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05-04-2010, 12:34 PM
The world renowned TV journalist Vladimir Pozner speaks about his country in Expert book ‘Russia for Beginners’
For the typical Russian there are two kinds of foreigners: those they look down upon and those they look up to. The former are all ‘non-western’, a multitude of races and ethnicities that include the yellow and the black, Arabs, Latinos and the ‘small peoples’ of the Far North. They are all considered inferior. They are not envied. In certain cases they may be seen as a threat (the Chinese). No matter how high their standard of living and/or economic successes (Japan, South Korea), they don’t quite make the mark.
The latter are Europeans and Americans. As I noted, they are looked up to, but the more I think about it, the more I have to admit that the relationship is far more complicated. What Russians know – even if they will often not admit it – is that their American and European counterparts live better than they do. This relates not only to personal living standards, but to the quality of life: freedom, liberty, self-respect, independence, rule of law, etc. In that sense, Russians suffer from a strong inferiority complex that makes itself felt in many subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Let me give an example.
Should the Russian national football team lose a game to, say, the South (or North) Korean team, there will be a national sense of outrage because ‘we Russians are better than they are’, better not as football players, but better as a nation, we have no business losing to inferior people. One might ask: What about losing to Brazil (‘Latinos’)? Ah, but that’s different, because Brazil is the best football nation in the world, it is better than France, or Italy, or England, it’s an exception to the rule, it changes nothing in our attitude towards Brazilians in general. Should the Russians lose to, say, Spain, it is seen as being disappointing, but not outrageous. But should Russia win, the reaction is one of euphoria, because the win is more than a victory, it is proof positive that we Russians are NOT inferior to westerners, in fact, we are SUPERIOR.
And this, once again, takes us back to the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church as it victoriously emerged from two and a half centuries of the Tartar-Mongol yoke: Russians are the God-carrying people, a special nation, neither Eastern nor Western, a people with a special destiny unlike any other. When that outlook is preached over centuries and becomes part of the national character, but then clashes with a reality that seems to contradict it (if we are unique and superior, why do other peoples live better than we do?), it cannot but lead to a kind of mentality that typically expresses itself in what I call an ‘all points defense’ outlook.
Speaking from a Russian viewpoint, one can say that we see that Russia lags behind Europe and America in just about every aspect of what is generally accepted as living standards. But we ‘know’ that can’t be true, because we Russians are ‘better’ than they are. So we have to find a way to counter that challenge. We must find an argument that supports our view and proves that we are right. One of the ways we do that is by using the ‘spirituality’ card: while the Western world is ‘materialistic’ and ‘money-grubbing’, while it is not ‘humane’, we are a ‘spiritual’ people, a ‘caring’ nation, for which material wealth never has been, nor is a priority.
I have had endless and, I guess, pointless, arguments concerning this subject.
Perhaps the bottom line is that Russians believe themselves to be different from all other people. In some cases that is a source of pride, in others – a source of discomfort. But the belief is there.One of Russia’s most intelligent film producers, Andron Konchalovsky, once said to me: ‘It’s too bad we’re not green or blue or purple, because if we were, the world would treat us differently’.
I asked him to explain. ‘The West expects us to act like they act. They go after us all the time, they keep criticizing us – and you know why?
It’s because we look like them. If we looked different, they would get off our backs. Take the Chinese. Does the West go after them for their not being democratic, for not living up to western standards? No. And why not? Because the Chinese look different. I tell you, our problem is that we look like westerners, but in fact we are not, we are different’.
This is not an uncommon view.
I will leave it at that, but not without one concluding remark. While it is true that the average Russian’s attitude towards foreigners is complex and often negative, it is, in my opinion, no less true that westerners have a complex andmostly negative view of Russians. This, too, has historical roots. So we are dealing with two prejudices that play off each other, a fact that should not be forgotten.
(c)
Îáñóäèì?
For the typical Russian there are two kinds of foreigners: those they look down upon and those they look up to. The former are all ‘non-western’, a multitude of races and ethnicities that include the yellow and the black, Arabs, Latinos and the ‘small peoples’ of the Far North. They are all considered inferior. They are not envied. In certain cases they may be seen as a threat (the Chinese). No matter how high their standard of living and/or economic successes (Japan, South Korea), they don’t quite make the mark.
The latter are Europeans and Americans. As I noted, they are looked up to, but the more I think about it, the more I have to admit that the relationship is far more complicated. What Russians know – even if they will often not admit it – is that their American and European counterparts live better than they do. This relates not only to personal living standards, but to the quality of life: freedom, liberty, self-respect, independence, rule of law, etc. In that sense, Russians suffer from a strong inferiority complex that makes itself felt in many subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Let me give an example.
Should the Russian national football team lose a game to, say, the South (or North) Korean team, there will be a national sense of outrage because ‘we Russians are better than they are’, better not as football players, but better as a nation, we have no business losing to inferior people. One might ask: What about losing to Brazil (‘Latinos’)? Ah, but that’s different, because Brazil is the best football nation in the world, it is better than France, or Italy, or England, it’s an exception to the rule, it changes nothing in our attitude towards Brazilians in general. Should the Russians lose to, say, Spain, it is seen as being disappointing, but not outrageous. But should Russia win, the reaction is one of euphoria, because the win is more than a victory, it is proof positive that we Russians are NOT inferior to westerners, in fact, we are SUPERIOR.
And this, once again, takes us back to the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church as it victoriously emerged from two and a half centuries of the Tartar-Mongol yoke: Russians are the God-carrying people, a special nation, neither Eastern nor Western, a people with a special destiny unlike any other. When that outlook is preached over centuries and becomes part of the national character, but then clashes with a reality that seems to contradict it (if we are unique and superior, why do other peoples live better than we do?), it cannot but lead to a kind of mentality that typically expresses itself in what I call an ‘all points defense’ outlook.
Speaking from a Russian viewpoint, one can say that we see that Russia lags behind Europe and America in just about every aspect of what is generally accepted as living standards. But we ‘know’ that can’t be true, because we Russians are ‘better’ than they are. So we have to find a way to counter that challenge. We must find an argument that supports our view and proves that we are right. One of the ways we do that is by using the ‘spirituality’ card: while the Western world is ‘materialistic’ and ‘money-grubbing’, while it is not ‘humane’, we are a ‘spiritual’ people, a ‘caring’ nation, for which material wealth never has been, nor is a priority.
I have had endless and, I guess, pointless, arguments concerning this subject.
Perhaps the bottom line is that Russians believe themselves to be different from all other people. In some cases that is a source of pride, in others – a source of discomfort. But the belief is there.One of Russia’s most intelligent film producers, Andron Konchalovsky, once said to me: ‘It’s too bad we’re not green or blue or purple, because if we were, the world would treat us differently’.
I asked him to explain. ‘The West expects us to act like they act. They go after us all the time, they keep criticizing us – and you know why?
It’s because we look like them. If we looked different, they would get off our backs. Take the Chinese. Does the West go after them for their not being democratic, for not living up to western standards? No. And why not? Because the Chinese look different. I tell you, our problem is that we look like westerners, but in fact we are not, we are different’.
This is not an uncommon view.
I will leave it at that, but not without one concluding remark. While it is true that the average Russian’s attitude towards foreigners is complex and often negative, it is, in my opinion, no less true that westerners have a complex andmostly negative view of Russians. This, too, has historical roots. So we are dealing with two prejudices that play off each other, a fact that should not be forgotten.
(c)
Îáñóäèì?