Category: Commentary, Critique, and Response

LETTER TO THE BBC – TODAY – IN RESPONSE TO “REQUEST FOR COMMENTS FROM KIEV”

(interesting insight) (class and diversity)

–“I live in downtown Kiev. I have for a year and a half. And it might be interesting to relate how I have been affected, at least intellectually, by the protests.

I think we could help both western journalists and the populace they serve (as well as various State departments) if they would understand one of the vast differences between Ukrainian (and Russian for that matter) cultures and our own.

Somewhat like the Nordic countries, but very UNLIKE the germanic and anglo countries, Ukrainians do not really consider themselves as participants in a class war. While status signals are about all we seem to seek to collect in the west, here in Ukraine, status signals are something you collect personally, but not on behalf of a class.

The near destruction of class warfare was perhaps the only benefit of the soviet system. It worked. Whereas, in the west, we are still trying, to create the ‘Aristocracy of Everybody’ that was the unstated promise of the enlightenment in its Anglo, Anglo-American, German and French versions.

The Ukrainian society is, despite its fracture along geographic lines, language lines, religious lines, and political lines, NOT fractured along class lines.

And without this constant class and status warfare by everyone, people don’t demonize each other. They aren’t frustrated with each other. And even as a low-trust society, they don’t necessarily mistrust each other. Instead, they think and act as an extended family.

As such there just isn’t all that pent up anger and frustration that we have in anglo countries – since it’s IMPOSSIBLE to create an aristocracy of everybody – many people become frustrated at the conflict between the promise of upper middle class life, and the reality that western countries form normal distributions. That just doesn’t happen here.

Ukraine is tribally heterogeneous, but not necessarily culturally heterogeneous. Certainly less different than Quebecois and Anglo Anglos in Canada. Even in Canada the conflict is more over the class differences between the French who were predominantly from the continental lower classes, and the english who were not. In america the conflict is increasingly between married protestants with two incomes that can maintain middle class status, and everyone else.

The Ukrainian people reserve their anger and frustration for the corrupt government and do not display it toward one another. In fact, they are extremely civil and loving (despite absurd levels of alcohol consumption and zero prohibition on fist-to-cuffs). They have a nobility and pride that we have lost in our constant great game of class warfare.

The uncomfortable truth we westerners (particularly in the Anglosphere) must learn to deal with is that homogenous small societies demonstrate tolerance for greater redistribution and intolerance for class warfare. And that diverse, large societies resist redistribution and encourage class and culture warfare. In small homogenous polities, the government is a vehicle for cooperation. In large heterogeneous polities the government is a vehicle for class and cultural competition.

I am not sure we should be so proud of ourselves in the Anglo world. Ukrainians formed a militia in 90 days out of hand-made armor, surplus military gear, motorcycle and hockey gear, baseball bats, pipes, and a few weapons that they stole from the police and military.

That little militia did more for their freedom than democracy ever had.

I think that’s what I learned from watching Ukrainians revolt.”–

Curt Doolittle

The Propertarian Institute

Kiev.