I have represented the basic difference between Washington’s and Moscow’s conduct of foreign policy as the difference between “It’s economics, stupid!” (modified, in the past few decades, as: “It’s ideology, stupid!” and “It’s Israel, stupid!”), and the classic Soviet quasi-Carvillian secret mantra “It’s politics, stupid!” which, in a nutshell, demonstrates the real difference between the Marxian insistence on the primacy of economics, and the Leninist appreciation of the primacy of politics.
However, to say that politics is the sole source of Russian behavior would be a great distortion. Mind you, in all those instances where I’ve been putting my emphasis on politics, I am referring to the principal source of Soviet/Russian foreign policy. But the Russian national character is vastly more complex, as I have also had more than one chance to point out. Philosophizing as a life preoccupation, God-seeking and soul-searching, aesthetical elitism, etc. My reader surely remembers me raising all these themes whenever I’ve been talking about the Russian character. And it is obviously the subject of Russia’s values that I am raising in this entry, as its title has revealed from the start.
From a certain point of view, there is a tremendous difference in the contraposition of “It’s politics, stupid!” and “It’s economics, stupid!” But, on the other hand, an equally powerful statement, as long as it is properly applied, insists that “It’s values, stupid!”
The Russian phenomenon has a long-standing cultural disregard for the economics factor but it balances out this apparent deficiency by being rich in the other two, namely in politics and in values. Conversely, modern America is unquestionably the richest country on earth, in terms of the economics factor, but impoverished in values, and increasingly inadequate in global politics.
In this context, it is interesting to read excerpts from the book Dictionnaire Amoreux de la Russie, by Dominique Fernandez, published by the French publisher Editions Pion, Paris, 2007. This is what he says, regarding the Russian values (as quoted from the article The Russians Are Back, by Gaither Stewart, printed in Pravda on August 12, 2008):
“For him, food, money, vacations are necessities, not values. Books, theater, music, forest hikes, gathering mushrooms, family solidarity, hospitality, voilà Russian values! The Soviet period didn’t undermine these basic values, but enhanced them! One important achievement of the Soviet system, Fernandez notes, was the low prices for culture enjoyment. Culture in Russia had no relation to wealth. Even low income people fill theaters and opera houses, concert halls and museums still today. And the Soviet state lavished support on artists of all types, a fact recognized even by Nureyev at one point, despite his ostensible defection to the West, chiefly for career advancement reasons…”
I readily subscribe to these commendably discerning words which serve to confirm what I have elsewhere said about the Russian values. Need I also add that these values go hand in hand with Russia’s distinctive propensity for socialism and her cultural, religious, and spiritual rejection of capitalism in all forms?
Now, I know that there are perhaps millions of people in America who actually possess values similar to the Russian values, and, had they “looked into the Russian soul,” they would have found a kindred spirit. They are simple professional people in down-to-earth occupations, fishermen and such, who want to live a simple life, and, basically, to be left alone. I would even call them “as American as apple pie.” But, unfortunately, these Americans are predominantly introverted. They are not the ones who are involved in the development of American foreign policy. Even worse, they are treated as bums and weirdoes by society at large, and seen as an aberration, rather than a variation, of the American national character. Too bad!
And lastly, a word to the wise: America will never understand Russia, and will never learn how to deal with her constructively, unless she stops looking at her through the money prism. Generally speaking, the world does not live by money alone.
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