Althouse: "Russia must be viewed as a unique and original civilization that cannot be reduced to 'East' or 'West,'"

April 5, 2014

"Russia must be viewed as a unique and original civilization that cannot be reduced to 'East' or 'West,'"

"A concise way of formulating this stand would be, 'Russia is not Europe,' and that is confirmed by the entire history of the country and the people."

18 comments:

George M. Spencer said...: For more, read Patrick Buchanan's startling column that's up on Drudge.; 4/5/14, 8:58 AM
Illuninati said...: "Russia's non-European path should be marked by "the rejection of such principles as multiculturalism and tolerance," according to the draft."

Good for Putin. He is looking out for the long term interests of his country. There is nothing wrong with that. The Russians are struggling with the aftereffects of Communism in which lefties murdered millions of innocent Russian civilians. He has no interest in joining the West in their descent into the same leftie madness. Putin's national self interest is more than one can say for the leftist leaders of the EU and USA who see their path to power through importing third world subjects to replace their recalcitrant native populations; 4/5/14, 9:15 AM
Illuninati said...: St. George said...
"For more, read Patrick Buchanan's startling column that's up on Drudge."

Excellent article. I wish I had Buchanan's gift of language. I'm not sure Putin is in fact a converted Christian but he does recognize the superiority of traditional Christian morality based on absolute moral rules compared to the new pagan morality based on nothing except the mimetic group think.; 4/5/14, 9:30 AM
somefeller said...: Glad to see that Pat Buchanan is being restored to his proper place in the conservative pantheon (did he ever leave?). And nothing says American patriotism quite like praising a kleptocratic Russian autocrat.; 4/5/14, 10:01 AM
g2loq said...: I'm not sure Putin is in fact a converted Christian ...
Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d_yxJhmjk; 4/5/14, 10:05 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Putin is correct. Russia is not and never has been a European or Western country. It isn't Asian or China either. The history of Russia is long, convoluted and very very interesting.

Russia's non-European path should be marked by "the rejection of such principles as multiculturalism and tolerance," according to the draft. "No references to 'creative freedom' and 'national originality' can justify behavior considered unacceptable from the point of view of Russia's traditional value system." That, the document stresses, is not an infringement on basic freedoms but merely the withdrawal of government support from "projects imposing alien values on society.

I agree with all of those bolded statements and wish that our Government would stand for the American PEOPLE and our Country as founded. The result of our feckless government lackeys kowtowing to political correctness and swinging in the wind like a rusty gate will be the disentigration of society and likely of the United States as well. Europe is already coming apart because of the principles of "multiculturalism and tolerance".

Tolerance? There is a strange term. The recent pillorying of the Mozilla CEO is a prime example of the "tolerance" of the left that results in the worst sort of INtolerance. In the name of tolerance we hound people from their jobs and propose to put people into concentration camps if they deny the group think of Global Warming This is the "tolerance" of western society: comply with group think or else. Do not have individual thoughts and if you do don't express them. Shut up and march along with the rest of the drones.

In the end, which country do you think will be strong, coherent and survive? While Europe and the United States are rolling over on their backs, exposing their soft underbellies and waving their legs in the air hoping for pets and approval, Putin and Russia are laughing at our futile antics. China and others are watching carefully.; 4/5/14, 10:08 AM
Drago said...: Somefeller: "Glad to see that Pat Buchanan is being restored to his proper place in the conservative pantheon (did he ever leave?)"

Oh, I see Pat Buchanan is this weeks "real leader of the Republican Party".

I notice this coveted role changes monthly/weekly/hourly/sometimes minute to minute depending on the needs of the lefties to change the subject.

Somefeller: "And nothing says American patriotism quite like praising a kleptocratic Russian autocrat."

Well, in that regard it looks Pat took a page out of the lefties playbook considering the lefties looooooved their "I've been over to the future and it works!" soviet union and it's wonderful promise for about 70 years.; 4/5/14, 10:21 AM
mtrobertsattorney said...: In keeping with this same theme, take a look at "I have a Plan to Destroy America, and Many Parts of It are Underway" by Richard Lamm, former governor of Colorado.

You can find it in The Social Contract Journal, Spring, 2004.; 4/5/14, 10:49 AM
khesanh0802 said...: A tsar is a tsar, whether he is a Romanov, a communist, or a Putin. If we DO think about Russia in a 19th century context (John Kerry wrong again) we will be better off.; 4/5/14, 10:54 AM
YoungHegelian said...: Well, in the historical struggle for the Russian soul between the Slavophiles & the Westernizers, the Slavophiles are on top for now. How long they'll last in power is anyone's guess.

I can see a resurgence of fascism (in the Mussolinian model, not the National Socialist model) coming in Europe, with Russia in the forefront, but other countries like Hungary, Greece, Byelorussia, etc. tagging right along.; 4/5/14, 11:50 AM
Anonymous said...: All the right (i.e., wrong) people seem to be invested in making Putin the Hitler of the Month - the neo-connish types stuck in Cold War mode, the progressive crusaders. What bothers them about Putin is not what would bother any Westerner about repressive corrupt regimes - after all, plenty of that to go around, including in the places and among leaders we're supposed to want to protect from Putin. Not to mention, ahem, closer to home.

No, what really gets them in a tizzy about Putin, moreso than the other usual suspects, is that he spoils their favorite fantasy - that they own history, that it's all going their way and can go in one direction only. They're having such fun in the End of History sandbox, all the little globalist Peter Pans, and they're completely delusional about the universality of their own values - which, paradoxically, aren't even really "Western values", since both types seem to be willing to burn the cultures and traditions of actual Western peoples to the ground in order to bring about their Millenium.

Buzz-kill Putin reminds them of the real world out there, which is not a world of Western omnipotence and secure ideological conquest, but a world of ever diminishing Western wealth, influence, and power - a decline promoted and accelerated, paradoxically, by their own ideology, vanity, and venality. And Putin explicitly, and astutely, plays to these themes. Whether he is himself in any way a sincere defender of Russian culture is debatable. But it pushes all the rage-buttons of the multi-cultists, so there's that.; 4/5/14, 11:51 AM
Paddy O said...: I think Russia has an inferiority complex because of this. Neither here nor there.

In Dostoevsky's time, Russians wanted to be the ideal Europeans, speaking French, etc and so on. At least the educated and wealthy classes.

They're Scandinavian in origin, with the Rus being, if I'm not mistaken, Vikings who had made their way pretty far east along trading and raiding routes.

The religion, though, is a huge difference. Eastern Orthodoxy has some major distinctives theologically, which affects self-understanding and motivations.; 4/5/14, 12:04 PM
Paddy O said...: non-European path should be marked by "the rejection of such principles as multiculturalism and tolerance," according to the draft. "

Yes, because European history is full of embracing differences in religion and culture. But only if nothing before 1946 is studied.; 4/5/14, 12:06 PM
CWJ said...: "Russia must be viewed as a unique and original civilization that cannot be reduced to 'East' or 'West,'" reads the document, signed by Deputy Culture Minister Vladimir Aristarkhov. "A concise way of formulating this stand would be, 'Russia is not Europe,' and that is confirmed by the entire history of the country and the people."

This statement would be nothing more than a blinding glimpse of the obvious if the rest of the world didn't have to relearn it every generation.

There's a scene early in Alexander Nevsky when he is beginning his effort to unite the Rus in opposing the West represented by the Teutonic Order. A caravan of Central Asians is seen taking a number of enslaved Russians East. Asked what they should do about it Nexsky says something to the effect of First things first, They're next.

The film is Stalinist propaganda purported to warn against the Nazis, but it confirms that the specific challenges change but the general challenge endures.; 4/5/14, 2:22 PM
Joe said...: Pat Buchanan hasn't met a despot he didn't like. His article is inane and only shows what a sucker the man is.; 4/5/14, 3:36 PM
The Godfather said...: Of course only a fool would hold Putin up as an exemplar for the United States or the West; Buchanan is a fool. Fools once held Hitler up that way. But Americans used to consider ours "a unique and original civilization". Many have lost that sense in the thralls of multiculturalism, more so in Europe than in the US, but to some extent here in the age of Obama. Putin is surely a liar and a hypocrite, but if we don't believe in American "exceptionalism", then with what will we answer him?; 4/5/14, 5:40 PM
William said...: The challenge for Russians is to escape their history, not embrace it.......Buchanan is a jerk.; 4/5/14, 6:31 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: Putin isn't a nice guy, but he's no fool either. I'd swap him for Obama in a heartbeat.; 4/6/14, 5:11 AM