4 ms·

Man this is horribly sad.

by wazoox 5y ago

anovikov 5y ago
Well, i'm a political emigrant. I left Russian because i believe it's a bad country. Obviously i don't want my child o grow up Russian (and it works, at the age of 10 she can't read Russian at all and speaks it as a so-so foreigner, but has fluent English and Greek).
- United857 5y ago
  That's a strange mindset to actively deny this culture and heritage to your kid, much of which has nothing to do with modern Russia or the Soviet Union. My parents fled Communist China but they still made sure I learned Chinese language, history and culture. Nowadays I disagree with much of US and UK politics but I still want my kids to learn English and be well versed in classic literature, etc.
  - anovikov 5y ago
    Well, in your case you have another "good" country to identify with: Taiwan (although i'm sure learning Traditional writing system solely for this end is too much). We have no "good" Russia. Moreover, we are not descendants of any "good" culture (such as those who brought us famous Russian classics): they were all either brutally killed or pushed out of the country. We are the descendants of illiterate peasants who came to power in 1917 and killed everyone else - we have no good heritage behind us, apart from the heritage of Communism, which while did some cool things to be proud about, was inherently evil - to be proud of Soviet achievements is like being proud of Nazis because they built cool autobahns.
- Viliam1234 5y ago
  It would be nice if there was a Russian-speaking community with Western values, out of reach of Russian government. But realistically, if you taught your kids Russian, it would probably just expose them to Russian values and propaganda of Russian government. I guess you did the right thing, but it's sad that you had to.
  - anovikov 5y ago
    Exactly, most Russian-language content is the pro-Putin one because he's supported by almost everyone. Imagine U.S. where the MAGA crowd was not ~45% but about 85% of society, and kept that way for generations - would you be still proud to be American? I'm even glad Trump got to be a thing. At least it's not difficult to explain what's going on in Russia anymore.
  - anovikov 5y ago
    And it's not about reach of Russian government. It's about being Russian itself. I have nothing against Putin - he's just riding the wave (just like Trump did not invent the "American idiot" - he's just riding him). I see the very essence of being Russian as evil. Just take Communism: it's not a Russian invention. It's invented in Germany by a bunch of mostly Jews. But it didn't stick in either Germany of Israel - Russians wholeheartedly embraced it as an excuse to destroy their pre-existing society (which was mostly ran by foreigners - Germans mainly - Russians been mostly in lower classes - and yet it was evil, too), set on a path to destroy the world.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    I suppose the "White Russian"[§] emigré / exile community of the 1920s and 30s in cities like London and Paris kind of died out... Most of them were nobility anyway, so at a guess their descendants might be too snobbish to mingle with GP in any case. ___ [§]: Not "White Russia" as in Byelorussia / Belarus; "White" as opposed to "Red".

Man this is horribly sad.

by wazoox 5y ago

Man this is horribly sad.

Well, i'm a political emigrant. I left Russian because i believe it's a bad country. Obviously i don't want my child o grow up Russian (and it works, at the age of 10 she can't read Russian at all and speaks it as a so-so foreigner, but has fluent English and Greek).

United857 5y ago
That's a strange mindset to actively deny this culture and heritage to your kid, much of which has nothing to do with modern Russia or the Soviet Union. My parents fled Communist China but they still made sure I learned Chinese language, history and culture. Nowadays I disagree with much of US and UK politics but I still want my kids to learn English and be well versed in classic literature, etc.
- anovikov 5y ago
  Well, in your case you have another "good" country to identify with: Taiwan (although i'm sure learning Traditional writing system solely for this end is too much). We have no "good" Russia. Moreover, we are not descendants of any "good" culture (such as those who brought us famous Russian classics): they were all either brutally killed or pushed out of the country. We are the descendants of illiterate peasants who came to power in 1917 and killed everyone else - we have no good heritage behind us, apart from the heritage of Communism, which while did some cool things to be proud about, was inherently evil - to be proud of Soviet achievements is like being proud of Nazis because they built cool autobahns.
Viliam1234 5y ago
It would be nice if there was a Russian-speaking community with Western values, out of reach of Russian government. But realistically, if you taught your kids Russian, it would probably just expose them to Russian values and propaganda of Russian government. I guess you did the right thing, but it's sad that you had to.
- anovikov 5y ago
  Exactly, most Russian-language content is the pro-Putin one because he's supported by almost everyone. Imagine U.S. where the MAGA crowd was not ~45% but about 85% of society, and kept that way for generations - would you be still proud to be American? I'm even glad Trump got to be a thing. At least it's not difficult to explain what's going on in Russia anymore.
- anovikov 5y ago
  And it's not about reach of Russian government. It's about being Russian itself. I have nothing against Putin - he's just riding the wave (just like Trump did not invent the "American idiot" - he's just riding him). I see the very essence of being Russian as evil. Just take Communism: it's not a Russian invention. It's invented in Germany by a bunch of mostly Jews. But it didn't stick in either Germany of Israel - Russians wholeheartedly embraced it as an excuse to destroy their pre-existing society (which was mostly ran by foreigners - Germans mainly - Russians been mostly in lower classes - and yet it was evil, too), set on a path to destroy the world.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  I suppose the "White Russian"[§] emigré / exile community of the 1920s and 30s in cities like London and Paris kind of died out... Most of them were nobility anyway, so at a guess their descendants might be too snobbish to mingle with GP in any case. ___ [§]: Not "White Russia" as in Byelorussia / Belarus; "White" as opposed to "Red".