Thread: Алексей Анатольевич Навальный (Blogger Alexei Navalny)

Originally Posted by Crocodile

There's no such thing as national values.

Is that really true? I would point out that Americans tend to value individualism over loyalty to the extended family/clan, for example. So isn't that an "American value"? (Although not in the sense of being exclusively American and not found at all in other nations -- only in the sense that it is characteristic of America [and some other countries], but is far from being globally universal.)

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Is that really true? I would point out that Americans tend to value individualism over loyalty to the extended family/clan, for example. So isn't that an "American value"? (Although not in the sense of being exclusively American and not found at all in other nations -- only in the sense that it is characteristic of America [and some other countries], but is far from being globally universal.)

Entrepreneurialism and a "money is king" attitude are American values, I think.

But Russia is really diverse and had a relatively extreme and unusual history over the last 100 years. Maybe because of all the changes they've been through, it's just hard for them to identify with a particular national value.

But for what it's worth I think Russians seem relatively romantic about relationships, really value poetry and literature, and try to help out their family members throughout their lifetimes. They think it's important to always "be there" for their friends, regardless what the friend needs. And I think they value education a lot.

I am comparing to other European countries, particularly in Northern Europe and thoaw things are what stand out to me.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Is that really true? I would point out that Americans tend to value individualism over loyalty to the extended family/clan, for example. So isn't that an "American value"? (Although not in the sense of being exclusively American and not found at all in other nations -- only in the sense that it is characteristic of America [and some other countries], but is far from being globally universal.)

I see your point. In my opinion, a value is a social property, not a national property. Like, a democratic society would value individualism and the society of slaveholders would value obedience. Using a raw approximation, at the same point in time the Northern Americans valued equality whilst the Southern Americans valued bourne supremacy. I think, a nation is too broad a term, which spans multiple societies, cultures and subcultures.