Maynard Lanting wrote:
Been doing a lot of reading here, and I’m confused as to Igor’s stance on
things. He seems to have a different side to pretty much anything that is
said, or at least be critical of it. However, anyone can do that. I could
question any decision that any government has done. This attribute is not
unique to Igor however, there are others here who I’ve tangled with and came
out with a better understanding of their position (ie. Mario), but what is
unique is the extent to which he puts down the USA. I would go so far as to
say that he almost flag-waves as hard as the Americans, the flag of Russia.
The comparison of America to Russia has come up and Igor seems to . . . . i
hate to say this as i may have read this wrong, like Russia better. Is this
true Igor?
Hehe, i knew someone would eventually come up with straight questions 
I don’t recall myself doing direct comparisions between US and Russia in
terms of ‘who is better’, however one may feel I was waving russian flag
somewhat. In fact what I said was not really out of desire to wave any
flag, russian or other. I believe that when people ‘wave flag’, they
should do it on honest grounds. I mean, if someone would wave american
flag claiming something what really is an undisputable american
achievement, you would not hear me criticizing. Unfortunately, I see a
lot of americans waving flag out of habit and out of that ‘innate
feeling of superiority’. Very often it is accompanied by obviously false
claims and blind dismissal of any achievements made by others. That
irritates me, not as russian but just as someone who knows the facts. So
it is feeling of justice what drives me.
I am not sure which exactly of my words you perceive as ‘putting down
the USA’. The case of nuclear bombing perhaps, but I think I tried to
make it clear that I do not hold whole country responsible for wrong
decisions made by some war-maniacs, of which US military has enough
(according even to americans speaking here). When you mention crimes of
nazis you don’t ‘put down’ modern Germany, do you? What else? The space
race? I simply told that yes US won the ‘Moon round’ yet Russia won
couple of other ‘rounds’ so there’s no ground to put down other
countries as in ‘only US has put man on Moon, where are others?’. Does
it mean ‘putting US down’? Or do americans feel being ‘put down’ unless
they are told ‘you are the greatest in everything’?
Russia’s technology was very good, but wasn’t this built on the
backs of the common man? They starved, their aspirations crushed, they
suffered cold for lack of energy for heat, vacations to a far away place
were not allowed . . . tell us how much better USA is than Russia at least
for perspective then.
True, to some extent. Not sure which times you’re talking about and you
also mix economical troubles with political ones. Industrial revolution
in USA and all other countries also was carried out by cruel
exploitation of laborers, only by capitalism rather than by state (as in
Russia). There was simply no other way. Before good living conditions
can be created for all levels of society (and capitalism can take a more
or less civilized form) a country must reach sufficient level of
productivity in economy. That takes hard work of ‘common people’ and
nations who did not do that are still suffering a lot more.
Speaking about political troubles, yes political system of USSR just
plain sucked without arguments. But I bet black US population did not
like political system here much either, up until 60-ties. Also keep in
mind that russians do not really limit their view of their history to
‘soviet’ Russia. It was just an episode which did not last long compared
to 1000 years of background. In case you don’t know, Russia before WW-I
was a decent country by standards of those days. It had functioning
parliament, much like british. It was exporting food rather than
importing it, citizens had freedom of movement, farmers owned their
land. Average salaries of workers were quite decent too. The long and
exhaustive wars, first with Japan and then with Germany created economic
background for bolsheviks to win. And by then communism was not even
considered ‘bad thing’, people actually thought they are going to have
the best country in the world, that was the goal. Many even believed it
is, for a while.
Oops, i did it again
Seriously, the reason why I’m talking so much about Russia is simply
because being russian I know history and life of that country a lot
better than any other country, so it is easier for me to argue using it
as example. If anything, i wanted to point out similarities between US
and Russia rather than ‘superiority’ of Russia. It is not superior, by
any means. It is not so retarded, either.
I don’t mean to be vindicative, but i’m sure its
occured to others, it has to me more than once, why don’t you go back then?
Why do you go to a country you find as hipocritical, bullying etc.?
Because what matters most to me is the ability of society to learn its
mistakes, correct them and go forward. Its ability to listen to its
people and even to foreigners. So far US as country and as society has
demonstrated remarkable ability to undo the evildoings of past and get
better, at much faster pace than other countries/nations. This is one
true great side of USA for which you can proudly wave your flag.
I have a theory for this phenomenon though. US is not really a ‘nation’
in traditional sense. It is community of people from all nations who are
just too impatient to wait for their own societies to change. Most of
time those people are better than ordinary, so US essentially reaps
cream from top of ‘human milk’ from whole world. Perhaps, the only thing
which really holds this society together is the very idea of ‘being
better’ than others, which is why there’s ‘innate feeling of
superiority’. One has to rememeber though, the feeling of superiority is
deceiving. At some point in time it becomes the weak point of society.
Remember the Great Rome.
I hope however that americans will eventually find the right balance
between national pride and respect to other nations. Perhaps it happens
through discussions like this, to some extent. I hope so, which is why I
am bothering here
I want to stress though, that i do like you, and you haven’t offended me,
its a free and open discussion, as the country is. I’m just curious. BTW,
if you don’t like it in the USA, come up to Canada, the climate is similar
to Russia (depends where you are), the streets are safe, the people are
friendly, and the quality of life is pretty good. You won’t get as rich as
you would in the US, you’ll probably not be able to afford a Lexus (there
are quite a few of those around however), but if you’re satisfied with an
Intrepid, your happiness factor will probably exceed that of someone similar
in the US. Oops, i did it. Flagwaving for Canada.
I reserve my right to do so. Even had couple of invitations 
Maybe i’m just way off topic. That could be. If so, sorry. Just give us a
short line then on your background then Igor.
I seriously appreciate your open-mindness and hope I expressed myself
clearly enough this time.
- Igor