Jackal wrote:I was just thinking about how Russia is everything America is not: the average person there is at least somewhat cultured, well-educated, and good at math and science. Russia has a rich history of scientific and artistic accomplishments which are at least equal to America's.
What's your opinion about why America is the superpower and Russia is not? Does it simply come down to economics or are there any deeper reasons for America's dominance in the world?
There are several factors and causes and not the only one. I will illustrate:
America is also everything Russia is not.
America is a very practical culture with a practical mind and a great deal of common sense. There is also the inherent discipline inherited from the Germanic founders of the country. While science is not up to par among the general population, the business sense and common sense is superb. The Anglo Saxon Protestant work ethics is what keeps the country going. If an average Joe is not a good scientist, he will import scientists from overseas. Americans are problem solvers, optimists and good salesmen. The national character has a can-do note to it. People are taught to achieve and triumph., That leads to great disasters ,but also great achievements. All useless and impractical stuff is gotten rid off. The only underclass are those who are not willing to work their butts off, by and large. An average person has a dream, and that dream has a spark to it, He will go at it until it is achieved.
America also offers a large area with many states and many opportunities. It is not ravaged by foreign invaders that wipe out 20,000,000 people in four years. It has no dictators that murder 30,000,000 people and pass incongruous laws that throw the country into turmoil. People do have some power there as opposed to Russia where they have virtually none. Also, America has great location and a temperate climate. The country is not bombed routinely whenever every major war takes place. September 11 or the 'fascism' of George Bush or McCarthyism are child's play compared to Russia's disasters and tragedies.
So, from the beginning, Americans are just more fortunate, and that leads to a character or optimism and the belief that life is generally, a positive thing.
The Russian national character is impressive at first- sophisticated, good at math, well-read, philosophical and communal. But there are major flaws in it that lead to its downfall. First- there is an inherent dark gloom in their society and the Orthodox religion. It is a pessimistic culture. They do not really use God for help the way people in the Bible belt do. Religion is more ceremonial-like. They are also
not good at business and never had the Protestant formula of
work= American dream. It was a peasant society that had only barely entered the industrial age when the 1917 revolution happened. And the abundant and rewarding capitalism ( such as what they had built in, say, Japan) never entered Russia. After they had killed all their aristocrats, the serfs came to power, and these were bitter and uncouth and not very well educated and with no industrial/business acumen. They tried to create a system of education and a strange new economy of a never tried before variety, and were successful at
some things, but the people there cannot work independently and enjoy work; they have to be forced to work because work = serfdom in the Russian mind.
An average Russian is a philosopher, philologist, idealist, a long monologue man. A dreamer. An ideolog. Not a pragmatist. He is a talker. He talks the talk but does not walk the walk. Not much of a doer unless someone forces him to. Most people are very impractical and suffer from the same emotional unpredictability as many Latin cultures. They built the USSR on slave labor and idealistic foundations without thinking through the practicalities. Some things they succeeded in , most , they did not.
They could not sell their formula of "success" to the world because it simply did not work. People do not want to live in economies where stores are empty, where you have to stand in line daily to buy basic necessities, where things are drab, where salaries are low and where you have no right to travel abroad without a permit from the government. People around the world tried their socialism and saw that while it sounded good on paper, it did not function in real life.
The American capitalism, though, functions better. It is not perfect, but stores are full of food and any item you need -anything you want to buy- is there. Any job you want to have, well, you can have it. It helps individuals succeed better than the Soviet model.
Also, the English speaking people you meet through the Internet are somewhat of an elite. The average person you meet
online is sophisticated; not the one you meet on the street. The general masses are not as smart as you think. You must have never lived in a small Russian town. I have. Same rednecks as American ones with one major difference- US rednecks are still hard workers, by and large; average Russian people are not. Gloomy, dark men drinking themselves to death, beating up their wives, musing about the meaning of life while poisoning themselves with vodka. The elites there still refer to them as 'cattle'. Whereas, in the USA, the general masses are quite sophisticated, at least in what they do and are generally successful at what they do. They do not have a gloomy streak to them. People work and are forward looking. Even the reddest- necked US rednecks.
The Russians could sell their model for a while to all these 3d world countries, but soon ,they too began seeing through the smoke and mirrors. Many also did not like being dictated by the Russians. They introduced inferior technology, inferior products and they did not bring much money with them. People in many countries like money, you know.
Russia also did not offer a dream of emigrating to it and succeeding. They did not invite people to settle and give them citizenship en mass. The only time they did that was by invitng Germans when they were under their German czarina- Catherine. But they did not give Germans the nationality and treated them badly after Catherine died.
They generally do not want foreigners to come and live there. It is not a land of opportunities. Plus they can be racist as hell, too. Russia is for ethnic Russkies. America is a beacon of hope to many many people. People immigrate there, work hard and succeed by and large.Even with the US racism and all, you can still succeed, In Russia it is harder. Plus you can never become a "Russkiy" if you are not of the original Slavic stock even if you were born there. But anyone can become some kind of American, even if a hyphenated one.
So, America has endeared a lot of the world to it because of all these things. Russia did not. They tried to introduce their melancholy, dark and sentimental culture to other countries but only succeeded in doing it by force and mainly among the conquered nations- Uzbeks, Ukrainians etc. These are now banning the Russian language and trying to get rid of it, It has brought nothing practical to help people except maybe some aesthetic dreaminess and poesy.
America , otoh has a pop culture that is very attractive to masses and it has products that are on the back tail of it that sell as the culture is introduced. It is so wise and practical! First a movie about cowboys, then jeans with cowboy hats introduced and sold. Then a movie about the 50ies, then Coca- Cola is sold. Americans are presented to the world as jovial, positive, winners, and the US values look attractive to many many disadvantaged masses around the world. Most people who have gone on to America have achieved great things. Even as we are happier abroad, we are happier there, paradoxically because of American passports and citizenship. American degrees, and, well, many American cultural traits. Even succeeding at emigrating out of the US and settling as a privileged US citizen somewhere else as is also an American thing. I hope you understand what I mean. This is why I never advocate expatriating, but rather combining the US with other countries so that a complete life can be had.
But going back to the original question
The biggest reason after all the above ones was simply that the USA drove them into bankruptcy with the Arms Race. They ran out of money. They could not keep up with the American mighty military-industrial-economic complex and the US allies' similar establishments. Their empire also collapsed as people under them wanted independence and were tired of living in drab countries with no products in stores, lousy quality cars ( or no cars) and just a very boring and unfree life.
That's it, in a gyst.
