I am a nationalist. So are you. The sooner you stop being a hypocrite, raise your hand and say it out loud, the sooner we can both benefit from being honest about it. A few years back France had it rough. They came forward, articulating very clearly, that there was this thing they were not particularly psyched about – burqa. The minute that profanity came out of their mouths, every self-respecting member of the international community ran into their back yard sheds to grab hammers so as to teach the French a lesson in tolerance… The French weren’t convinced and went on to legalize the ban regardless of the outsiders’ disapproval. I applaud them and am, therefore, a highly uncivilized thorn in your much civilized behind. Even more so, because I come from a country, which in the West seems to inspire viler salivating than Lucifer himself.
I am Russian.
A couple of days ago I found myself attending, briefly, this foul party over at LaRussophobe, who I came to know about through the author of The Kremlin Stooge [Thank you, Mark!]. Do check it out; it only takes a few minutes to see this little tandem of ‘best Russia politics bloggers’ for what it truly is. I’ve already made up my mind, but will not vocalize it here because it is up to you to make up yours. They did not inspire these notes – the people over at Christian Science Monitor (who LaRussophobe linked to) did. This, right here, is what I have a problem the size of hippopotamus with: “The White House expert on Russia, Michael McFaul, needs to remind Obama, the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, that America’s most important long-term interest in Russia lies in helping that country adopt Western civic values.”
Ouch. The ever gluttonous I-know-better-what’s-good-for-you hermit, eating away at human nature! You, me, them – we all to some extent harbor it under our overalls: parents trying to influence their child’s decisions because life experience permits them to do so; friends telling us which way to go because they observe our lives from the sidelines and seem to have a better scope of the deal; even neighbors jumping on the wise counselors bandwagon because, apparently, living next door entitles one to that privilege. Seriously, what the Hell are you doing with your life? Start paying attention to what the panel of experts are saying and follow! All your troubles will vanish in an instant!
See, millennia ago things were much less complicated. We each had our own bonfire, boogied in our own forest and hunted our own prey. But with constant procreation came the need for more space and we gradually grew to a point where our sides are constantly rubbing up against other folk. There are no virgin lands left to pry on and, inevitably, we turn on each other. We’d be thrilled to jump up the next planet, but to our own frustration we haven’t yet figured out a way to do so!
Now, here is what I vote for – deflate thyself! Reasonable, healthy proportions of your own Ego are attainable!
Or simply: I vote for recognition and respect of a state’s right to Sovereignty.
Every government in the world is, essentially, self-centered. Every single one of its actions serves the purpose of that government’s advance and is only taken after careful consideration of its consequences. As an organism the government, more often than not, is aware that it feeds off its own people who, therefore, should be protected. At what cost? Weaponry, money and the scale of possible retaliation are the three things that determine how far that government can afford to go in sacrificing neighbors for its gain. There is only one difference between a Western government and all other losers: the former one was first to figure out a way to keep its mortal folk content – gave them lots of shiny toys along with plenty of delicatessen to devour. So long as they are busy playing, they won’t ask questions. Naturally, those of us who don’t have access to even a tiny fraction of all of the abundance, think that that is the Oasis. And, who knows, maybe it is. But, and this is important:
The fact that you have more oranges than I do does not, and never will, give you the right to tell me what I am supposed to believe, think, eat, wear and, most importantly, do. For one simple reason – I am more of a banana kinda girl. I’ll get to the orchard, but I’ll do it my way, because your way may not work in my boogie land – we are too different, after all, I’m on the other side of the planet!
Help me, if I ask you to (and !not or! you want to), and leave me be if I don’t!
Borders are on the map for a reason. I’ve got mine, you’ve got yours. Respect and don’t meddle in what I choose to do inside them. I don’t come to your house and tell you how to arrange your furniture, so why do you think that you have the right to do that? Granted, my couch may not be as comfortable as yours and my flat screen isn’t as fancy (hmm, I don’t even have a flat screen, what I’ve got is a TV set!), but I’ve been saving up, and, believe you me, the day of my IKEA/Best Buy bash is marked in my shabby old calendar!
In the four years that I’ve lived in China never have I once come up to a Chinese person and said: “So, listen, Mr. Wang, good thing you got going here, but I think you should do it like this… THEN you can be all civilized and happy like us white folk!” Get this: they ARE happy! They are healthier than us, they live longer. They’ve accepted me into their country and I love my life here, I am grateful for the opportunities I have. Do I like everything about their culture? No. Browse through some other posts for proof of that. Do I tell them that they should change the things I don’t like? No. Because this is their home. Not mine.
Change, in order to be effective, has to come from within. Period. Enforcing it breeds resentment and hatred – we don’t need to go far for an example…
Ah, but I’m an idealist. Sadly, seems like Switzerland is the only country in the world where they would see where my train of thought is headed. What do you gather? Any chance more of us can be like Switzerland? Or are we too swamped in our delusions of grandeur?
Мораль сей басни такова: LaRussophobe, и иже с нею, stop pulling on my gorgeous long Russian hair and go clip your own toenails! As long as there is vodka and potatoes in my barbaric land, I’m all nifty!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, alterismus has a party to get to!
Happy 2011, everyone!
