Russia is on the brink. They are losing a war they should have easily won. They are losing influence in the world. This country’s eastern boundary just might go back to the Ural Mountains. But Russia can teach us something.
Medium contributor B Kean is an American businessperson who had spent 30 years in Russia building various kinds of businesses. When one is in business, one really has to interact with other people to get things done. Doing business in Russia has even more interesting interactions than in the west. Brian’s 30 years in Russia is saying something about Brian.
Brian left St. Petersburg immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine. He realized that Americans would not be welcome. So now we are getting his many little stories of the psyche of the Russian people, which then leads into reasons for this war. I will just summarize Russian qualities in this next list.
Before I get to this list, I should tell readers that I don’t believe in stereotyping. There are good and bad people in any demographic. But sometimes a demographic will have a certain pattern. So take my list with a little caution:
In general, Russians are lacking in personal integrity.
In general, Russians are unfriendly and unhelpful.
In general, Russians are not happy.
In general, Russians will not challenge the status quo, even when they know it is wrong.
In general, Russians have a psychological desire to dominate other ethnic groups.
Brian has been consistent with his anecdotes to paint that picture. If he truly did not like the Russian people, he would not have spent 30 years there. My sense is that Brian had a life mission of showing the Russians a more positive approach to business and life.
My summary of Brian’s articles is collaborated in details of other articles from Medium contributors like Nadin Brzezinski, Chris Snow, and Dylan Combellick. When I put all the pieces together, I see the historical reasons for this Russian psyche. It goes back to the days when Russians paid tribute to the Mongols. That humiliation is still lingering. Like alpha males in a wolf pack, Russians need to keep themselves at the top of their pack. Russia went through imperialist expansion, the tsars, the communists, and today’s kleptocratic regime. As long as Russians are somehow on top of all the other ethnic groups, all is well with the Russian people. The political leaders use this trait to stay in power. They also reinforce this trait. In other words, history has shaped the Russian psyche. And that psyche has shaped history.
Not all Russians think like this. And there is a significant resistance movement inside Russia making it difficult for Russia to continue its war against Ukraine.
But enough Russians have adopted this Russian psyche so that Russian political leaders had their “green light” to invade Ukraine. If only 15% of Russians had this negative psyche, this war would not have happened.
Russians have been Russified because of a combination of propaganda, fear, and bribes. And maybe we should add a few geopolitical mistakes made by western countries to cause suspicion. Regardless of the source, a significant proportion of Russians have adopted a set of values that is not productive toward bettering themselves, their community, and their country. It is a nation of “me first” even if most of them are far from wealthy.
We could argue that the Russian people should have just overthrown their bad leaders decades or centuries ago. But part of that Russian psyche is not to challenge whatever power is in place. The Russians could not muster the social forces to take on that power. It is better to go along with the propaganda. At least until the leadership proves itself totally corrupt and inept. Then a big change happens. But the psyche is still in place: it will not challenge the new power too much. The new leaders will Russify the Russians in the same way to stay in power. And Russian history repeats itself. The same kind of social structure is created — with a few powerful Russians on top, most other Russians in the middle, and other ethnic groups at the bottom — with each revolution.
But we are not propagandized, right?
Those of us in the west can look at Russia to see how propaganda is been used for an elite to hold on to power. They can change the psyche of enough of the masses to continue that hold on power. We know it is possible to alter the human condition by artificial means.
Those of us who have read this far will be quick to point out that the rise of the radical right wing in the USA. We can see how propaganda has been able to grow and coalesce this demographic. We can see the effects of talk radio, Foxx News, and various internet sites. We will say: “Yep, these people have had their minds warped, all right.”
As if we have a clear head ourselves.
Do we really have a clear head? Bereft of any propaganda?
I have an example that suggests we are not the independent thinkers that we think we are.
The American Narrative
The standard American history is that the 13 American colonies were so brutally oppressed by the British government that they had no choice but to take matters into their own hands. The revolution had wide public support, so that is why it was successful. This then brought the greatest minds of this new country together to create the American constitution, the greatest possible way in how to organize a society. And the founding fathers were interested in life, liberty, freedom, and happiness for all its citizens. Driving out the evil British was the start of the USA showing the world of this new great way of democracy. We should be grateful for the wisdom and sacrifice of the early Americans.
The American national anthem and pledge of allegiance have been two fantastic propaganda tools to prop up this myth.
This myth is so instilled in the American psyche that you too have been affected by all this American propaganda!
Let me explain
I have been working on an alternative democracy since 1997. This “invention” came from my time as an active member of a Canadian political party between 1986 and 1992. I saw a lot of dysfunction as active party workers were civilly climbing over each other for more status, influence, and power within the party. I reasoned that this dysfunction eventually finds its way into government and society-at-large.
Somehow, I invented another system, which I have called Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG). It addresses all the dysfunction I was seeing.
You want a possible solution for all the political turmoil the USA and the rest of the world is going through? Of course, you do. I am offering you a possible solution.
Will you investigate it?
My four years of Medium history says, “Probably not.” Or maybe better said, “Most likely not.”
Just like the Russians who should have politically challenged Putin years ago, you cannot investigate my solution.
Is it not possible that you have been propagandized not to investigate this new way?
My main book is only a three-hour read. You will likely spend three hours, writing and reading, on Medium this week. And my book is a free read from my website. Why can’t you investigate?
If three hours is too much, I have a 15-minutes TDG essay. While the essay does not fully explain the TDG concept, it might convince you to read to read the TDG book. Then you can better see how all the pieces of the TDG fit together. Will you read the essay?
A few TDG naysayers say that building a new democracy will take time that most people do not have. I explain how the TDG only needs about 10 hours from its early builders. If you really want the TDG for your progeny's future, you can give up a few recreational activities. Yet my experience says you will struggle to investigate the above link.
James Rozoff is an outside-the-box thinker on Medium. One of his better articles is Normalcy Bias Is Keeping Us From Panicking (Unfortunately)
The trend lines are all quite clear, yet we still look away:
In this article, Mr. Rozoff explains another psychological force, called “normalcy,” might be at play why we can't go where we need to go. Briefly stated, normalcy is a psychological tendency that most of us believe that an imminent dangerous situation will somehow fix itself. We keep to the status quo, somehow paralyzed. We take serious action only when the danger gets more dangerous.
The USA has been in a dangerous political situation since the Republican primary of 2016. Most of us see the danger. Most of us are waiting for someone else to fix the problem.
I have interacted with Mr. Rozoff several times about the TDG. He has no interest in investigating an alternative democracy. From my perspective, he has become a victim of the same trap he is warning his readers about. He can see "normalcy" in others, but not in himself.
The TDG puts average Americans into an action plan. There is no normalcy. There is no complaining and blaming. There is no hoping and wishing the system somehow fixes itself. There is no belief that the polite elite, the wealthy, the academics will change the system for us. The TDG is about-----------action! About 10 hours a month of collaborative action!
Published on Medium 2023
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