Russia or America II ?

[Olya008]

This is an outdated topic, but regarding the collapse of Communism/Socialism, or whatever you choose to call it (either way, it's ridiculous), America kind of put a strain on the worldwide economy and "forced" the Soviet Union to turn away from it's economic system because they "feared" the Domino Effect...exactly how accurate/realistic was this "fear"? Or was it more like a "this world isn't big enough for two superpowers" type of attitude?

My family moved to America right before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and I have heard different personal experiences since then. Some people look at Russia and the other republics from a distance and insist that it is a better place, or at least will be after the transitional period is over (which is understandable). But from a more personal standpoint, we have friends and family there, whose houses, along with every other house on their street, have been bought by one individual. All of these houses are eventually torn down and one massive mansion stands in its place. Basically, if you can find a place to live, you're one of the lucky ones.

Along with this, the culture is almost completely lost. It's like, "what else can we do to seem more Americanized??"...a little sad, mostly because it is..was such a rich culture.

Just makes me wonder..if and when the country comes out of transition, will it be Russia, or will it be America II?

[Nonson]

Resource-Colony Prime.

[Disa]

Sorry for bad English

You live in America too long! In early 90' Russua wanted to be America 2, of course. But not now. Today we feel that we live in Europe and don't wanna be like America. We have got our own culture, not so great as it was in Soviet Union, but we have it.
Now we see not only good side of the USA, but negative side too.
In your country everything is too complicated. Too many foolish (sorry) laws. One part of americans lay information against other part.
Broke your leg in supermarket? It's OK, you'll get several millions dollars.
If you don't have medical insurance, you can die because medicine is too expensive.

Education? Hmm...
Some americans can't read!!!
Ask somebody where is Saint-Petersburg. He will say it's american city. Tell him that there is Saint-Petersburg in Russia too. What will he say? "Wow, cool, I didn't know that".
Ask him who is Raskolnikov, Tolstoi, Pushkin, Ivan Grozny etc.
Ask what is sinus, cosinus, Volga...
Who won WW2? USA, OF COURSE!!!!!


SORRY FOR THIS MESSAGE, but I can't hear that
we wanna be more americanized!!!

Sorry for my bad English.

Olya, izvini, chto ya tut tak rezko viskazalsya, no mnogie russkie dumayut tak, kak ya skazal.
Konechno, to chto Amerika takaya plohaya )), sovsem ne znachit, chto Rossiya takaya horoshaya. U nas OCHEN' mnogo svoih problem.
BTW kogda ti poslidnyi raz bila v Russii?

[Olya008]

Disa, thank you for your reply. Of course I do not claim to know what the people of Russia are thinking about America..but I have heard the opinions of people who live there and of people who went back to visit, and that's the impression that I got...
That's exactly what I was talking about..American culture is nothing compared to the culture that I used to know in the Soviet Union, and it's a shame that it seems to be disintigrating.

Disa-ya v Rassii ne bila slishkom dolga..izveni za to shto ya obidela tebya..no ya za shto kupila, za to i prodala. I have heard many times about how the culture has changed and reminds people of America..and even though I don't live there, it angers me, for the same reason it angers you...American culture is NOT all that great...education Is ridiculous and the healthcare IS a little scary, but not only that, the society is basically sickening. Well in any case--thanks again for taking the time to reply!

-Olya

[oca]

Disa:

You are very correct when you say some Americans can't read. I'll bet you I know who they are. They are mostly new immigrants, legal or illegal.

Would it surprise you to know that we have foreign residents that have been here a lifetime and yet they can’t hardly speak English or not at all? These type of residents cling to small ethnic communities and very seldom will interact with the rest of the population

As far as our education goes, yes, I agree with you, it does require a tune-up, and yet, Americans keep getting the lion's share of Nobel prizes. The United States lead the way in modern technology, and most things that you see around you, probably came or originated in America. Think about it.

Are you familiar with American writers, composers or anything that identifies our culture? I bet not.

Do we know about sinus cosines, etc? You bet.! The living proof of that, is that we have been to moon and back. Have you?

I can go on and on, but what is the point? Our country is not even 300 years old (I'll skip the 1776) and yet we have achieved so much in such a little time. Can you name another country that has climb to a world leadership position in less than three centuries?

I know we have a lot of internal problems, we are working at solving them, but we are working for sure.

Olya008 misses his/her Russian culture a great deal. I would too, the lesson learned is to make the new home better that when you found it, and to retain your original culture as much as you want, for it is up to you to pass it on to your children. To become more Americanized is a fact of life, for you do not want to stick out like a sore thumb, "while in Rome do as the Romans do" etc., etc.

What I am saying is: Don’t forget your roots, but don't forget to assimilate the new culture, for that is the prize you pay for leaving your home.

Does it make sense to you?

[This message has been edited by oca (edited 18 October 2000).]

[Olya008]

Oca-thank you...

But I have one tiny thing to add..about America leading the way in modern technology, a lot of that can be attributed to the amount of money that goes toward reaserch..not just American education.

-Olya

[oca]

Olya008:

No matter how much money you put into research, if you do not have a solid education base, you are not going to produce/create anything worthwhile.

Money by itself means nothing, you must have the basic core of education and critical thinking skills in order to achieve the plateau that American professionals have obtained.

Thank you for your kind words.


Oca

[This message has been edited by oca (edited 18 October 2000).]