Firstly, why I want to see the USA is I want to see the country built by its people, the country which these people turn to the world power. Secondly, I want to see and try to understand the key principles on which it is based first hand. Thirdly, I want to ruin stereotypes that I have about Americans and the Americans have about Russians. We, Russians, really can be intelligent, tolerant and friendly.
On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, declaring the 13 colonies to be free and independent of Great Britain. Freedom and Liberty are the basic ideals upon which the American nation was founded. Many years ago Pilgrim Fathers arrived to America to be free to worship God in their own way, to be free of fear and to start a new life. Many generations of Americans got used to be independent, free and make their own decisions. That’s why foundational to American democracy are the ideals of Freedom, principal of “government for people” and patriotism, which may also be observed in Russian society nowadays.
However, when talking about Freedom and Liberty, one should remember people in Russia have never been free. For hundreds of years they were property of their masters - noblemen. Only in 1861 the process of abolishing slavery began, but after the October Revolution in 1917 we again became the slaves of the system, fear and propaganda. Now freedom is also a fundamental ideal for the Russians. We are learning to be free, and Russian Legislative Power has incorporated the freedoms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the Constitution of Russian Federation.
Another important principle of American democracy, one of the world’s oldest democracies, is Freedom of choice. All Americans know this since their childhood. This is the ideal of Nation’s founders. They wanted to form a more perfect union. Perhaps, some people are right when they say that Electoral College should be changed, but it worked and still works. I should say frankly, in Russia the governors are far away from people and follow principle - “government for the governors”. As Russian electing system is not perfect, a criminal or a destructive person can be elected to either local or regional or even state government. It is not easy to take that powerful and often rich guy into trial. So we, Russian people, have to think and improve or change our system of elections. We should learn the experience of the US democracy.
I also want to say some words about American ideal – Patriotism. Russia is a patriotic country too. However, American patriotism is based on country’s history and traditions, as well as on real ideals, values and norms of American democracy. Russian patriotism is mostly based on love to our motherland, religion, history, culture and family traditions. We couldn’t be proud of our government or laws or political principles in the past and even now sometimes we can’t.
Finally, I would like to say that today America and Russia are both democratic countries and have many foundational democratic ideals in common, such as Freedom, Patriotism, etc. There are some differences too. However, despite the fact that American democracy has quite long experience and Russian democracy is only doing its first steps, one should remember that “…democracy is a process, not a destination.” We really want to learn all the best in American society and use it in our country. вернуться |
