My mind has been going for five days thinking "how can this country so be dreadful?". Of course, Russia has puzzled Cold War and other scholars for a century, whose limited understanding was thought to be a product of their limited access to Russian "society", though that word is too generous, I should say Russian "people". After being in the isolated Mother Country, I can understand the more muted crass behavior of Russians in America and Australia now, which never made sense before. I apologize to my Russian friends if this comes across as being insensitive, but Russia is crude and blunt, if nothing else, and so is my analysis. And this is not true for everyone of Russian hertiage, of course, but it was true of your ancestors.
Every single mate who has been to Russia, especially those who do business here, told me before this trip not to go because it is a terrible place they never want to see ever again. I even went to uni to learn the language for three months, foremost to read and write, so I could be present and independent. I'd agree with my mates now, Russia is the most dreadful major country in the world i've visited, though on the flip side, I saw, heard and tasted many exquisite local pleasures. Like I lurv vego borscht. yum! I'll take three bowls of that!
Moreoever, I was afraid the whole time I was in Russia, afraid of being percecuted without recourse for some imagined crime. Having fear is a big deal for me, since I lost my emotions, including sense of fear, with my traumatic brain injury in 2007, though many of my emotions are coming back now, and I am sure Russia was great cognitive therapy in that regard. So thanks, POCCNR.
I was arrested last week in a train station in Sant Petr for taking pictures inside the empty station at 6am, probably because the scene included two police. I was forced out of the station physically with a lot of shouting in Russian whilst my bags hung out in a pile inside. Of course, most of my Russian language skills went out the window, and I ended up pleading pathetically in American English. (Ok, this touches on artocities all over the world when people are killed or multlated by police capriciously, and I only got seaparated from my bags. Namaste.) Boo hoo. But I somehow had already absorbed some of the nonsense Russian ethos and simply gave up, left the station compliantly, circled around back to the station entrance, passed through security quickly without bags and no line at 6am, passed the same policeman, gabbed my bags and went. Why did he freak out? I shall never know, but at least I got the story AND the pic. But that's Russia.
(Insert pano of train station in St Pete)
Offending picture
Russia is not a free country by any stretch of the imagination. I have SO much more respect for Ronald Reagan now, honestly. I voted for him in 1984. Russia has a lot of petrol wealth and consequentially with the naive peasant population, out of control sick abject consumerism, and consumers who grew up waiting in line for bread have no way to balance their consumption rationally, like children with a big cash Christmas present from nana. How many times was I nearly run over my someone speeding a Porsche, Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes, or Jaguar through the rain in city streets at 100 kmh? Moscow is full of grown men who drive their toys recklessly like teenagers. Advertisement is plastered everywhere, on everything, on everyone. New York is like that, but only in circumscribed situations. Russians have no sense of what is appropriate.
(Insert train ads pic)
My visit to the amazing State Museum of Art and History in southern Moscow helped me put my ideas together, as well as my rudimentary knowledge of Russian history, but mostly I think I best grasp Russian people is just from my work for the past three years at Taronga Zoo in behavioral science.
1) The population of Russia has genetic variation from centuries of intermixing of warring bandits from Europe and Asia, which makes them strong physically and mentally. I learned in the Museum of Origins in Jo'burg, and in ironicallly (and without reference outside China) the Chinese museum of archeology in Xian last year, that Homo sapiens migrated from South Africa to the Middle East, then on to Europe (killing off moronic Neanderthals) and Asia in two groups and then from Asia on to Australia and the Americas in two groups. Our South African friends prove this with dna from bones, linguistics, and XYZ. These mixed people on the steppes are more evolved genetically than Europeans who think themselves so clever and advanced.
This strain of humanity suffered through the endless harsh winters on the barren steppes and outlasted savage invading troops who moved on and found better pastures elsewhere. The Russians who survived were the wily ones who could make a few months' growing season feed them for a whole year, and were patient enough to surive between them. Those are the genetic characteristics of the bulk of the people, able to make something out of nothing, which probably makes them great computer scientists, astronauts, and scientists.
After noticing in Athens and the Greek islands that most Greek men look pregnant- sadly even many of the young boys- that Russians are with few exceptions lean and strong. Interesting, it's probably a combination of genetics and environment, though you would think eating potatoes and drinking vodka would make them chubby.
2) The Russians are regarded as intelligent. There is no question that is true. But over and over, I ran into problems, logical problems, which the locals dismiss. For instance at check out at the supposedly world-class luxury $450/night Orient Express Grand Hotel of Europe in Sant Petersburg, in English:
Good morning
Good morning, Sir
I would like to check out, then you have scheduled me a taxi to take me to Moscowskaya station. That should be on my bill already. I'm in Room 222.
Ah, sir, there is nothing for you to do, there is no bill.
Yes, I paid my room in advance, but I charged dinners, a taxi, and an opera. Are you saying my bill was waived because of so many grievous errors by the hotel?
No, sir, the bill is being paid by a third party, so I cannot provide you the invoice.
That is strange. May I ask who the third party is?
Why, yes, it is you, sir.
Great, then may I pay my bill or at least see what I charged to my room.
I can print out the charges so far, but I cannot release the invoice and you cannot pay it.
And he reluctantly hands me the printout, which was in order and what I expected.
I assume you'll send the bill to me to be paid then?
Yes, sir.
or
I wrote an email to the hotel from my room (which did have wifi in the rooms, Hilton!) to get to the bottom of a bad situation since the hotel staff were never around before or after my long cruise ship passenger tours. That's careless service for a $450/night hotel! The concierge had corrected me that my ballet was in the Mariinsky theater far away for and not the Hermitage a few blocks away, as I thought. After my nightmare problem arriving in Russia in arranged gypsy cab which was late and reckless and dropped me off three blocks from my hotel, I had the concierge arranged a taxi to the ballet. Luckily, I studied Russian and can read and write and noticed the name theater on my ticket which enjoying dinner near the hotel. I confirmed with the taxi, and the ballet was, as I thought, just five blocks away, 5 min, but the driver demanded 1000 rubles ($30), and there was nothing I could say to get out of it because my Russian is not that good. When I reported this screw up to the concierge, she told me that happened to her in Italy too, which is why the hotel recommends guests don't book their own taxis. What?! Russian logic. For a culture so good at science and math, how can they not put simple logic together? Or do they they chose to not delve into it?
I think the terrible service at the GHE in Sant Petersburg is not endemic to Russians. The Russian management operates according to long established slack Russian standards which are considered proper business. Whereas the flawless service at the Hilton Moscow is obviously due to the strict American management training from overseas. The Hilton is pretty much what I got in Xian, China or in Melbourne or in Toyko., fabulous.
But that doesn't explain it all, why by Russian standards, it's just fine for customers to be cheated and abused if they are not smart enough to fend for themselves. I think most Russians would actually agree that is acceptable in business. It is communal "learned helplessness" that scientists (used to) study in animals being shocked with no recourse in psychology lab experients. What does this mean going forward for an oil rich gung-ho nouvelle-consumerist society? A disaster is coming, and the West is best to just cordon the whole mess off.
I had a funny moment in the ultra-posh gorgeous former commie store GUM in which a security guard grabbed me and prevented me from taking a pic of a price tag on some Hugo Boss pants. I wanted to see if I should buy them there or in duty free in Zurich. (Ooops! Forgot. But the USA is like a giant duty free.) Huh? Comparision Shopping Not Allowed, Comrade!!
Why? Is it because of years of Communism? I don't think so, it's actually backwards. Russia's century of Communism a result of the natural manner in which Russians treat each other. Great minds like Lenin realized that the petty but clever population needed to be controlled and kept in strict check in order for the country to have a chance of functioning as a modern nation, especially with sinister enemies on all sides. Communism and a creepy military watched over the people gave the population a great excuse for not trampling each other over (learned helplessness). Any uni student knows that brilliant people gave Russia its communist government for a reason, as well as its buffer zone of unfortunate sacrified nations.
I waited to write this until after we'd cleared Russian airspace. I was that scared of the police state. As I write on my ipad on a pleasant, orderly, austere Swiss Air first class (innaney with the same seating but the middle seat empty), the Russians around me are playing video games, taking up as much space as they can get their hands on, refusing to speak the language, German. I try, at least the basics, which is about all I need to say. The greying businessman Ruski guy next to me, probably 55 has been playing his loud video game clanging and beeping for about two hours now. Hey, buddy, ever hear of headphones? When I boarded, it was clear he got two seats, I got one. That is Russia. The video games are to sooth that agitated, clever mind that has to keep going and going, else they might have to deal with reality.
(insert airplane pics)
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