Women are more feminine in Russia than in Europe and especially North America – in the way they dress and in their behaviour.Мои заметки о русском характере и менталитете. В основном ориентировано на зарубежных читателей, малознакомых с образом жизни в России. Я перечисляю основные факторы, повлиявшие на русский характер, и отмечаю региональные особенности. Вывод заключается в том, что, хотя русский характер имеет свои положительные стороны (прежде всего для русской культуры), он, как мне кажется, тормозит развитие страны.
I am both a Canadian and a Russian national, but my mentality is mainly Russian, because I have grown in Russia (or the USSR) and lived there most of my life.
I think that the Russians are more emotional and irrational than Westerners. The long Russian winter, absence of good roads and other communications (only now it is at last possible to buy a car or use an own phone), unjust courts, arbitrariness and corruption of local officials - of all this have been making people moody and inclined to drinking. Alcoholism is a serious problem, especially for men, whose average life expectancy is only 59 years. Women are more stable, because generally it is only women who are left to care for the family, if men abandon themselves in drinking. Women are more feminine in Russia than in Europe and especially North America – in the way they dress and in their behaviour.
Geographic remoteness from Western countries, which limited contacts, and the Russian Orthodox Church, always suspicious of the ”Latin” influence, have been the major factors in the country’s closeness and backwardness.
Most Russians do not trust the state, because throughout the country’s history it has existed to oppress the society and individuals. Therefore, Russian people are ready to circumvent laws in order to survive or improve their lot. Anyway, even good laws are seldom enforced in this country.
However, during the Soviet era and now, during Putinism, people have been brainwashed by the state propaganda, which tells them that the country is surrounded by enemies. Many people believe this and many others simply do not care. The interest in politics and in democracy compared with the years of perestroika (end of the 1980s) is currently very low.
Traditionally Russia has been a very centralised state. Local officials, de jure or de facto, are appointed by their superiors and very dependent on them. Civil society is weak. Immense distances make it hard to seek justice in the capital, so people usually have to obey local bureaucrats. In the past serfs fled to the outskirts of the country and became free-spirited Cossacks; it is they who led major peasant uprisings in Russia’s history (the uprising of Stenka Razin, of Yemelyan Pugachev, etc).
There are still these contradictory forces in the Russian psyche, which makes the Russians unstable and unpredictable: submissiveness to the central power (a tsar or a communist dictator), on the one hand, and explosive protest, on the other. "God forbid that we see a Russian mutiny, senseless and merciless!" exclaimed Pushkin. Unfortunately, at Pushkin’s death (1837) Russia’s worst revolts and upheavals still lied ahead.
Even though many Russians share these characteristic traits, as individuals, they are different. Some of them, mainly those living in larger cities, are well-educated. Especially in Saint Petersburg people have European attitudes and wish to have more contacts with the West. Petersburg has strong cultural traditions dating back to the pre-revolutionary times. Muscovites have a reputation of being mercantile and cynical, because in the recent decades Moscow has been spoiled by money and power.
In the province people tend to be narrow-minded, because they have few opportunities for cultural development. They are also much poorer and spend most of their time to provide for their daily existence. Few residents of the province have access to independent newspapers and other media. They mainly watch the state-controlled television, which makes them more supportive of the ruling class. However, in bigger cities, such as Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk or Yekaterinburg, which have been centres for advanced industries, especially military, there are many highly educated people.
Western countries do not have such sharp contrasts between their capitals and provinces. In Russia, while Moscow and St. Petersburg are already highly westernised and expensive cities, life in villages and small towns is still primitive: there is often no telephone system, no gas supply and roads are very bad (for example, see the previous post).
Russian mentality has been a great source inspiration and a rich material for Russian culture, especially literature. It has also provided continuity with the ways of thinking and acting of our ancestors. On the other hand, it has been a cause of many Russia’s misfortunes and it still holds the country in its autarchic, undemocratic past.
In order to prosper in the modern world, societies should to be able to quickly adapt themselves to new realities, such as freedom, globalisation and the environmental crisis. While having its positive sides, Russian mentality is perhaps the biggest impediment to the country’s development.
А так же :
HP CC653AE (901), black
www.econ.pu.ru/files/echst229.pdf
Re: Андрей задумался ....Бедный Андрей Колганов
