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And no, Putin ( who loves money so much) is considered rather shrewd and "smart." But an "intellectual?" Hardly.
He was a scout from the KGB, KGB's school is very high intellectual level (well above the median). And I like read his interview, it is the speech of an intellectual man (of course, that something might be controversial).
Last edited by Maksim_Frolov; 04-11-2016 at 03:58 AM..
He was a scout from the KGB, KGB's school is very high intellectual level (well above the median).
Ha-ha. "The knights of valor and honor."
That's how the legend would like to have it.
In reality, not all of them were of that "intellectual level" - far away from it; some were downright of mediocre level. ( I know so, because I dealt with them enough.)
But that in itself wouldn't be a big problem; what was even worse, some of them were not of so noble character, while claiming to "work for good and protection of the motherland" and being loyal to the Soviet system. Some of them were the first ones to become turncoats, to become the "devoted capitalists" overnight and to rob their mentioned above motherland dry.
Putin is one of those types by the way.
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And I like read his interview, it is the speech of an intellectual man (of course, that something might be controversial).
Ha-ha one more time; and I like WATCHING his interviews.
His slimy nature shines through them, when every time he likes to COME ACROSS as "knowledgeable" and "in charge," while in reality he is using every trick learned from the books of American media/politicians/other talking heads. The art of answering the question for thirty minutes and at the end to not to give any definite answers. Like here for example;
A simple question - why with the global falling oil prices the price of gas in Russia is going up?
Did you catch any answer from him? Yet he comes across as sooooo thoughtful, so knowledgeable - one might mistakenly think he is an intellectual, lol. No, that's not an intellectual - that's a shrewd carpetbagger, using American classics, but in good old Russian - simply "торгаш."
And so are quasi-intellectuals people like Starikov and Kurginyan ( just an example.) That's not "intellectuals." Intellectuals - that's Sakharov, Kapiza, or, say, Ivashov.
But Putin ( and the likes) is well-presented I think in these few few minutes of Shnurov's video. ( Shurov's from "Leningrad" band you know...)
P.S. And speaking about that oil question, here is in comparison Lukashenko's approach to an attempt of his ministers ( or whoever they are) to raise the gas price in Belarus;
"So you, in order to cover the shortages of the oil refineries, are planning to get more money from the Belorussians, by raising the gas price, do I understand you correctly? This is not going to happen, you are not going to rob people - go and look at the assets of your companies for abilities to cover those shortages. Because if I go and find those assets myself, you won't be happy."
Plain and simple. This is the difference between a man for whom running the state in the most fiscally responsible manner is a priority ( Lukashenko) VS a man, whose priority is to let his buddies to have the loot - the more the merrier ( Putin.)
No, I think that I do not have any illusions about Putin. He's flesh and blood 90s. Nevertheless, he managed to establish some kind of order. And, of course, he answers on social questions as the classical policies. Nevertheless, his answers are often interesting.
The world wishes Putin would go. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen, short of an assassination.
Western world always wishes something bad for those who are not on their official friends list.
Fortunately the west is a small fraction of the world, so Russia can safely discard its "wish" list, and shove some of those back to the greedy evil western ass.
"I am an American who moved to Russia 15 years ago. The style of school and the results are dramatically different between the US and Russia. Courses in Russia are usually more advanced at any grade level and subjects are not made to be sugar coated as in the US so every time a Russian child moves to the US, even if not speaking the language, invariably that child is ranked at the top of the new US class within 6 months. There is more memorized information in Russian schools but it is filled with very useful fundamentals that aid in every field afterwards. Math for example is far advanced by the 4th grade , as are languages, literature, geography and history. As a small business owner the results of this more serious and direct education it is amazing how competent even the youngest job applicants are. A 19 year old here in St Petersburg is like a different species than American 19 year olds with far better unstanding of the world and a broad knowledge base. I have never even had an applicant who was not well informed about the arts, science, history, philosophy and geography. Education is taken much more seriously by both kids and family, the whole society is geared towards educated kids. They have easy access to the arts and cultural activities. Even the highest level of ballet or opera performance with $200 tickets is free for students and it is common to see the top balconies filled with kids in drama, classical concerts, opera and ballet every night of the week. They have easy access to museums, also free. There are 354 world class museums in the one city, all free to children and they go often. Kids just grow up with much higher expectations of educational achievement. And it really shows. In general education is broader here than back home in the US and the least educated (Russia has the highest percentage of university degrees of any country with 58.6% of the population with a university degree. Drop outs are rare. I doubt I have met anyone who does not have a degree of those 20 yo and up. Striking up a conversation with a 15 year old here and the US is a radically different experience. The result is an American parent suddenly realizes that we are creating generations of short charged less competitive young adults who are dangerously ill-prepared for life."
This is St. Petersburg of course, but you'll find throughout Russia "these circles" in each and every city, because Russian culture in general is geared towards "being intellectual," in spite of all the attempts of the late to eliminate this tendency and make it more mercantile, more materialistic and more geared towards "making money" as the US.
And no, Putin ( who loves money so much) is considered rather shrewd and "smart." But an "intellectual?" Hardly.
That is not to say that Russia is not a place of "peasants" and all kind of brutes, but overall, traditionally, Russian culture strives for being intellectual, not materialistic so much.
This is a fabulous post deserving of its own thread!
Russian attitudes toward education (which carry over in emigration, as well) remind me a lot of Asian attitudes (including Asian families in emigration). A strong education is a core value. I think this is still true in certain classes in the US, whose members tend to favor private schools, but the undermining of public schools since the Reagan era has not done the general public any favors. Plus, there's such a high number of single-parent households now (though that never made any difference in Russia), including those that are struggling to make ends meet and some dealing with substance abuse and other problems, that society is not willing or capable of supporting public school education.
Still, back in the "old days", households headed by single or widowed moms still produced kids who were pushed to study hard so as to have a good chance of rising beyond their childhood circumstances. Back then, though, college tuition was affordable via summer jobs and part-time work during the academic year, and scholarship and grant money was more available.
There are many factors undermining good schooling and upward mobility (which is a good motivator to do well in school) for American families. I wonder how Canada is doing in this regard.
Putin that's not a gift for Russia, that's punishment )))
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Originally Posted by Jermuk
Is there any part of Russia that´s not underdeveloped and backward?
Russia has developed vodka
industry.
And public performance (Perm, 12.04.2016)
Last edited by Wadym; 04-14-2016 at 09:15 AM..
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Nevertheless, his answers are often interesting.
