This time at Sean’s Russki Blog, while commenting on the unnatural affection for the Georgian monster common not only among the underclass but among the people who, by virtue of their education, have a duty to know better:
Russians are extremely individualistic — more so than Americans can imagine — but they feel their individualistic impulses can be socially distructive because they don’t quite have the social skills for living in a self-governing community. In other words, the Russian I have in mind sees other Russians either as individualistic sociopaths or as selfish cowards unable to resist the sociopaths. This Russian pictures himself with his family as a collective Kitty Genovese in a pool of blood, while his compatriots are either brandishing knives or watching from their windows. Who can save the doomed family? Only the good policeman.
Moreover, most Russians treasure the private, dislike the public and despise the political. The workings of democracy are a dirty mess they don’t want to touch, hence their preference for simple, one-move solutions.
If Russians “despise the political” then how can they love Stalin? He’s as political as you can get.
If Russians hated Yeltsin, why did they vote for Putin when he told them too?
If Russians are “extremely individualistic” then why is their handwriting all the same, and why do they give the same predictable answer to so many questions?
Stalin is not about politics — politics is the public square, the war of factions and interests. Stalin is above that — a demiurge who lets his people forget about the annoying need to take part in that war. Putin is also a non-political figure to those who voted for him. Politics is dead in Russia.
Americans also give predictable answers to many questions and are all unable to write in cursive. Individualism is caring about yourself and your family and choosing your way in life given the external constraints you can’t overcome. Millions of people can share the same convictions and prejudices yet be extremely individualistic.