> Whether this is objectively true or not, what good comes out of this > nationalistic manner? Every nation on earth tend to see their cultural > qualities, superior to other nations. This may look naive at a first > glance, but it leads to chauvinism and rivalry. I used to think the best > thing about russian culture (not that i know it very well) was that it > managed to beat the nationalism and elitism at least once in its history, > leading to internationalist practices. Now you counteract it...
I see it a bit different than that. For me, part of the Russian way is humility for example, which I see lacking in a lot of Australian politicians for example. I am Australian, but I actually see "being Russian" as something to strive for - kind of like "being someone who works towards one best self perceived potential for oneself". Sorry, I don't really have the words for it... but for me a "true Russian" is someone who seeks a higher potential, for themselves, their neighbours, the whole world. This is quite different to the plain "someone who lives within the borders of the country currently called Russia". And Russians today have the "benefit" if we can call it that, of having collectively gone through hell and back, in the current last few generations (WWII and the collapse of the USSR - very hard times). Perhaps for some geographic Russians, there is a prideful nationalism, but I think it is not so much - USSR was the world's second only superpower, then bam, USSR is no more, there's a breakup into a dozen countries, and suddenly "geographic Russians" are now separated all over eastern Europe, in so many different countries, families now need visas and travel permission to visit each other. And this isn't isolated experience, this is experience for many many millions of people! Russians genuinely looked up to the West. We were presented as the moral high ground, the ethically superior system - and, thankfully, many/ most Russians now see this "political" bullshit for what it was. Anyone can be Russian. Even anarchists :)
