Living conditions may represent my biggest challenge and likely struck me as the biggest difference from the West. Most kverteerya (flats) comprise rooms none of which much bigger than an American bathroom. Bedrooms, kitchen, hallway each no more than 80 square feet. All the windows are barred with steel, like most other windows around th city. Exposed plumbing and heating fixtures jut from the plaster walls; I showered with the space heater. My flat is housed in a rather dilapidated old green building. Walk through the street entrance into a parking-lot/courtyard, pass through the graffiti-covered and broken-down entranceway, turn the giant key in the antique deadbolt four full turns to the right, push the door gently and you're in. As you might imagine the hallways are narrow. Very narrow. There are clothes hanging from every exposed surface to dry. The bathtub doubles as the clothes-washing basin. The kitchen has no room for a pantry--groceries are bought daily from the market. A tiny sink, stove, and table round it out. I understand this flat is nice.
Nearly everything is different from the West in Russia: from the people to the architecture to the fauna to the food, I realize with every passing second that this place is barely short of a whole other world. It is bright outside all day and night long. St. Petersburg's "white nights" have kept me going on something like 8 hours of sleep in the past 72 hours. And today is just beginning [well it was when I began the first part of this post]. Fortunately alcohol is ever-plentiful. Beer and wine are comparatively priced (perhaps slightly more) than America. Last night even my Russian companions and I shared a steaming beer to prevent catching cold. It would have been better with honey, they told me. Vodka, however, is very inexpensive. But be prepared to drink at least half a bottle. Moving on to the people--not that this is particularly surprising, but for instance, women don't react similarly to situations in the same way that American women react to similar situations. Last night we walked for hours in the rain without umbrellas just to make the most of the night. We weren't alone. Hygiene and house cleaning is different. I can't quite describe it correctly, but perhaps it is that the purpose is not health, sanitation, or cleanliness, but rather proper working order.
Fortunately for me I am still in good health (although I am not sure how long that will last with the extremely high sodium content in all the food). My spirit is tempted to fade however. It is very difficult for me to stay positive in the face of so much social stress especially with the food choices available. I realize that the operational goals of the mission are dependent on my acculturation and happy companionship, but with very few comforts of the West I am constantly tempted to jump ship: shell it out on a Western-style hotel (even though I still can not be sure how Western it is). I'm staying strong, however, for now. For now.
Why Build Foreign Democracies?
Strong Democracies support the national security not only of the United States, but of the whole world. I'll explain this in terms of psychology: most people are in many important ways fundamentally similar. Natan Sharansky' book, The Case for Democracy, outlined an argument for freedom that relied on this belief. Essentially, people everywhere want the same things: peace, security, satisfaction, etc. Free societies will support these ends because people can act toward achieving what is in their best interest. Wars are truly not in the general interest of people. Free societies are safer because people will choose to be safe. When confronted with a simple choice between death and life, in a free society people will choose life.
I can already hear everyone shouting at me: "But they're different! If those people are free, they will all want war--they'll want the destruction of the United States and all the civility and culture of the West!" This doomsday scenario is actually a perfect example of the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). Look it up on Wikipedia. Don't feel bad if you feel this way, but you are not looking at the whole picture. We all have a tendency to overemphasize the role of the person and under-emphasize the power of the situation. It's impossible to judge what people who are living a fear-based society would do if they were living in freedom. But why would you jump to the conclusion that they are somehow fundamentally different from us? I think people see themselves in a wholly separate manner from the way they see anyone else. Just assume with me for the moment that other people want the same things from life that you do. They want to survive, they have fears, they want to succeed, they want some modicum of happiness, etc. What would the world look like? Probably very similar to the world that we already live in, right? People are placed in different situations. It's hard to imagine someone who would want an ultimately different set of goals in life. And everyone wants to be free. And everyone wants to be safe. And war does not fit into this picture at all. Free societies support everyone's security.
Aside from our own collective security, some have mentioned that strong liberal Democracies have a moral duty to spread liberal Democracy to other countries. I find this argument weak so I won't go there. But you certainly can.
And aside from both of those, liberal Democracies support the progress of science, industry, and economic development. If you think these are bad, then A) I feel sorry for you, and B) ignore this argument and take one of the above. Free societies liberate the innate creativity, ingenuity, and curiosity of humanity. This is what fosters development in these areas.
Proposing "Conditioning Democracy"
After nine years in the Gulag, Natan Sharansky might have conclusively refuted the self-evident nature of inalienability of Liberty in the USSR. Instead, he emerged triumphant, voicing the universal appeal of freedom in his seminal book, The Case for Democracy. With the moral clarity of America at stake, Sharansky writes about the inevitable rise of freedom and Democracy with moral authority like Andrew Jackson spoke about Manifest Destiny and like Karl Marx wrote about Communism: people in every country yearn to be free, and non-democratic governments prohibit this freedom. However with growing resentment toward the War in Iraq, criticisms of the expenditures of the United States on democratizing foreign countries have grown vociferous. The United States is past due for an policy overhaul: Americans want to maximize the impact of every resource allocated to promoting Democratic initiatives. John Prados’s Safe for Democracy identifies five tools that the United States has utilized to promote Democracy: behavior examples, diplomacy, economic sanctions, military force, and covert operations (propaganda). Each of these tools relies on Sharansky’s argument in a large measure for their success; each tool requires that people yearn for their own Democracy.
“Conditioning Democracy” proposes Democratic Propensity Theory to shape the much-needed policy overhaul. With a unique focus on individual endorsement of Democracy, “Conditioning Democracy” relates psychological principles to Democracy initiatives. The United States is missing a sixth tool from its toolbox: conditioning people for Democracy, creating the yearning for freedom from within individuals. Exposing individuals from emerging Democracies to successful Democratic deliberation experiences increases the individual’s propensity for Democratic government. Conditioning Democracy proposes policies that incorporate professional “operational” psychologists into missions that “condition” denizens of emerging Democracies, whole communities at a time, to accept the potential both for participation in Democratic government and Democratic rule of law. If policy-makers consider the evidence that I will present in “Conditioning Democracy,” new policy should both more efficiently use resources and perhaps also save lives.
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6 comments:
It's me again.
How long are you going to be in Russia? I'm getting more of a long term(ish) feel from your post-travel writing that I didn't really get from your pre-travel ones.
Originally being from India (and having visited quite a few times, most recently in Dec. 2005), I can definitely relate to the extreme (although not necessarily bad) differences between the Western world/culture and the rest of the world's. The way people act and interact is usually the first thing to hit me. Then, once we get to wherever we're staying, the alternate living situations/conditions become really apparent (again, not bad, just different). At first, it's overwhelming, but slowly you acclimate.
Were you able to figure out how to get a good number of people to take the DPS? If so, what solution did you come up with? If not, what's still holding you up?
I'm looking forward to reading more about your trip.
Good luck,
Hersh
Hey Paul, it's Miss Lisa, this is incredible, love your post and your accurate description of living quarters, haven't read the previous posts yet, but I can't wait. It's amazing what a little government can do huh??? just being free and fighting for freedom is evident. Keep posting, I am reading, and keep up your spirit along with your safety.
Miss Lisa
D needs to know how things are.
m needs to know how things are. Please respond to this comment as soon as you can.
Hey,
V needs to hear from you too. Please email as soon as you are able.
Love you
V
Hersh--I don't want to say exactly when I leave, but I'm not staying long-term this time. Maybe later this year or next after I have more prelimiary data (and hopefully more funding and a book contract) I'll be back to collect more data and institutionalize some DD groups.
I can relate with your India experience. Things are looking better now, but it is definitely some kind fo culture shock.
Still don't know how to get a good number of people to take the DPS... I think asking strangers is a bad idea... Perhaps I shall contact an organization over here that oes social research and see how they get things done.
Thanks Miss Lisa!
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