Thank you for this post, some things are painfully familiar.
"Every country has its own little corners of savagery to which one must adapt" is brilliant
“Are we the ones who are crazy or is it them?” is just painfully poignant
I think your observations about the social contract lack a key piece of the puzzle - the entire 20th century has been a festering wound for us Russians, incessant traumas and soulcrushing for generations. I think the cynicism and urge to live in the now comes from that.
Agreed. 20th century and even probably earlier trauma causes it as well. The almost martial honor is actually something admire in the Russians, but like most strengths, it often can be a weakness.
Thank you for this post, some things are painfully familiar.
"Every country has its own little corners of savagery to which one must adapt" is brilliant
“Are we the ones who are crazy or is it them?” is just painfully poignant
I think your observations about the social contract lack a key piece of the puzzle - the entire 20th century has been a festering wound for us Russians, incessant traumas and soulcrushing for generations. I think the cynicism and urge to live in the now comes from that.
Agreed. 20th century and even probably earlier trauma causes it as well. The almost martial honor is actually something admire in the Russians, but like most strengths, it often can be a weakness.
Because of the history, there's definitely a tendency to take everything to the extreme, "impassive" is not a feature of the national character