Greatness

Robert Amsterdam's blog cites an interesting piece by Nina Khrushcheva published online in the International Herald Tribune. She compares Gogol's Russia with contemporary Russia. Gogol according to Khrushcheva was a "a genius who depicted Russia as it is - a country of illusions and imagination, in which perceptions are more important than facts, where officials are corrupt and people are oppressed because they all live in a dream of empire." By extension, she argues that Russians still live in a dream of empire.

When coming to Russia, one of the common assertions made by the populace is that of Russia greatness. Russia was, is, and must be a great country. Greatness is invariably judged in terms of military might. Vladimir Putin has been emphasizing Russia's return to greatness and the media has been used to propagate a new sense of greatness in the population. However, if a country is truly great, does it continually have to affirm it? Is is truly necessary to repeat it endlessly. True greatness is recognized by all and it is not necessary for it to be repeated ad nauseum.

Nina Khrushcheva highlights that the Russian state is using every mean possible to preach the greatness of Russia. She writes:

So, how does Putin's Russia answer the question of what is to be done? It uses news broadcasts, entertainment programs, billboards and even childrens' cartoons to remind everyone that Russia is great.

Subway loudspeakers recite poems about the country's greatness. Posters call for strengthening the military.

Uniforms are in and patriotic youth organizations such as Nashi (Ours), successor to the Soviet-era Pioneers, are on the march. The economy is great, Gazprom is great, the military is great, Putin is great: The empire remains ours.

The question is what is Russian greatness? It is certainly not the economy nor is it the quality of life of most of its inhabitants. What if greatness was defined in improving the lives of all the citizens of Russia? Sadly, this is a rarely a criteria in defining Russian greatness.