Comments on: Calendar Days http://allaboutlatvia.com/article/515/calendar-days/ Serpentine Percipience Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:55:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Rubashov http://allaboutlatvia.com/article/515/calendar-days/comment-page-1/#comment-1061 Rubashov Thu, 12 Jul 2007 06:18:00 +0000 http://allaboutlatvia.com/?p=515#comment-1061 <p>Interesting post, and a good point. My “host father” here in Moscow (about 70 years old and one of the few die-hard liberals left in Russia) told me that in 1953 when he heard on the radio that Stalin had died, he and two of his closest friends managed to sneak a bottle of vodka and celebrated under the greatest of secrecy. They still toast to his death every March 5. Too bad more Russians don’t do the same…</p> Interesting post, and a good point. My “host father” here in Moscow (about 70 years old and one of the few die-hard liberals left in Russia) told me that in 1953 when he heard on the radio that Stalin had died, he and two of his closest friends managed to sneak a bottle of vodka and celebrated under the greatest of secrecy. They still toast to his death every March 5. Too bad more Russians don’t do the same…

]]> By: Juan Manuel http://allaboutlatvia.com/article/515/calendar-days/comment-page-1/#comment-1060 Juan Manuel Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:21:57 +0000 http://allaboutlatvia.com/?p=515#comment-1060 <p>One of the reasons is patriotism, or more specifically, Russian patriotism. Russian patriotism or nationalism is full of contradictions. The embrace the legacy of their own history no matter if it is Lenin or Bulgakov, Stalin or Solzhenitsyn.</p> <p>Another reason is that the people who suffered under the regime where a minority. Ok, a minority of tens of millions, but a minority nevertheless. People thought that it would never happen to them. It is like death penalty in the States. Its supporters are convinced that they will never be (mistakenly) sentenced to death. </p> <p>Finally, even though most people suffered soviet scarcity and mismanagement, they were at the same time oppressed and oppressors. They disliked corruption and the official ideology, but benefited from it at the same time. It was part of the social mobility system.</p> <p>This being said, I am Spanish and have only been to Russia many years after the fall of the <span class="caps">USSR</span>.</p> One of the reasons is patriotism, or more specifically, Russian patriotism. Russian patriotism or nationalism is full of contradictions. The embrace the legacy of their own history no matter if it is Lenin or Bulgakov, Stalin or Solzhenitsyn.

Another reason is that the people who suffered under the regime where a minority. Ok, a minority of tens of millions, but a minority nevertheless. People thought that it would never happen to them. It is like death penalty in the States. Its supporters are convinced that they will never be (mistakenly) sentenced to death.

Finally, even though most people suffered soviet scarcity and mismanagement, they were at the same time oppressed and oppressors. They disliked corruption and the official ideology, but benefited from it at the same time. It was part of the social mobility system.

This being said, I am Spanish and have only been to Russia many years after the fall of the USSR.

]]> By: Pierre http://allaboutlatvia.com/article/515/calendar-days/comment-page-1/#comment-1056 Pierre Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:22:39 +0000 http://allaboutlatvia.com/?p=515#comment-1056 <p>Brilliant Aleks, very well said!</p> <p>My father-in-law commemorates every deportation day religiously, by flying the Latvian flag, which was burried in the backyard for near 50 years!...</p> <p>Pierre</p> Brilliant Aleks, very well said!

My father-in-law commemorates every deportation day religiously, by flying the Latvian flag, which was burried in the backyard for near 50 years!…

Pierre

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