- antagonism between ardent "Westernizers" and "national patriots" is a conflict between two minorities embracing in sum about 30 percent of the adult population
- one of the most important components of the Western civil culture -- respect for law and universally accepted social norms -- has found no substantial support in Russia
- acceptance or rejection of the Western patterns are based on both rational (reflective) and spontaneous (subconscious) comparisons of the Western living standards and one’s own standards as well as one’s own capacities to achieve these standards
- Russia’s isolation from the Western world, its growing backwardness and its losing incentive for modernization could become a source of new international tensions and new threats with unpredictable consequences. At the same time, Russia’s modernization and its getting out of crisis, strengthening partnership with the West could contribute to a more balanced pace of globalization.
Western respect for the law has more nuance than it first appears. It is unquestioning respect for whoever says what the law shall be. Or maybe: once something is law it cannot be questioned.
Example 1: the Bidens very conveniently charged the source of corruption allegations with making a false statement. The man very conveniently just happened to travel to the USA just in time to take the fall too. Everything about this story smells fishy, and yet if you say this out loud to an American you'll be accused of every sin under the sun (I'm sure the downvotes will prove my point).
Example 2: COVID restrictions were over the top and did more damage than good. There was no significant difference in death rates in communities with draconian measures and those without. However, try saying this out loud - and you'll be branded all sorts of things. Anti-science. A deplorable. A fascist.
Why? Because the people in charge said so and Americans believe the people in change by definition.
- antagonism between ardent "Westernizers" and "national patriots" is a conflict between two minorities embracing in sum about 30 percent of the adult population
- one of the most important components of the Western civil culture -- respect for law and universally accepted social norms -- has found no substantial support in Russia
- acceptance or rejection of the Western patterns are based on both rational (reflective) and spontaneous (subconscious) comparisons of the Western living standards and one’s own standards as well as one’s own capacities to achieve these standards
- Russia’s isolation from the Western world, its growing backwardness and its losing incentive for modernization could become a source of new international tensions and new threats with unpredictable consequences. At the same time, Russia’s modernization and its getting out of crisis, strengthening partnership with the West could contribute to a more balanced pace of globalization.