In general, the mentality is the prevailing schemes, stereotypes and thought patterns. Russians are not necessarily Russians. An individual may be proud to be a "Cossack", "Bashkir" or "Jew" within Russia, but outside of it all Russians (former and present) are traditionally called (regardless of origin) Russians. There are good reasons for this: as a rule, they all have similarities in their mentality and stereotypes of behavior.
The Russians have something to be proud of, we have a huge and strong country, we have talented people and deep literature, while we ourselves know our weaknesses. If we want to become better, we must know them.
So, let's look at ourselves from the side, namely from the side of strictly scientific research. What do cultural researchers note as specific features of the Russian mentality?
1. Conciliarity, the primacy of the common over the personal: "we are all our own", we have everything in common and "what will people say." Sobornost turns into a lack of privacy and the opportunity for any neighbor grandmother to intervene and tell you everything she thinks about your clothes, manners and upbringing of your children.
From the same opera, the concepts of "public", "collective" that are absent in the West. “The opinion of the collective”, “not to separate from the collective”, “what will people say?” - conciliarity in its purest form. On the other hand, they will tell you if your tag is sticking out, your drawstring is untied, your pants are splashed, or your grocery bag is torn. And also - flashing headlights on the road to warn about the traffic police and save from a fine.
2. The desire to live in truth. The term "pravda", often found in ancient Russian sources, means legal regulations, on the basis of which the court was decided (hence the expressions “to judge the right” or “to judge in truth”, that is, objectively, fairly). The sources of codification are the norms of customary law, princely judicial practice, as well as borrowed norms from authoritative sources - primarily the Holy Scriptures.
Outside of Russian culture, more often people talk about obedience to the law, the rules of decency, or the observance of religious precepts. The Eastern mentality does not speak of the Truth, in China it is important to live according to the precepts left by Confucius.
3. In the choice between reason and feeling, Russians choose feeling: sincerity and sincerity. In the Russian mentality, “expediency” is practically a synonym for selfish, selfish behavior and is not honored, like something “American”. It is difficult for the average Russian layman to imagine that one can reasonably and consciously act not only for oneself, but also for someone else, so selfless actions are identified with actions “from the heart”, based on feelings, without a head.
Russian - dislike for discipline and method, life according to the soul and mood, change of mood from peacefulness, forgiveness and humility to a merciless rebellion to complete annihilation - and vice versa. The Russian mentality lives more like a female model: feeling, gentleness, forgiveness, reacting with crying and rage to the consequences of such a life strategy.
4. A certain amount of negativism: most Russians tend to see themselves as shortcomings rather than virtues. Abroad, if a person on the street accidentally touches another person, the stereotyped reaction of almost anyone is: “Sorry”, an apology and a smile. They are so brought up. It is sad that in Russia such patterns are more negative, here you can hear “Well, where are you looking?”, And something more harsh. The Russians understand well what longing is, despite the fact that this word is untranslatable into other European languages. On the streets, it is not customary for us to smile, look into the faces of others, indecently get to know each other and just talk.
5. A smile in Russian communication is not a mandatory attribute of politeness. In the West, the more a person smiles, the more polite he is. In traditional Russian communication, the priority is the requirement of sincerity. A smile in Russians demonstrates a personal disposition towards another person, which, of course, does not apply to everyone. Therefore, if a person smiles not from the heart, it causes rejection.
You can ask for help - most likely they will help. It is normal to beg - and a cigarette, and money. A person with a constantly good mood arouses suspicion - whether sick, or insincere. The one who usually smiles kindly at others - if not a foreigner, then, of course, a toady. Of course, insincere. Says "Yes", agrees - a hypocrite. Because a sincere Russian person will definitely disagree and object. And in general, the real sincerity is when obscene! That's when you believe the man!
6. Love for disputes. In Russian communication, disputes traditionally occupy a large place. A Russian person loves to argue on a variety of issues, both private and general. Love for disputes on global, philosophical issues is a striking feature of Russian communicative behavior.
A Russian person is often interested in a dispute not as a means of finding the truth, but as a mental exercise, as a form of emotional, sincere communication with each other. That is why, in Russian communicative culture, those who argue so often lose the thread of the dispute, easily deviate from the original topic.
At the same time, the desire for compromise or for allowing the interlocutor to save face is completely uncharacteristic. Uncompromisingness, conflict manifests itself very clearly: our person is uncomfortable if he did not argue, could not prove his case. “As the English teacher formulated this quality: "The Russian always argues to win." And vice versa, the characteristic "conflict-free", rather, has a disapproving connotation, like "spineless", "unprincipled".
7. A Russian person lives by faith in the good that will one day descend from heaven.(or simply from above) to the long-suffering Russian land: "Good will definitely defeat evil, but then, someday." At the same time, his personal position is irresponsible: “Someone will bring us the truth, but not me personally. I can't do anything myself, and I won't." For several centuries now, the main enemy of the Russian people has been considered the state in the form of a serving-punitive class.
8. The principle of "keep your head down." In the Russian mentality, there is a disdainful attitude towards politics and democracy as a form of political system, in which the people act as the source and controller of the activities of power. Characteristic is the conviction that in reality people do not decide anything anywhere and democracy is a lie and hypocrisy. At the same time, tolerance and the habit of lying and hypocrisy of one's power because of the conviction that it is impossible otherwise.
9. Habit of theft, bribery and deceit. The conviction that they steal everywhere and everything, and it is impossible to earn big money in an honest way. The principle is “if you don’t steal, you won’t live”. Alexander I: “There is such theft in Russia that I’m afraid to go to the dentist - I’ll sit in a chair and steal my jaw ...” Dahl: “A Russian person is not afraid of the cross, but is afraid of the pestle.”
At the same time, Russians are characterized by a protest attitude towards punishments: punishing minor violations is not good, somehow petty, you need to “forgive!”, And when against this background people get used to disrespect laws and move from minor violations to major ones - here is a Russian person will sigh for a long time until he gets angry and arranges a pogrom.
10. A characteristic feature of the Russian mentality that follows from the previous paragraph is love for freebies. Movies need to be downloaded via torrent, pay for licensed programs - zapadlo, the dream is the joy of Leni Golubkov in the MMM pyramid. Our fairy tales depict heroes who lie on the stove and eventually receive a kingdom and a sexy queen. Ivan the Fool is strong not in hard work, but in quick wit, when Pike, Sivki-Burki, Humpbacked Skates and other wolves, fish and firebirds will do everything for him.
11. Taking care of health is not a value, sports are strange, getting sick is normal, but it is categorically not allowed to leave the poor, including it is considered morally unacceptable to leave those who did not care about their health and as a result became, in fact, a helpless invalid. Women are looking for the rich and successful, but they love the poor and sick. "How is he without me?" - hence codependency as a norm of life.
12. The place of humanism with us is occupied by pity. If humanism welcomes concern for a person, placing a free, developed, strong person on a pedestal, then pity directs care to the unfortunate and sick. According to Mail.ru and VTsIOM statistics, helping adults is in fifth place in popularity after helping children, the elderly, animals, and helping environmental problems. People feel more sorry for dogs than people, and out of a sense of pity, it is more important to support unviable children, rather than adults who could still live and work.
In the comments to the article, someone agrees with such a portrait, someone accuses the author of Russophobia. No, the author loves Russia and believes in it, having been engaged in enlightenment and educational activities for his country for a decade. There are no enemies here and there is no need to look for them here, our task is different: namely, to think about how we can raise our country and raise children - our new citizens.
Selena Parfenova20.05.2016
Bouncers for export
There is a village in India that "exports" male bouncers for the country's bars. All the boys in this village train for four hours a day and eat high-protein foods to build muscle. Upon reaching adulthood, the men leave the village and take jobs in nightclubs and bars.
People drown silently
When someone drowns, he does not scream or call for help. In order to make a sound, we need air in our lungs, and in order to shout, we need to take a deep breath. Unfortunately, the process of drowning assumes that you do not have the opportunity to inhale, as the lungs will fill with water. You can literally drown in front of your loved ones, without having any way to call for help. Keep this in mind when you're on the beach: drowning people don't scream.
City under one roof
In Alaska, there is an unusual city of Whittier. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that almost all residents live and work literally under one roof. The entire population of the city - almost 200 people - lives in a 14-story building that used to be an army barracks built in 1956. There is no higher and bigger house in Alaska. The building, called Begich Towers, houses a police station, a clinic, two shops, a church and a laundry. Sometimes residents do not even change into slippers and pajamas when, for example, they go to the store in the morning or look into the police station. A small number of Whittier residents travel to work in Anchorage, which is located 105 kilometers away, through a special tunnel.
The most exclusive establishment in the world
Near New York there is a small restaurant in which tables are booked ten years in advance. This is not about a glamorous, shiny restaurant where you can always meet celebrities. The restaurant is located in the basement of an ordinary house, which is located three hours from Manhattan. It is run by a self-taught chef who is the only employee of the restaurant.
Frivolous Lilly
Lilly Bild - the heroine of German comics, released in the form of a small doll, was a girl of "easy virtue", personifying the female "vices" of the fifties: too sexy, brightly made up, with Marilyn Monroe's hair, wanting only entertainment from life. On dates, ladies sometimes gave Lilly's figurine to gentlemen as an unambiguous hint of an intimate relationship without obligations. It was Lilly who inspired Ruth Handler to create a Barbie doll - the doll caught her eye while on vacation in Switzerland. Thus, Barbie's exaggerated sexuality, which caused dissatisfaction with her parents all the way through her "career", was built into her from the very beginning.
Advantage of imperfection
Women are more likely to choose men whose abs are hidden under a small layer of fat than athletic handsome men - ordinary men who do not particularly take care of themselves. Why do women subconsciously choose them, and not men with chiseled figures? Representatives of the weaker sex are afraid that there will be nothing to talk about with a sports man. In addition, women feel awkward when their partner looks better on the beach. This does not mean that women have stopped looking at athletic men. However, ladies prefer to build long-term relationships with owners of a normal, “soft” physique.
Waterfowl
Amazing waterfowl live on the coast of British Columbia (Canada). They feed on salmon, shells, dead seals, herring, caviar, etc. Sea wolves are excellent swimmers and are able to cover a distance of ten kilometers in one swim, and sleep and mate on the beaches of local islands, where no living creature lives except themselves .
Introduction
A lot has been written about the Russian character: notes, observations, essays and thick works; they wrote about him with tenderness and condemnation, with delight and contempt, condescendingly and evilly - they wrote in different ways and were written by different people. The phrase "Russian character", "Russian soul" is associated in our minds with something mysterious, elusive, mysterious and grandiose, and still continues to excite our feelings. Why is this problem still relevant to us? And is it good or bad that we treat her so emotionally and fervently?
The national character is the idea of the people about themselves, it is certainly an important element of their national self-consciousness, their total ethnic self. And this idea has a truly fateful significance for its history. Indeed, in the same way as an individual, a people, in the process of its development, forming an idea of itself, forms itself and, in this sense, its future. In addition, the peculiarities of the national character should be taken into account in international communications. For these reasons, the topic of the work seems relevant.
“Any social group,” writes the prominent Polish sociologist Jozef Halasinski, “is a matter of representation ... it depends on collective representations and without them it is impossible to even imagine it.” What is a nation? This is a large social group. Ideas about the character of a people are collective ideas that belong specifically to this group.
The purpose of the theoretical part of this work is to study the features of the Russian national character.
Achieving this goal required solving the following tasks:
Reveal the features of the classical Russian character;
Describe the features of the Soviet character;
Consider the modern Russian character;
Russian national character
Classic Russian character
The national character is predominantly a product of the survival of the people in certain natural and historical conditions. There are many natural zones in the world, and the diversity of national characters is both the result of the diversity of nature and the key to the survival of mankind as a whole.
Stereotypes of a national character have been formed over the centuries and polished to best fit the environment. The search for the best models of behavior within the people takes place on a competitive basis, although the tactical victory of one model over another does not always lead to long-term success for the entire nation. The desire to expand the habitat and the number of their own kind is an integral concomitant property of any behavior model. A universal criterion for the strategic success of a national character is the area occupied and the number of carriers of a given national character in comparison with the territory and number of neighboring peoples. Russian culture. Textbook for higher educational institutions. / ed. Ivanchenko N.S. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2001. - p. 150.
In accordance with this criterion, the Russian model of behavior, the Russian national character, historically, on the whole, was quite adequate to the natural and historical circumstances and, in the long term, turned out to be more advantageous than the behavioral models of neighboring peoples. A clear indicator of the success of the Russian model is the area of settlement of Russians (about 20 million sq. Km), and their total number (about 170 million people - together with representatives of other peoples currently Russified - for example, Ukrainians and Belarusians in Russia).
If to express the national character of Russia in one word, then this is the North. Russians are a northern people. Restrained, but capable of strong emotions and actions. Savvy, capable of both intense hard work (harvesting, war), and prolonged contemplative laziness in winter. With a strong state instinct. Other important features are willingness to obey, sacrifice, self-forgetfulness. Also - individualism (which is not consistent with generally accepted clichés, but is actually confirmed by such Russian features as the tendency to enclose courtyards with a two-meter fence).
The Russian national character has evolved over the centuries under the influence of many factors. Some of them are obvious to everyone: the influence of Christianity and Byzantine culture, the growth of the Russian state and interaction with other ethnic groups, Russia's intermediate position between Europe and Asia. Ultimately, it all comes down to religion, history and geography. Less often they talk about heredity, about "genetic Russians", but this question is too slippery, since it is not even clear who should be considered as such. It has long been believed that modern Russians are called a mixture of Finno-Ugric peoples, Tatars and Slavs. Shapovalov V.F. Russia: from classic to modern. - M.: TD "GRAND", 2002. - p. 113.
Nevertheless, it seems obvious that every nation has many features that are unique to it and distinguish it from other ethnic groups. You can approach this issue from the point of view of modern sciences, for example, ethnology. But even there there is no consensus on what "ethnos" is. Moreover, it is not in the ordinary consciousness of our compatriots either. Therefore, it would be interesting to understand how we see ourselves, and why this particular point of view appealed to us.
Everything that Russia has achieved (territory, victories in wars, success in resolving the challenges of the time, technological achievements), Russia owes precisely to the Russian national character, which itself pushed out nuggets from its thickness, and on which, like on nutritious humus, the talents of representatives of other ethnic groups grew . Russia collapsed - and when a new Khachaturian is born on Armenian soil, it will not be easy for him to grow up to a truly great composer, and his audience will no longer be all-Union, but Armenian. The same applies to the Jews, who from ancient times lived in Central Asia, and in the mountains of the Caucasus, and in the countries of the Maghreb. But only in European countries with a certain culture and a specific national character could their talents be fully manifested. Outside of Germany, Heine's poetry would not have taken place, and outside of Russia, Levitan's painting would not have taken place.
The Russian national character was formed over centuries, if not millennia, in the conditions of northern Eurasia. In today's Russia and next to it, there are a few peoples whose typical representatives, it would seem, are clearly superior to the modern average Russian in activity, willpower, cohesion, commitment to family values. Nevertheless, it was the Russians, and not the Caucasians, Jews, Poles or Turks who created the state from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Caucasus Mountains. This paradox can be given two explanations - either the national character is not just the arithmetic sum of the individual characters of all representatives of a given people, or in past times, each individual individual had a completely different will, character, motivation from modern ones.
We stubbornly consider ourselves generous people and indifferent to earthly goods. This, of course, does not mean that we are not interested in money, it just does not come first, there is no due respect for it, which, for example, the Americans have. For them, as Max Weber explained, this comes from the Protestant ethic - you can’t be dysfunctional, successes and failures indicate what destiny God has determined for you in life and after death. Everything should work out for a believer, because God is with him and the prosperity of business is the best proof of this. But the profits also cannot be squandered, you need to invest in business again, work and live modestly. You need to take care not only about a constant income for yourself and your family, but also about the prosperity of the religious community as a whole. Because the rich man is the shepherd of the community.
With us, it's the other way around. If a person gets rich, it is clearly not from excessive righteousness. Yes, and wealth is understood as acquired by chance, and even more often fraud, and therefore the one who lives luxuriously and spends a lot is considered rich. That is, it is primarily a consumer of goods, and not a producer. A good person cannot be rich, because you cannot earn much by honest work, and if this happens, they will be taken away anyway, so there is no point in being zealous in labor. In addition to all these quite worldly arguments, we have one more powerful justification in the form of Orthodoxy, which has always preached poverty as a life guide. Righteousness and poverty are almost synonymous for a Russian person. And the extreme form of poverty - begging - is one of the models of Christian behavior that frees from property, humbles pride, accustoms to asceticism, thereby bringing the beggar closer to the monk. Begging was all the more interpreted as a form of a righteous life, if the beggars became consciously, having distributed their property according to religious beliefs. Barskaya N.A. Plots and images of the Russian national character. - M.: "Enlightenment", 2000. - p. 69.
The poor have always been treated in Russia with tolerance, with sympathy and participation. To drive away a beggar was considered a sin, to give alms - a good and charitable deed. This was partly because no one could be guaranteed that he would not be in the same position. "From prison, but do not renounce the bag." But this is not the only reason. Stories were very common, how, under the guise of a beggar, the Lord God himself walks among people.
Until the 18th century, ancient Russian princes and tsars arranged special tables in their chambers for beggars during weddings, major holidays and on memorial days, which amazed foreigners.
Even more respectful attitude was towards the holy fools. They were not simply considered "insane". In their words and behavior, they always tried to see prophecies, or at least what the rest did not dare to say. It is possible that such an attitude towards the poor and holy fools came to us from the traditions of Greek Christianity. As you know, in Greece, long before the Christians, there were philosophical schools that preached a similar lifestyle (cynics).
Another feature constantly attributed to Russians is natural laziness. Although it seems to me that it would be wiser to talk about the habit of "not sticking out", about the lack of initiative and desire to achieve more. There are many reasons for this. One of them is a difficult relationship with the state, from which some kind of dirty trick is traditionally expected, such as the withdrawal of surpluses from the peasants during the civil war. The conclusion is simple: no matter how much you work, you still sit on the beans.
Another reason is the communal organization of the life of the Russian peasantry. Stolypin tried to break this way of life, but the result was rather negative, and those who were still able to separate from the world and put their economy on their feet were later destroyed by the Bolsheviks. The community turned out to be the most enduring form of social organization, although not the most productive. Everyone knows such features of the collective-farm management system as lack of initiative, leveling, careless attitude to the results of one's own labor. And a favorite: "Everything around is folk, everything around is mine."
Individualism in all forms was eradicated in every possible way in Soviet times. There were even taxes that prevented planting fruit trees on your own plot - everything should be common. The self-employed person has always been the object of attacks from the community, and there are still cases of arson of farms.
Everyone knows that in Russia they always stole everything, and they took bribes and cheated. And far from always and not by everyone it was condemned, condemned, but more often only by the injured party. The rest considered it a manifestation of business ingenuity, like "If you don't cheat, you won't sell." In general, the self-consciousness of any nation is characterized by a double standard. Fraud is considered a good deed if it benefits "ours" and harms "them". For example, Tsar Ivan III cheated often and frankly, but was considered wise and kind, because he did it for the Russian land and his own treasury.
The bribery of officials even now smacks of memories of those long-forgotten times when there were "feedings" - the official was paid not by the state, but by those whose lands he manages. Everything was clear and fair: the official works for those who feed him, and they work for him. Who feeds better, he gets more. But as soon as the state intervened, the whole logic of this process collapsed. They began to pay from the treasury.
Of course, it is difficult to get around such a well-known trait of a Russian person as drunkenness. Vodka has become almost synonymous with Russia. But interestingly, the first place in soldering the Russian people has always belonged to the state. It was it that owned a monopoly on drinking establishments and the sale of alcohol, and this business was extremely profitable. But still, before the Soviet era, they drank little. Mostly on holidays, but when they went to the fair. In the villages, drunkenness was considered a disgrace, and was a distinctive feature of only the lowest social stratum.
Another distinguishing feature of ours is confidence in our own peacefulness. Everyone around us is attacked, offended, oppressed and takes advantage of our kindness. True, the question remains somewhat unclear: how did the state, which had a very small territory in the 10th century, managed to occupy the 16th part of the land without being a warlike people. Another thing is that by annexing any territory, we did not cut the local population to the root, but simply endowed it with equal rights with the Russian peasantry, which was, in general, tantamount to slavery.
Much has been said about the obedience and patience of the Russian people, especially the peasants. Some associate this with the invasion of the Mongols, who broke the freedom-loving spirit of the Russian people so much that we still feel the echoes of the yoke. Then Ivan the Terrible finished the job with his senseless and merciless oprichnina. Not the last role was played by the vast expanses of Russian land, which always allowed, in extreme cases, to escape to the outskirts to the Cossacks, and from there, as you know, "there is no extradition." So it turned out that instead of fighting for their rights, the people simply ran away from the center, rightly deciding that it was easier to fight with neighbors than with their own state.
The choice of God by the Russian people is a long-standing topic, especially after we remained virtually the only Orthodox power that is neither under the yoke of Muslims nor under the leadership of Catholics. Moscow, as you know, is "the third Rome, and there will never be a fourth."
Russian Russia will die out - and what will come to replace it will no longer be Russia. Although the territory and infrastructure for some time will remain the same, Russian. But this new Russia will not last long. Northern Eurasia was mastered and quite well equipped by the carriers of precisely the Russian national character, and without them this part of the world will be desolated and the status of the Canadian north above the 55th parallel. Therefore, one of the central tasks of Russia is the preservation, revival and improvement of the Russian national character.
Recent events such as the overthrow of the government in Ukraine, the secession of Crimea and its decision to join the Russian Federation, the ensuing military campaign against civilians in eastern Ukraine, Western sanctions against Russia and, more recently, the attack on the ruble are all this caused a certain phase shift in Russian society, which is misunderstood in the West, if at all. This misunderstanding puts Europe at a huge disadvantage in terms of being able to negotiate an end to the crisis.
And if before these events they were inclined to perceive Russia as “another European country”, now they remembered that Russia is a different civilization with other civilizational roots (rather Byzantine than Roman), which once or twice a century became the object of an organized Western attempt to destroy it, because it was attacked by Sweden, Poland, France, Germany, or alliances of these countries. This has had a special effect on the Russian character, which, if misunderstood, can lead the whole of Europe and even the whole world to disaster.
If you think that Byzantium had an insignificant cultural influence on Russia, then you are mistaken: its influence was in fact decisive. It began with the advent of Christianity - first through the Crimea (the birthplace of Christianity in Russia), and then through the Russian capital Kyiv (the same Kyiv that is today the capital of Ukraine) - and allowed Russia to “leapfrog” a whole millennium of cultural development. This influence has also defined the opaque and clumsy bureaucracy of the Russian state apparatus, which unnerves - along with many other things - the West, which loves transparency so much, especially in others. Russians often like to call Moscow the Third Rome, after the real Rome and Constantinople, and this is not so unreasonable. But this does not mean that Russian civilization is something derivative. Yes, she managed to absorb all the classical heritage, which was viewed primarily through the "eastern prism", but the vast northern expanses turned this heritage into something radically different.
This topic is generally very complex, so I will focus on four factors that I consider fundamental to understanding the transformations that we are witnessing today.
1. Reaction to attack
Western states were born under conditions of limited resources and relentless popular pressure, which largely determines how these states react when they become the target of attack. For quite a long time, when the central government was weak, conflicts were resolved in a bloody way, and even the most insignificant injection from a former friend immediately turned him into a rival who was fought with swords. The reason was that under these conditions, the protection of the territory was the key to survival.
On the contrary, Russia extends over an almost boundless territory in which resources are dispersed. In addition, Russia skillfully used the generosity of the trade route that led from the Varangians to the Greeks, and was so active that Arab geographers were confident in the existence of a strait that connects the Black and Baltic Seas. Under these conditions, it was important to avoid conflicts, and people who grabbed weapons at every side glance would have a hard time living in such an environment.
Therefore, a very different strategy for resolving conflicts was formed, which has survived to this day. If a Russian is offended or harmed in any way, a fight is unlikely to break out (although this is exactly what happens during demonstrative skirmishes in public or in the expected settling of scores through violence). More often than not, the Russian will just send you to hell and want nothing to do with you. If the situation is complicated by physical proximity, then the Russian will think about moving - in any direction, but the main thing is to stay away from you. In ordinary conversation, all this is formulated by the one-syllable statement "Pshel", a form of the verb "send". With an almost infinite amount of free land to settle in, this strategy works remarkably well. Russians live settled lives, but when they need to move, they behave like nomads, among whom the main way to resolve conflicts is voluntary movement.
This reaction to offense is a kind of constant aspect of Russian culture, in connection with which the West, which does not understand this, can hardly achieve the results it desires. For people from the West, an insult can be redeemed with an apology, something like “I am sorry!”. But for a Russian, to a certain extent, this is nothing, especially in the case when the one who was sent to hell brought an apology. A verbal apology, which is not accompanied by anything tangible, is one of the rules of good taste, which for Russians is a kind of luxury. A few decades ago, the usual apology sounded like "I'm sorry." Today, Russia is much more polite, but the basic cultural patterns have been preserved.
And while a purely verbal apology is priceless, a tangible redress is not. "Fix things up" could mean parting with rare possessions, proposing a new and serious commitment, or announcing a major change in direction. The main thing is to do everything, and not only in words, because at a certain stage words can only aggravate the situation, and the call to “go to hell” can be supplemented by the less pleasant phrase “let me show you the way.”
2. Tactics against invaders
Russia has a long history of invasions from all sides, but primarily from the West, thanks to which Russian culture has come to a certain type of thinking that is difficult to understand from the outside. First of all, you need to realize that when the Russians repel invasions (and the fact that the CIA, along with the US State Department, run Ukraine through Ukrainian Nazis, is also considered an invasion), they are not fighting for territory, at least not directly. They are rather fighting for Russia as a concept. And the concept is that Russia has been attacked many times, but no one has ever conquered it. In the Russian mind, conquering Russia means killing almost all Russians, and as they like to say, "You won't kill us all." The population can be restored over time (at the end of World War II, 22 million were killed), but once the concept is lost, Russia will be lost forever. It may seem nonsense to people in the West when Russians talk about Russia as a “land of princes, poets and saints,” but that is precisely the way of thinking. Russia has no history, it is history itself.
And since the Russians are fighting more for a concept than for a specific piece of Russian territory, they are always ready to retreat first. When Napoleon invaded Russia, he saw the land being burned by the retreating Russians. Finally, he reached Moscow, but she, too, died in the flames. He stopped there for a while, but in the end he realized that he could not do more (did he really have to go to Siberia?), So at last he left his retreating, starving and frozen army, leaving it to the mercy of fate. As he retreated, another aspect of Russian cultural heritage became more and more evident: every peasant in every village burned during the Russian retreat participated in the Russian resistance, which created many problems for the French army.
The German invasion during World War II also moved very quickly at first: a large territory was occupied, and the Russians continued to retreat, the population, entire factories and other institutions were evacuated to Siberia, families moved inland. But then the German procession stopped, turned around and eventually turned into a complete rout. The standard model was repeated when the Russian army broke the will of the invaders, and most of the local residents who were in the occupation refused to cooperate, organized themselves into partisan detachments and inflicted the maximum possible damage on the retreating aggressors.
Another Russian method in the fight against the invader is the hope for the Russian climate, which will do its job. In the village, people usually get rid of all unnecessary living creatures in the house, simply stopping heating: in a few days at minus 40, all cockroaches, fleas, lice, nits, as well as mice and rats, will rest. This also works with occupiers. Russia is the northernmost country in the world. And although Canada is further north, most of its population lives along the southern border, and not a single major city is located beyond the Arctic Circle. And in Russia there are two such cities at once. Life in Russia in some respects resembles life in space or on the high seas: you cannot live without mutual assistance. The Russian winter simply will not let you survive without cooperation with the locals, so to destroy the aggressor, it is enough to simply refuse to cooperate. And if you are sure that the occupier can force cooperation by shooting a few locals to scare the rest, see point 1.
3. Tactics in relations with foreign powers
Russia owns almost the entire northern part of the Eurasian continent, and this is almost a sixth of the land. On the scale of the planet Earth, this is enough. This is not an exception or a historical accident: throughout their history, the Russians have sought to ensure their collective security by developing as much territory as possible. If you're wondering what made them do it, go back to Tactics Against Invaders.
And if you think that foreign powers have repeatedly tried to attack and conquer Russia in order to gain access to huge natural resources, then you are mistaken: access was always there - it was enough to ask. Usually Russians do not refuse to sell their natural wealth - even to potential enemies. That's just the enemies, as a rule, wanted to "stick" to Russian sources for free. For them, the existence of Russia is a nuisance that they tried to get rid of with the help of violence.
But they only achieved that after their failure, the price for themselves increased. It's a simple principle: foreigners want Russian resources, and to protect them, Russia needs a strong, centralized state with a large and strong army, so foreigners must pay and support the Russian state and army in this way. As a result, most of the finances of the Russian state are taken from export tariffs, primarily oil and gas exports, and not from taxation of the Russian population. After all, the Russian populace paid dearly by fighting the constant invaders, so why tax it even more? This means that the Russian state is a customs state that uses duties and tariffs to obtain funds from enemies that could destroy it, and also uses these funds for its own defense. In view of the fact that there is no substitute for Russian resources, the principle works: the more hostile the outside world behaves towards Russia, the more money it will pay for Russia's national defense.
But this policy is used in relations with foreign powers, not foreign peoples. For centuries, Russia "absorbed" a lot of immigrants, say from Germany, during the Thirty Years' War, and France, after the revolution there. Later people moved from Vietnam, Korea, China and Central Asia. Last year, Russia took in more migrants than any other country except the United States. In addition, Russia has received almost a million people from war-torn Ukraine without too much difficulty. Russians are more of an migrant population than many others, and Russia is a bigger melting pot than the US.
4. Thank you, but we have our own
Another interesting cultural trait is that Russians always see the need to be the best in everything - from ballet and figure skating, hockey and football to space travel and microchip manufacturing. You may think that Champagne is a protected French brand, but recently on New Year's Eve I became convinced that Soviet Champagne is still selling out at the speed of light, and not only in Russia, but also in Russian stores in the US, because, you know, French things can be good, but they don't taste Russian enough. For almost everything you can think of, there is a Russian version, which Russians consider the best, and sometimes say outright that it is their invention (for example, Popov invented the radio, not Marconi). Of course, there are exceptions (say, tropical fruits) that are acceptable provided they come from a "brotherly people" such as Cuba. This model worked already in Soviet times, and it seems that to a certain extent it has survived to the present day.
During the ensuing "stagnation" of the era of Brezhnev, Andropov and Gorbachev, when Russian ingenuity was indeed on the wane along with everything else, technologically (but not culturally) Russia lost ground in relation to the West. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russians wanted Western imports, which was completely understandable, since Russia itself at that time produced practically nothing. In the 90s, the time came for Western managers who flooded Russia with cheap imports, setting themselves a long-term goal - to destroy local industry and Russian production, turn Russia into a simple exporter of raw materials that would be defenseless against the embargo, and which could easily be forced to lose sovereignty. Everything would have ended in a military invasion, against which Russia would have been defenseless.
This process went pretty far before it got a few snags. First, Russian production and non-hydrocarbon exports recovered and increased several times in one decade. The growth also affected the export of grain, weapons and high-tech products. Secondly, Russia has found quite a few friendlier and more profitable trade partners in the world, however, this in no way detracts from the importance of its trade with the West, more precisely with the EU. Thirdly, the Russian defense industry was able to maintain its standards and independence from imports. (The same can hardly be said about defense companies in the West that depend on Russian titanium exports).
And today, a “perfect storm” has broken out for Western managers: the ruble has partially depreciated due to low oil prices, which is crowding out imports and helping local producers. Sanctions have undermined Russia's confidence in the West's credibility as a supplier, and the conflict in Crimea is bolstering Russians' confidence in their own abilities. The Russian government has taken the opportunity to support companies that can immediately replace imports from the West with other products. The Russian Central Bank has been tasked with financing them at a lending rate that makes import substitution even more attractive.
Some compare the current period with the last time the price of oil fell to $10 per barrel, which to some extent hastened the collapse of the USSR. But this analogy is wrong. Then the USSR economically stagnated and depended on Western grain supplies, without which it could not feed the people. The disintegration was led by the helpless and controlled Gorbachev - a peacemaker, a capitulator and a world-class phrase-monger, whose wife loved to go shopping in London. The Russian people despised him. Today, Russia is once again becoming one of the world's largest grain exporters, led by an exemplary President Putin, who enjoys the support of more than 80% of the population. Comparing the USSR before the collapse with today's Russia, commentators and analysts only demonstrate their ignorance.
This passage is written literally by itself. This is a recipe for disaster, so I will write everything down, as in the recipe, point by point.
1. Take the people who respond to attacks by sending you to hell, turning away from you and wanting nothing to do with you - instead of fighting with you. Realize that this is a people whose natural resources are necessary for you to have light and heat in your homes so that you can produce transport aircraft, military fighters and much more. Remember that a quarter of the light bulbs in the US are powered by Russian nuclear fuel, and shutting off Europe from Russian gas would be a disaster.
2. Enter economic and financial sanctions against Russia. Watch with horror as your exporters lose profits and the Russian backlash blocks agricultural exports. Remember that this is a country that has survived a long chain of attacks and has traditionally relied on unfriendly countries to fund Russian defenses against those enemies. Or Russia turns to such methods as the already mentioned winter. “No gas for NATO countries” sounds like a great slogan. Hope and pray that Moscow doesn't like it.
3. Organize an attack on their national currency, which will lose some of its value, and do the same with oil prices. Imagine how Russian officials chuckle when they go to the Central Bank when the low ruble rate means filling the state budget despite the low price of oil. Watch with horror as your exporters go bankrupt because they can no longer take a place in the Russian market. Remember that Russia does not have a public debt worth discussing, that it is being run with an insignificant budget deficit, that it has large gold and foreign exchange reserves. Think about your banks, which "lent" hundreds of billions of dollars to Russian companies - to those companies that, by imposing sanctions, you cut off access to your banking system. Hope and pray that Russia doesn't freeze debt payments in the West Bank when new sanctions are imposed, because your banks will be blown up.
4. Watch with horror as Russia rewrites gas export agreements that now involve everyone but you. And when they start working, will there be enough gas left for you? But it seems that this is no longer Russia's concern, because you offended her, because the Russians, such and such, sent you to hell (and do not forget to take Galich there). Now they will trade with countries that are more friendly to them.
5. Watch with horror as Russia actively looks for ways to exit trade relations with you, looks for suppliers in other parts of the world, and organizes production to replace imports.
And then a surprise appears, by the way, underestimated by everyone, euphemistically speaking. Russia recently proposed a deal to the EU. If the European Union refuses to sign the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US, it may join the Customs Union with Russia. Why freeze yourself when Washington can freeze? This would be redress for the EU's past aggressive behavior, which Russia would have accepted. And this is a very generous offer. And if the EU accepts it, it will prove a lot: that the EU poses no military and economic threat to Russia, that European countries are very nice and small, produce delicious cheeses and sausages, that the current crop of politicians is worthless, dependent on Washington, and that a large pressure to find out where the interests of their peoples really lie... So will the EU accept such an offer, or will it accept Galich as a new member and "freeze"?
All these moments formed a specific Russian national character, which cannot be unambiguously assessed.
Among the positive qualities, kindness and its manifestation in relation to people are usually called kindness, cordiality, sincerity, responsiveness, cordiality, mercy, generosity, compassion and empathy. Simplicity, openness, honesty, tolerance are also noted. But this list does not include pride and self-confidence - qualities that reflect a person's attitude towards himself, which testifies to the attitude towards “others”, characteristic of Russians, about their collectivism.
The Russian attitude to work is very peculiar. A Russian person is hardworking, hardworking and hardy, but much more often lazy, negligent, careless and irresponsible, he is characterized by spitting and slovenliness. The industriousness of Russians is manifested in the honest and responsible performance of their labor duties, but does not imply initiative, independence, or the desire to stand out from the team. Sloppiness and carelessness are associated with the vast expanses of the Russian land, the inexhaustibility of its wealth, which will be enough not only for us, but also for our descendants. And since we have a lot of everything, then nothing is a pity.
“Faith in a good tsar” is a mental feature of Russians, reflecting the old attitude of a Russian person who did not want to deal with officials or landlords, but preferred to write petitions to the tsar (general secretary, president), sincerely believing that evil officials are deceiving the good tsar, but all you have to do is tell him the truth, and everything will be all right at once. The excitement around the presidential elections that have taken place over the past 20 years proves that there is still a belief that if you choose a good president, then Russia will immediately become a prosperous state.
Passion for political myths is another characteristic feature of the Russian people, inextricably linked with the Russian idea, the idea of a special mission for Russia and the Russian people in history. The belief that the Russian people were destined to show the whole world the right path (regardless of what this path should be - true Orthodoxy, the communist or the Eurasian idea), was combined with the desire to make any sacrifices (up to their own death) in the name of achieving the set goal. In search of an idea, people easily rushed to extremes: they went to the people, made a world revolution, built communism, socialism "with a human face", restored previously destroyed temples. Myths may change, but the morbid fascination with them remains. Therefore, credulity is called among the typical national qualities.
Relying on "maybe" is another Russian trait. It permeates the national character, the life of a Russian person, manifests itself in politics, economics. "Perhaps" is expressed in the fact that inaction, passivity and lack of will (also named among the characteristics of the Russian character) are replaced by reckless behavior. And it will come to this at the very last moment: "Until the thunder breaks out, the peasant will not cross himself."
The reverse side of the Russian "maybe" is the breadth of the Russian soul. As noted by F.M. Dostoevsky, “the Russian soul is bruised by the breadth”, but behind its breadth, generated by the vast expanses of our country, there are hidden both daring, youthfulness, merchant scope, and the absence of a deep rational miscalculation of the everyday or political situation.
The values of Russian culture are to a large extent the values of the Russian community.
The community itself, the "world" as the basis and prerequisite for the existence of any individual, is the most ancient and most important value. For the sake of "peace" a person must sacrifice everything, including his life. This is explained by the fact that Russia lived a significant part of its history in the conditions of a besieged military camp, when only the subordination of the interests of the individual to the interests of the community allowed the Russian people to survive as an independent ethnic group.
The interests of the collective in Russian culture are always higher than the interests of the individual, which is why personal plans, goals and interests are so easily suppressed. But in response, a Russian person counts on the support of the "peace" when he has to face everyday hardships (a kind of mutual responsibility). As a result, a Russian person without displeasure puts aside his personal affairs for the sake of some common cause from which he will not benefit, and this is his attraction. A Russian person is firmly convinced that one must first arrange the affairs of the social whole, more important than his own, and then this whole will begin to act in his favor at his own discretion. The Russian people are a collectivist that can only exist together with society. He suits him, worries about him, for which he, in turn, surrounds him with warmth, attention and support. To become a person, a Russian person must become a conciliar person.
Justice is another value of Russian culture that is important for life in a team. Initially, it was understood as the social equality of people and was based on the economic equality (of men) in relation to the land. This value is instrumental, but in the Russian community it has become a goal. Members of the community had the right to their share of the land and all its wealth, which was owned by the "world", equal with everyone else. Such justice was the Truth for which the Russian people lived and aspired. In the famous dispute between truth-truth and truth-justice, it was justice that prevailed. For a Russian person, it is not so important how it was or is in reality; much more important than what should be. Nominal positions of eternal truths (for Russia, these truths were truth-justice) were evaluated by the thoughts and actions of people. Only they are important, otherwise no result, no benefit can justify them. If nothing comes of the plan, it’s not scary, because the goal was good.
The absence of individual freedom was determined by the fact that in the Russian community with its equal allotments, periodically carried out redistribution of the land, it was simply impossible for individualism to manifest itself in striped stripes. A person was not the owner of the land, did not have the right to sell it, was not free even in the timing of sowing, reaping, in the choice of what can be cultivated on the land. In such a situation, it was unrealistic to show individual skill. which was not valued at all in Russia. It is no coincidence that Lefty was ready to be accepted in England, but he died in complete poverty in Russia.
The habit of emergency mass activity (strada) was brought up by the same lack of individual freedom. Here, hard work and a festive mood were strangely combined. Perhaps the festive atmosphere was a kind of compensatory means, which made it easier to transfer a heavy load and give up excellent freedom in economic activity.
Wealth could not become a value in a situation where the idea of equality and justice was dominating. It is no coincidence that the proverb is so well known in Russia: “You cannot make stone chambers with righteous labor.” The desire to increase wealth was considered a sin. So, in the Russian northern village, merchants were respected, who artificially slowed down the trade turnover.
Labor itself was also not a value in Russia (unlike, for example, in Protestant countries). Of course, labor is not rejected, its usefulness is recognized everywhere, but it is not considered a means that automatically ensures the fulfillment of a person’s earthly calling and the correct disposition of his soul. Therefore, in the system of Russian values, labor occupies a subordinate place: "Work is not a wolf, it will not run away into the forest."
Life, not focused on work, gave the Russian man the freedom of the spirit (partly illusory). It has always stimulated creativity in man. It could not be expressed in constant, painstaking work aimed at accumulating wealth, but easily transformed into eccentricity or work to the surprise of others (the invention of wings, a wooden bicycle, a perpetual motion machine, etc.), i.e. actions were taken that did not make sense for the economy. On the contrary, the economy often turned out to be subordinate to this undertaking.
The respect of the community could not be earned simply by becoming rich. But only a feat, a sacrifice in the name of "peace" could bring glory.
Patience and suffering in the name of "peace" (but not personal heroism) is another value of Russian culture, in other words, the goal of the feat performed could not be personal, it must always be outside the person. The Russian proverb is widely known: "God endured, and he commanded us." It is no coincidence that the first canonized Russian saints were princes Boris and Gleb; they were martyred, but did not resist their brother, Prince Svyatopolk, who wanted to kill them. Death for the Motherland, death "for his friends" brought immortal glory to the hero. It is no coincidence that in tsarist Russia the words “Not to us, not to us, but to Your name” were minted on awards (medals).
Patience and suffering are the most important fundamental values for a Russian person, along with consistent abstinence, self-restraint, constant self-sacrifice in favor of another. Without it, there is no personality, no status, no respect of others. From this comes the eternal desire for Russian people to suffer - this is the desire for self-actualization, the conquest of inner freedom, necessary to do good in the world, to win the freedom of the spirit. In general, the world exists and moves only through sacrifices, patience, self-restraint. This is the reason for the long-suffering characteristic of the Russian people. He can endure a lot (especially material difficulties), if he knows why it is necessary.
The values of Russian culture constantly indicate its striving for some higher, transcendental meaning. For a Russian person, there is nothing more exciting than the search for this meaning. For the sake of this, you can leave your home, family, become a hermit or holy fool (both of them were highly revered in Russia).
On the Day of Russian Culture as a whole, the Russian idea becomes such a meaning, the implementation of which the Russian person subordinates his entire way of life. Therefore, researchers talk about the features of religious fundamentalism inherent in the consciousness of a Russian person. The idea could change (Moscow is the third Rome, the imperial idea, communist, Eurasian, etc.), but its place in the structure of values remained unchanged. The crisis that Russia is experiencing today is largely due to the fact that the idea that united the Russian people has disappeared, it has become unclear in the name of what we should suffer and humiliate ourselves. The key to Russia's exit from the crisis is the acquisition of a new fundamental idea.
The listed values are contradictory. Therefore, a Russian could at the same time be a brave man on the battlefield and a coward in civilian life, could be personally devoted to the sovereign and at the same time rob the royal treasury (like Prince Menshikov in the era of Peter the Great), leave his house and go to war in order to free the Balkan Slavs. High patriotism and mercy were manifested as sacrifice or beneficence (but it could well become a disservice). Obviously, this allowed all researchers to talk about the "mysterious Russian soul", the breadth of the Russian character, that "Russia cannot be understood with the mind."
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“Peoples in many ways repeat the fate of individual people. They also have their own home, work, live better or worse, but the main thing is that, like people, they are unique individuals with their own habits and character, with their own way of understanding things. History made such peoples, all the circumstances of their long, difficult life, ”the Russian philosopher Ilyin spoke figuratively about the national character of the people.
In a broad sense, the national character is a natural phenomenon. Its bearers, ethnic groups, come and go; with them come and go various types of ethno-national character. In a narrow sense, the national character is a historical phenomenon; the national character changes over time as the people self-organize, the historical situation changes and the historical tasks facing society. Thus, the circumstances of the peaceful coexistence of various ethnic groups on the territory of European Russia gave rise, in the words of the writer F.M. Dostoevsky, national tolerance and "worldwide responsiveness" of Russians.
An important feature of the Russian character was patience, which ensured survival in the natural and climatic conditions of Eastern Europe. To this were added constant wars, upheavals, hardships of life under the conditions of the 250-year-old Tatar-Mongol yoke. In Russia they said: “God endured and ordered us”, “For patience God gives salvation”, “Patience and work will grind everything”. The main condition for patience was its moral validity.
The life of a Russian person demanded association in labor collectives, in artels, in a community. The personal interests of a person, his well-being were often placed below the well-being of the community, the state. The harsh life demanded the fulfillment of duty, the endless overcoming of difficulties; circumstances often acted not on the side of a person, but against him, so the fulfillment of what was conceived by the Great Russians was perceived as rare luck, good luck, a gift of fate. Due to the low productivity and riskiness, unpredictability of the results, work for the Russian peasant became a natural, God-given occupation, rather, a punishment (suffering - from the word "suffering").
The openness of the borders and the constant external threat brought up in the Russian people feelings of self-sacrifice and heroism. The consciousness of the people associated foreign invasions with the sinfulness of people. Invasions are punishments for sins and a test for perseverance and pleasing to God. Therefore, in Russia it has always been righteous "without sparing your belly" to protect your land from "infidels."
Orthodoxy brought up the soul of the people in many ways. Philosopher S. Bulgakov wrote: “People's worldview and spiritual way of life are determined by the Christian Faith. No matter how far the distance between the ideal and reality is here, the norm is Christian asceticism. Asceticism - the whole history, with the Tatars that crushed him, standing at the post of protection of civilization in this cruel climate, with eternal hunger strikes, cold, suffering. The values of Orthodoxy merged with moral values and formed the moral core of the people.
The features of the Russian national character include the irrationality of thinking, when figurative, emotional forms prevail over conceptual ones, when practicality and prudence recede into the background. This is also one of the sides of the Russian "dual faith", that is, the preservation and mutual integration of paganism and Orthodoxy.
Patience and humility went hand in hand with love of freedom. Byzantine and Arab authors wrote about the love of freedom of the Slavs in ancient times. The cruelest serfdom could well coexist with freedom-loving until it encroached on the inner world of a person or until unlimited violence set in. The protest resulted in uprisings and, most often, in leaving for undeveloped lands. The geopolitical realities of Eastern Europe and Siberia allowed this to be done for many centuries.
At the same time, the best features of the national character crystallized in the composition of subethnic groups. In the consciousness of the Cossack, military prowess and the fulfillment of duty were elevated to the absolute, in the consciousness of the Siberian - inflexibility, perseverance and perseverance.
Thus, the partially considered features of the Russian character make it possible to single out duality, the struggle of opposites. According to the philosopher N. Berdyaev, Russia itself is "dual": it has united various cultures, "Russia is the East-West."
Academician D.S. Likhachev wrote: “We need to understand the traits of the Russian character ... Correctly directed. These features are an invaluable property of a Russian person. The revival of self-esteem, the revival of conscience and the concept of honesty - this is, in general terms, what we need.
IN. Klyuchevsky:“The prudent Great Russian sometimes loves, headlong, to choose the most hopeless and inconsiderate decision, opposing the whim of nature with the whim of his own courage. This inclination to tease happiness, to play at luck, is the Great Russian chance. Not a single people in Europe is capable of such a strain of work for a short time, which the Great Russian can develop, ... we will not find such a lack of habit for even, moderate and measured, constant work, as in the same Great Russia.
He is generally closed and cautious, even timid, always on his mind, ... self-doubt excites his strength, and success drops them. The inability to calculate in advance, to figure out a plan of action and go straight to the intended goal, was noticeably reflected in the mentality of the Great Russian ... he became more prudent than prudent ... the Russian man is strong in hindsight ... ".
ON THE. Berdyaev:“In a Russian person there is no narrowness of a European person, concentrating his energy on a small space of the soul, there is no this prudence, economy of space and time ... The power of breadth over the Russian soul gives rise to a number of Russian qualities and Russian shortcomings. Russian laziness, carelessness, lack of initiative, a poorly developed sense of responsibility are connected with this. The earth rules over the Russian man... The Russian man, the man of the earth, feels himself helpless to master these spaces and organize them. He is too accustomed to entrusting this organization to the central government ... ".
Alfred Gettner:“The severity and stinginess of nature, devoid, however, of the wild strength of the sea and high mountains, taught him the passive virtues of contentment with little, patience, obedience - virtues still strengthened by the history of the country ...”.
