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The Mysterious Russian soul
Russians look like Europeans, but they have some psychological features that made the whole World speaking about the "Mysterious Russian soul". So let's work it out from the "inside point of view" drawing all the knowledge I have. May be it would make it clearer a bit.
Recently in the "New York times" I had read an article concerning the Weber's book the “Protestant ethic". The article was about the way Weber had been explaining the USA uprising through their religion views.
That made me thinking about Orthodoxy, about Russian orthodoxy especially, because there are other Orthodoxies too, and they differ a lot. I was trying to find out what was so special in the Russian one. I was trying to understand the famous "Russian way" - that's a kind of problems I like the most, something highly theoretical and insoluble. ;-) - But it’s the combination of Jewish and Russian features I have, isn’t it?
So one of the differences was that the independent patriarch (head of the church, like the pope) institute was repealed by Peter the Great.
Since that time Russian tsar' got a church head simultaneously, the spirit power was combined with the mundane one. That seemed me a reason, since the state got overpowering. That might be a reason. But then I learned that in Great Britain it was the same, the king was the church head too. So that could not be the only reason.
Another reason (as I had recently read) was the Russian lands spread. There had never been lack of lands (like in Europe); there had been lack of people, working on that land. That was the initial reason for the slavery, thus royal, state servants had to be rewarded not with empty lands, but with some people to work on it, to produce goods. Instead of human value increase that caused slavery which had led (as it usually does) to human live denomination.
Hence the only exit for people was religion. But it was state controlled too, thus it was helpless in any aspects of mundane life. (Besides it was said once "God can't be regarded at as a Ministry of Emergency". That is 100% true whichever religion you'd accept.) But simultaneously it resulted in a mysticism bloom. Any talented person being not able to get realized in mundane life, did it TALENTED in spiritual life. The perfect example here is our famous Dostoevsky (he is always mentioned when Russian culture is spoken about. But fancy he had to be shot in the very beginning of his active life; he was a revolutionary’s group member. The very last moment, when he was standing in front of the soldiers, his sentence was vacated. Certainly after such an experience a person would became a great spiritual leader if he had been talented, at least it would affect his spirit a lot. I think that experience led to the main question of the “Crime and Punishment" arising: "does anybody have a right?”)
So that all resulted 1) in mysticism bloom 2) human life
Denomination. It had been happening centuries of years along and resulted in 1)traditions of eternal state subjection, Great Folk patience (but Great folk smartness too - one has to be very smart to swindle the state together with all its structure - a good training that was) By the way, if looking from this point of view it’d be interesting to state the etymology of the word «MIR», which means «the homeland society» and just «no war simultaneously - reasons of this phonetic equality are to be very interesting) 2) people that occasionally got power ( by their breed right for example) would deny to leave their places and to respect common people. What is the use of any respect if they would have to get it anyway? At the same time those who had already got their uprising, would never let this "natural right" leaving them and passing to others actors. Well, they knew well what the life is.
How such a state system could be regarded at in other ways except for deep disdain? One of the most well-known features of Russian Intelligentsia (a special Russian word too, no other people had it, it was not just educated clever people), so one of its main features was a light disdain to any state power, a denial to collaborate with it - it was regarded at as «mauvais-tone» sometimes. Of course it seemed a bit ridiculous but these people were well-thought that no state authority would ever pay attention to any their ideas, warnings. Due to this there was no use any intelligent person ever bother about any general state problems. They’d prefer staying aside looking at the undergoing things while smiling - but what else they could do? This feature of intelligentsia was perfectly reflected by famous Chekhov’s plays. All his characters are longing to fly to somewhere away, behind the clouds to, over the horizon while staying absolutely helpless in common life. Currently this society part has almost been disappeared. For about a century they used to live with the former luggage rest but it has almost been over now.
They had proved to be absolutely helpless. As long as the state press was hard it caused resistance. It made that resistance a kind of a «question of honor». But in the current conditions new people would follow the way which had been proved to fail. So the old people would die soon and there would be no new intelligentsia generation. Only books would remind us about it.
So indeed it'd be difficult for any Western country to understand Russian soul, how such a crafty people could be ruled by such a rascal’s collection as our power is. This has been proved many times by the Euronews reports. Indeed if we had looked a bit too different, if we were colored for example or had other anthropologic features, it would be clear then that we differ Europeans a lot. May be the famous Kipling’s «White man burden» would extend on us too, then.
But another wind of this Russian soul Mystery is formed by peculiar notorious so called «Dutch illness». It’s the situation when extras in natural resources prevent any other society parts development. Since ancient times Russia had never been in lack of lands. There was a shortage of people cultivating it. Thus in case the military people surrounding a chief were rewarded, they got not only lands in reward (like it was in Europe), but they were rewarded by people working on this land. The state military (or just administrative) power made those land-cultivating people to stay forever bound with that land. So their masters got omnipotent. And the state had to control these omnipotent master and thus it had to become overly strog. And with no doubts that supposed the strict subordination too.
That could not be done without powerful state political censorship apparatus. But it’s known that any power corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In course of long period of time that state overpowering had become just inborn, preventing anything going out under the state observation. Thus I think that the Russian language is the only one in which such expressions as «that’s not for phone conversation (mail corresponding etc) » would go with no comments. Anybody would get them.
Recent time successes made by Russian emigrants in any field of life (especially in the criminal one) prove this idea perfectly.
There was an anecdote of perestroika times: Japanese business men came inspecting some Russian industries. By his visit end there was a press-conferences. So he was asked how he finds Russian staff. He answered: «Oh, you have wonderful children! But if anything is done by hands....»