What Russia Thinks: Revisited

Can we please revisit what the more restrictive regimes think of the West?

It isn't really that complicated to understand though we mostly don't want to admit it when we do. Most of us lounge in a dream state with our nice little flag fluttering out our suburban window. The reality, however, is that there are totalitarian regimes which have very specific and cogent critiques of the West. Russia is one of those regimes.

There is a reason that Russia does not want to be the US. It isn't a random fanatical choice. They may even understand that freedom is a great thing - there's no reason to think they don't. What they obviously understand - and what most thinkers understand - is that freedom was an experiment. Maximizing liberty for an entire populace under the assumption that "all people are created equal" was trial run. It wasn't the norm historically. Many of our esteemed Founding Fathers didn't want the "right" to vote for all. The electoral college was a compromise in the face of that.

But let's take the "created equal" out of the equation. Most scientists fall on the side of nurture anyway, don't they? The truth is that whether its nature or nurture, it is what it is. We end up criminals and we go to jail and there really isn't a "genetic" defense in court.

And the freedom experiment in its current form has failed and it is probably a combination of nature/nurture.

Allowing everyone to vote and have opinions and read/digest the news just hasn't worked. For a lot of people - maybe thirty percent - its ideal. I get that. It's a great hope and idea. But the truth is that most people haven't adapted well to a system of liberty. They can't make their own choices. And that's what liberty means.

Oh wait, yes they can make choices ... They destroy the planet, shoot each other, get fat, complain on social media, and appear collectively as a moron circus.

Trump could potentially win the nomination and the election while defending himself in court, and all this for one simple reason. The people voting have no intellectual skill and yet are allowed to participate in the Democracy.

Does this mean I hate democracy? No. It simply means it didn't work. Russia knows this and perhaps for their own selfish reasons are right in pointing out that the West is infecting the globe with dumbness and a lack of accountability.

Did I do a scientific study on this? Did I fly to Moscow and write a Psych Today article on the political reactions of that particular region of the world? No. I also am not going to read the bible anytime soon. Some things I just know. And I can look around and tell you that the great experiment, though full of good ideas, simply failed.

Americans are one of the least happy and least healthy people on the planet. They have the most freedom and, for a few, freedom has worked well. But for the masses it has been a catalyst for laziness, false confidence, rambling mouths, and for a steady decline into the I-hate-all-the-stupid-people-but-me culture.

Do I need to interview Putin to understand this? No. I'm not worried about how much of this he understands or how much of it the Russian people use to justify their nationalism. It is obvious and it is partially correct. It is the kind of critique we need to take without all of the normal defensive fallacy-based reaction. Instead of demonizing Russia for their thinking (though maybe we have to for their imperialism) and for their critique hitting home, maybe we should just learn to think and self-analyze. We screwed up. That's the only thing left to say about freedom.