[blind-democracy] Russian Pride and US Exceptionalism
- From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2019 15:59:08 -0400
Russian Pride and US Exceptionalism
October 23, 2019
Riva Enteen reports on a recent citizens' delegation to Russia and the
chance to consider the country and its recent turbulent history from the
vantage point of people living there.
By Riva Enteen
Dissident Voice
I just came home to California from a 50-person citizen diplomacy delegation
to Russia to ponder my neighbor's bumper sticker that says "Just pretend
it's all OK." That's the American state of mind, but it doesn't extend to
Russians, who are painfully aware of war and its death and destruction. The
still pervasive images of wheat in the cities and towns reflect the
necessity of feeding the people. The U.S. unapologetically operates on the
principle that war is good for business. Russians know war too deeply to
accept that premise.
Russians call WWII the Great Patriotic War because of all the allies, they
lost the most people (27 million) by a wide margin and fought the longest to
defeat the Nazis. The siege of Leningrad lasted an almost incomprehensible
900 days. There is a visceral understanding of war in Russia, while in the
U.S. war is so sanitized that the corporate media is forbidden to show
coffins draped in American flags.
Subway in Moscow.
Though some Soviet accomplishments have been erased, many remain. Subways,
designed by the Soviets to be underground "Palaces of the People," are
filled with exquisite art. People told us that in the Soviet era, the
collective and state farms, a major feature of the U.S.S.R.'s socialist
economy, worked well, ending a thousand years of frequent famines in the
Russian empire. In a short time, Russia became one of the most educated, and
well-read countries in the world. And Russians are well aware that Stalin
led the U.S.S.R. in the defeat of the Nazis.
In Moscow, a number of scholars and specialists in economics, history, media
and political science spoke to us and answered questions. One, a young
political scientist, asked the group a critical question: "Why didn't the
U.S.befriend the Russians when the Cold War ended?"
Nobody responded, so I asked 83-year old Sharon Tennison, the founding and
continuing torch of the 32-year old Center for Citizen Initiatives, why. She
said: "It's because the U.S.went back on its word and took advantage of
Russia's goodwill, and underneath had the Wolfowitz Doctrine in mind.
[Leaked to The New York Times in 1992, the Wolfowitz Doctrine was a policy
of unilateralism and pre-emptive military action to suppress potential
threats from other nations and prevent any other nation from rising to
superpower status.] This was their chance to get Russia's resources, and not
live up to their word. It went from bad to worse after that! The Russians
know this better than Americans."
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Vladimir Kozin, a distinguished expert in military and strategic sciences,
delivered a terrifying report of the state of nuclear disarmament. He spoke
chillingly of the death of arms control, while we are in "Cold War 2.0." Of
the 13 arms control treaties, the U.S. has withdrawn from, violated, or
refused to debate all of them. Differences between offensive and defensive
weapons are being watered down. Russia has destroyed all of its chemical
weapons; the U.S. has not.
Afraid of Nuclear War
Kozin is surprised that Americans are not afraid of nuclear war. Fifty two
percent of Russians are afraid of nuclear war, and 74 percent of those think
the U.S. will attack them. He said instead of promoting MAD (Mutually
Assured Destruction), we need to promote MAS (Mutually Assured Security),
but that stability and security talks haven't even begun.
Vladamir Pozner, Russia's top TV journalist, spoke of the Russian people's
disillusionment with the promise of nuclear disarmament. They wonder if it
was just a pipe dream when Kruschev spoke of total global disarmament and
when Gorbachev proposed a Zero Use policy for nuclear weapons.
There was much talk about the effect of the sanctions the Obama
administration imposed on Russia; first for its reunification with Crimea,
then for the charge - since disproven - that Russia colluded with Donald
Trump.
The sanctions are hurting Russia, but they have also stimulated a better
business climate. They are focused on national security priorities,
including improving agricultural production. Everybody expects more
sanctions to come soon, which many people believe benefits China. Some from
the Gorbachev era apparently think it's better for Russia to align with the
U.S. and NATO than China, but the success of the Belt and Road Initiative
shows that cooperation among Asian countries is increasing. The unipolar
world of U.S. exceptionalism - a rogue state, where the rules don't apply -
is being challenged.
Financial analyst Chris Weafer said the Russian state controls 60 percent of
the GDP and 75 percent of the banking system. Several of the state-owned
banks forbid speculative lending. Because so much of the banking system is
in the public sector, the government has capital to work with, much of it
going to domestic needs. He reported that Russia has an excellent balance
sheet, with the world's sixth lowest debt and the fifth highest in reserves.
Weafer described Putin's proposed National Projects, which is a five-year
plan using 22 percent of the GDP, with 30 percent funding for economic
infrastructure and 30percent funding for social improvements, such as
subsidies for housing and childcare. The government is also allocating
significant funds for health care generally, as well as cancer research
specifically. A major National Projects goal is energy development - for
the country to be less reliant on fossil fuels, so less vulnerable to
volatile oil prices. Weafer believes the National Projects are "concrete,
beneficial and likely to succeed," though it's expected to take a bit longer
than five years to achieve.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Russian government)
He said that Putin, upon coming to power, told the oligarchs (the ultra-rich
who use their money for political power) that if they pay their taxes and
stay out of politics, he wouldn't prosecute them. Apparently he was true to
his word and prosecuted only those who violated that policy. He told the
oligarchs that they got rich off the state, so it's not all their assets,
and some of it must go to the state as taxes to use for the people. After
the recent fires in Russia, Putin declared that no business could increase
their prices, so nobody benefits off the tragedy. There are still civil
servants from the Soviet period who influence such policies.
Annexation of Crimea
Dmitri Babich is known to those who watch "Crosstalk" on Russia Today. He
is a 25-year journalist with stints at the Moscow News and Sputnik
International, and is a frequent guest on BBC, Al Jazeera and CNN.
"Currently there is only a small group of Western critical journalists,"
Babich said. "If journalists are against the mainstream position, they are
called Putin-sympathizers." He called the annexation of Crimea an "act of
ultimate justice," as they all speak Russian, and asserted that the "modern
media can operate without facts, just the power of illusion."
As to the power of illusion, Andrei Nekrasov, a dissident filmmaker, spoke
of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comparing Russia to the Third
Reich and Putin to Hitler. Such vilification impedes progress towards a
peaceful resolution of disputes, to say the least, which the Russians are
quite aware of.
After over 300 years of being part of Russia, in 1954 Khrushchev "gave"
Crimea to Ukraine. For 23 years (from the breakup of the Soviet Union to
the vote for reunification, 1991-2014), Ukraine provided no support or help,
economically and culturally. The Commission for the 2014 referendum to
reunify with Russia declared that final results showed 96.8 percent of
voters were in favor of joining Russia, and that they had not registered a
single complaint about the vote. However, President Barack Obama imposed
sanctions against Russia for accepting Crimea into the Russian Federation,
including visa bans and asset freezes. Putin told Obama the vote was "fully
consistent with the norms of international law and the UN charter" under the
principle of self-determination. Agreeing with Putin, in 2015, Consortium
News' founder Robert Parry asserted:
"The West's insistence that Russia must return Crimea to Ukraine would mean
violating the age-old U.S. principle of a people's right of
self-determination. It would force the largely ethnic Russian population of
Crimea to submit to a Ukrainian government that many Crimeans view as
illegitimate, the result of a violent U.S.-backed coup on Feb. 22, 2014,
that ousted elected President Viktor Yanukovych."
Our delegates who went to Crimea said it has benefitted from the
reunification, though it's been hardest hit by the sanctions. Russia has
invested significant money there - in roads, airports, a new train link. But
Crimeans feel like there is a wall around them, and they want to be part of
the world community.
Several speakers described the better conditions under the Soviets. These
included a more stable currency, controlled prices, no unemployment, less
crime, police as a moral authority and better health care for all, including
the elderly. Putin's government knows that the popular demands of pension,
housing, health care, transportation, job security and infrastructure are
only ignored at its peril, since Russians know what is possible. In the
U.S., we've been held down for such a long time, we are like the fabled frog
that was so slowly boiled, it didn't perceive the danger, and was cooked to
death.
Visiting Kungur
Sylva River in Kungur, Perm Krai, Russia (A.Savin, Wikimedia Commons)
After getting an overview in Moscow, the delegation broke into groups to
visit 20 smaller towns in six time zones. Three of us visited the small
(pop. 60,000) town of Kungur on the west side of the Ural Mountains. Their
coat of arms is a cornucopia facing down, spilling out the food, to express
fertility, generosity and abundance, rather than an upright cornucopia,
which would represent a selfish lack of sharing.
We visited schools in Kungur and in an outlying settlement. Many said that
schools are not as strong as they were under the Soviets. However, as a
retired San Francisco social worker, I was struck by how the students were
neatly dressed, respectful, curious, attentive and calmer than the pervasive
ADHD cacophony of students in the U.S. They seemed pleased to be students
and took it seriously, with much respect given to their teachers.
A settlement is a village for the indigenous of the area, with somewhat more
autonomy. Russia is a country of 180 nationalities and 40 indigenous, or
nomadic, peoples. The Tatar are the predominant people of the settlement we
visited. The school doesn't experience truancy, gun violence, gangs,
bullying, or an opioid crisis. After school, many of the students walk a
few blocks to the library or dance school. The settlement is proud of its
most famous library of the district, with 1500 registered children readers.
They spoke of the many holidays that the Russian Orthodox, Muslim and Jew
share together. People in the settlement talked freely about the Soviet
period. The Soviets converted a Tsar-era school for wealthy boys into an
administration building, and built 88 new coed schools in the district. The
former priest's house is now the post office. The center of the settlement
holds a memorial dedicated to the mothers of those lost in the Patriotic
War.
Coat of Arms of Kungur, Russia.
Perm, the biggest city of the district, houses the university that trains
teachers, called the "noble profession." (Although called the "noble
profession," none of the teachers we spoke to could afford to own a car.) We
spoke to the senior class of English teachers-in-training, who were very
aware of the non-stop anti-Russia coverage in U.S.-corporate media. One said
he fears that dystopian books are coming to life. After I spoke about the
need for the U.S. to cut its military budget in order to address its
domestic needs (as per MLK), the professor said the best proof of that
assertion is that after WWII, Japan wasn't allowed to have a military, so
their education and technology soared. The U.S. government will spend $2.7
billion per day next year to prop up the military and the more than 800
bases it maintains in over 70 countries.
Ann Wright, the most prominent member of the delegation, served 29 years in
the U.S. Army/Army Reserves, was a U.S. diplomat for 16 years and resigned
from the U.S. government in March 2003 in opposition to President George W.
Bush's war on Iraq. She visited Siberia and titled her article about the
visit with the words of the leader of an organization for mothers of
military veterans in Yakutsk, Siberia: "Our planet is so small that we must
live in peace." Although the Russian economy has dramatically improved under
Putin, Wright frequently heard that "pensioners and those in rural areas
with limited income have found life more difficult. Many wish for the days
of the Soviet Union where they feel they were more secure economically with
state assistance."
Our trip ended in St. Petersburg, where delegation members described similar
conversations in the smaller towns we visited. One member, who visited
Russia twice before, 21 and 18 years ago, writes: "Overall, prosperity has
improved, dramatically. The apparent quality of life and material standard
of living are evident everywhere. Even in some of the rural areas I've
visited. Of course, cities in Crimea have slipped a bit due to the
sanctions, but I've seen the results even there because federal spending is
so evident on the roads, bridges, a mosque, hospitals, dwellings for
residences, public works, and other projects not yet allocated."
Another member of the delegation compiled this summary of his conversations
about the Soviet period:
.A poor couple living in the countryside felt things were much better back
then. "We had more money for food, for the things we need."
.A scientist: "Everyone had a job under Communism, my son has been looking
for work for two years now and has not found one."
.A teacher: "My grandfather was arrested in the'30s and died in prison. But
healthcare was free, education was free, housing was free."
.Another teacher: "The Soviet education system was maybe the best in the
world, now it is collapsing. There is no money."
.A wealthy company owner: "Are things better today? You must ask for whom?
For me, yes, things are much better, but for most people, no, I don't think
so. No one talks about the lack of freedom or the lack of democracy under
Communism. And most think that in the old days things were better
economically for most people."
.One noted "We wanted socialism with a human face, but we got [long pause]
very harsh capitalism."
St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of the country, where I attended an
opera in an ornate theater for $12. The pedestrian bridge over the river
Neva shines with repeating metal images of wheat and a five-pointed star,
everlasting symbols of the revolution. I was blessed to experience the
women's bath house on Dostoevsky Street. Since ancient times, the banya has
been considered an important bonding place in Russian culture, used by all
social classes within Russian society. A woman there, with very limited
English, asked my name. When I said "Riva," she asked if it's a "Yiddish
name." I said yes, that my grandmother was from Minsk. She excitedly told
the other women in the room where my "bubbie" was from. I felt warmed by
the soul, and pride, of the Russian people.
Pride does not mean the exceptionalism of U.S. foreign policy - our way or
the highway, sometimes in the guise of a "humanitarian intervention." The
people of Russia, with such an ancient culture, have much to be proud of,
but they are not trying to impose their will on anybody else. They just want
to live in peace. As the woman in Siberia said, "Our planet is so small that
we must live in peace."
A short film about the delegation was produced: "Russia is not our Enemy."
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