Thread: Victor Bout - Russian Businessman (?) facing 25 years in US prison

Originally Posted by maxmixiv

I'd say more. The "Russians" (i.e. soviet people) were the same in those times. "We are big, we can, it makes sense. Therefore, we will do ..." The way of thinking changes, when your country turns into smaller , non-powerful one.

I did not have a lot to do with Russia in Soviet times, but I did visit Leningrad while the USSR still existed. I definitely did not get the impression that people had some kind of superpower superiority complex! They were basically nice but a bit standoffish and reserved. Both with my family, and later with my choir group, we were treated like aliens from outer space, essentially.

My impression is that Russians are quite philosophical and cynical, about politics both past and present. And that they miss the "feelgood" aspects of the USSR as an empire, I mean, the good positive things that nobody could argue were negative, such as good sports programs, supporting rural areas and improving living standards in Central Asia.

If you compare with the UK which used to have a large empire, people there swing from a *very* superior attitude towards other Europeans, the EU and certain ex colonial countries... to total self hatred for certain things that were done during colonial times, that they are rightfully ashamed of now. And extreme deference for the USA. It's almost as if the UK quite knowingly being the lapdog of the USA now, is some kind of punishment for messing up the empire.. Many Brits that (somewhat arrogantly) feel totally superior to Americans in terms of culture and education nevertheless that following the USA politically is the right thing to do. The Daily Mail reflects this viewpoint.

I think, with Russia things are a bit more similar to the USA: People can live their entire life there and not have any contact with foreigners, and perhaps they generally don't reflect much on how foreigners might percieve them or their country. But unlike Americans, Russians had big and dramatic changes taking place in their country, and were forced to question everything they believed in or at least took for granted. This never happened in the USA.

For the record I couldn't say that most Americans that I personally know have any superiority complex either. But all Americans I hae known well have been expats, not typical people. Likewise the Russians here, are probably not that representative of Russians in general - I mean, some are expats and some are very talented language learners.

Originally Posted by Hanna

I think, with Russia things are a bit more similar to the USA: People can live their entire life there and not have any contact with foreigners, and perhaps they generally don't reflect much on how foreigners might percieve them or their country.

I think it's almost direct opposite. Russians care too much about what people from other countries think, and that's a tragedy of the nation. They may say "We don't care", but it's more of presenting a strong facade. Combined with an overall negative attitude towards Russia, it leads to people feeling constantly underappreciated and misunderstood, putting them into perpetual defensive position. It was very much like that in the USSR too, except that official media generally lulled people into believing that all decent foreigners liked us and admired our achievements, and only bad foreigners were unhappy (their loss, right?).

I'd say that this kind of neverending stress of trying to achieve two incompatible things at once (being a strong and self-respected nation as Russians see it, and being accepted and admired by the world community) is bad for nation's health.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I think it's almost direct opposite. Russians care too much about what people from other countries think, and that's a tragedy of the nation. They may say "We don't care", but it's more of presenting a strong facade. Combined with an overall negative attitude towards Russia, it leads to people feeling constantly underappreciated and misunderstood, putting them into perpetual defensive position. It was very much like that in the USSR too, except that official media generally lulled people into believing that all decent foreigners liked us and admired our achievements, and only bad foreigners were unhappy (their loss, right?).

I'd say that this kind of neverending stress of trying to achieve two incompatible things at once (being a strong and self-respected nation as Russians see it, and being accepted and admired by the world community) is bad for nation's health.

Yes, I agree, that foreigners are often overestimated. Right method to deal with them is probable as depicted in film "Дежавю" Дежа вю (фильм, 198 — Википедия

I only tried to say, that at least for me (the kid back then in 1970s) it seemed natural that KGB or Soviet Army could act by any means to protect USSR citizens anywhere. But I am afraid it wasn't so even in those days.
Now our government can only observe and blame when some Russians get in trouble.