Comments on: A country for old men

By: Natasha

Natasha — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:53:46 +0000

Brooke, so sorry about the typo

By: Natasha

Natasha — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:46:46 +0000

Brook, thank you very much for all the compliments about the Russian culture, I loved your post and, by no means, I thought you devalued culture. I was just saying that taking into consideration the current international bureaucracy, perhaps, it is more productive to take action, which is hard to do if you give up your rights; yet your idea of giving up your citizenship is the most selfless and potentially very effective one, only if thousands of other people did the same. I, personally, was one of the biggest believers in the world without borders after the doctors told my mother that she had 6 months to live, the surgery to help the situation was best done in the States, and we got 16 rejections by the American Embassy. I even carried a keychain with a globe, symbolizing the world without borders and secretly planned to fly her to Mexico and then stick her in a trunk trying to get her over the border :) I also believed that in the world without borders it would be easier to help children and elderly (those who can’t defend themselves). My believes pushed me to eventually pack my stuff, get on the plane and land in the middle of Seattle, spend three days on Bainbridge Island and take the train to LA. I met likeminded people in LA and together we did things like trying to help the homeless, even a modeling shoot against discrimination. After a while, I understood that changes are hard to implement and lifting the borders is a long process, which involves things like a global mentality shift toward peace, religious understanding and respect, commerce coordination, raising overall poverty levels, and many many other aspects which are, at this point of time, unattainable, meanwhile the borders are there to protect us too. I am sincerely happy to know that there are people out there thinking about this kind of stuff. It’s very nice to meet you. Happy New Years!

By: Brooke Maury

Brooke Maury — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:32:43 +0000

That is a wonderfully articulated position Natasha. I share your affection for Russian culture, even though I’ve never had occasion to travel there. I have spent enough time reading its authors and history to appreciate the richness, toughness and beauty of the culture. I’m also humbled by what you have done to stand up for what you believe in.

My point wasn’t to devalue cultures, quite the opposite. My point was that it’s counterproductive to make cultures and nation states align. Borders cause inhuman and ugly acts. I think these borders are arbitrary, especially given that many of them were established long ago by imperial powers, and national conflicts over the last 100 years have spread diaspora all over the planet. My opinion is that organizing the world along arbitrary national borders is a recipe for disaster. After all, doesn’t the snow fall silently in Chechnya, as well as Russia? Yet they’ve fought over these boundaries, and all the various implications, for centuries.

It’s a simple analysis, I know, but it’s what I thought many years ago, and there is some validity to it today.

By: Natasha

Natasha — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:33:29 +0000

When we stood on tops of the tanks during the August putsch in 1991 holding guns, knives, bats –whatever we could get, getting ready to defend the White House, if such a need was to arise, we too were angry with the new government, which was to take over in the next few days. We were crazy teenagers, who loved “perestroika,” guns in our purses that our parents gave us for protection, new opportunities, and adventure, but most of all we loved our country. Russia has been through many diverse governments throughout its history, yet the pride in being its citizens was often but not entirely associated with politics. It was also about the silent snow that fell against the light projectors of St. Basils’ every winter, the cafés on Pushkinskaya street, Tolstoy, Bulgakov, Shedrin, Lermontov, and Pushkin, the pride in our achievements as a nation, the crapes, the birch forests, the “Moscow Nights,” the history of the Romanovs. Likewise, being an American means so much more than simply being involved in the political processes this country might undergo, it means passionately loving its land, history, and culture. The important political or historical changes within a country cannot surface without its citizens. Since the occurrence of the putsch we often say that it’s better to hold a pen and go to a voting booth today, than to hold a gun and go to a war tomorrow. Ohh… and leaving your country to live someplace else is very easy if you are a crazy 19 year old, who believes in a world without borders, the concept of uni-race(all races should mix so there would be no discrimination), defending those who can’t defend themselves, unconditional altruism, and unconditional benevolence in people.

By: Brooke Maury

Brooke Maury — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:01:50 +0000

Jeremy, thanks for your sentiments. I don’t know what a world with no nations would look like, or if it’s really a dream or a nightmare. Probably, the nation state will be the way the world is organized for a long time, whether or not it’s a good thing or a bad thing.

My current thinking is somewhere at the intersection of Tim’s and MarleyFan’s comments: what we have is not perfect, but it’s really pretty good. It’s a constant struggle between those who wish to abuse their power, and those who wish to keep that power in check. When you think about it, that’s kind of what the Founders envisioned. Of course, we are completely out of balance at the moment, which is kind of what Tim is suggesting – we need to exercise our rights as citizens.

Whenever I think about these ideas now, I’m reminded of a small but very effective speech I was given by an ex-girlfriend when I was lamenting the state of the nation and threatening to expatriate. She essentially said it upset her that demagogues and right wing zealots had absconded with patriotism; that the real patriots were people like us – tolerant, open minded people, and we had a responsibility to *not* take our marbles and go home, but rather stay and stand up for ourselves. In other words, take back the nation. Hopefully, as the primary season is coming into full swing, we can all take action by turning out the vote…

Happy New Year’s everyone.