The things they don't tell you about in school...

Another title for this entry could be "Why Hegemony Matters." If you look up hegemony in the dictionary, you'll like find that it comes from the Greek for leadership, and that it's generally used in terms of parties or countries that are trying to exert power. It's a decent definition, but one that doesn't quite encompass the whole meaning, as I was taught.

Hegemony is much more than leadership. Most of the time, it carries with it a racial connotation, though that's not a "must have." It involves a people who feel they have a right to certain lands, or that certain peoples are in fact part of their people. It's a difficult concept for American's to get their heads around-- small wonder, when our society is so scattered that the idea of not having an overarching identity is heralded as a landmark and the "strength of the nation." Europe has a similar loathing of self, but it's in constant conflict with the very ancientness of the land-- the French, the Germans, the English are all people who have existed in their spots of land for a very, very long time. Those of you who have some familiarity with the time between World War I and World War II will have hint of what I aim for. Many of Hitler's earlier conquests, including the Rhineland and Austria, were achieved because of this idea. Both lands were seen as inherently German-- people, land, culture, language.

However, of all the nations in all the world, perhaps none have such strong ideas of self and hegemony as China and Russia. China I'm leaving out of this particular entry, because it seems that people have finally realized that the Chinese are very much self-determined: they are Chinese, and with that comes race, religion, culture, language and history that directly affects the Chinese psyche of past, present, and future. Hopefully the Olympics will showcase some of the lighter, more awe inspiring moments of Chinese history, and the beauty that still remains in the culture.

Russia, on the other hand, is another story. By now, many of you will have heard that Russia has entered the sovereign territory of the Republic of Georgia, on the night of the Olympic opening ceremonies. This was in response to rebel forces which were attempting to reclaim Georgian territory which they feel is theirs, while maintaining that they are not Georgian. The whole thing is a bit of a mess, but there's one thing that people keep missing. The simple fact of the matter is that NOT everyone thinks like an American. In fact, only Americans think like Americans. We have enough in common with Western Europe that there are usually few problems, but beyond that? Russia is a great country-- they've had culture longer than most, they have their own identity which is totally different than ours. That's not to say it's good or bad, it simply IS. Yet most of the world is going into the situation trying to deal with it like it's just another western country that got a little power hungry. That's not it at all-- it's a matter of culture, and place, and language, a yes a touch of race. It is something that we can't ever really understand. I've studied English culture and law and myth. That doesn't mean I understand it like someone who was raised in it, who has indisputable blood ties to the very core of understanding that exists within it.

As an analogue that more of my audience is likely to understand, I offer you... the cowboy. Who outside of America understands the American symbol of the cowboy loping over the hills, the "up by your bootstraps" mentality? To them it's John Wayne-- realistically, John Wayne just did it best for film. That idea, that lone wolf help others mentality is old, as old as the country itself. And you don't have to be a genius to figure out that the rest of the world doesn't get it. They have no reason to. That's why it's the "American myth" not the "Human myth." Does it participate in the human myth? Sure. The same is true of Russia. Almost more than you'd think-- 3rd Rome is part of both of our psyches. Along with that goes a whole lot more that is inherently Russian.

I have pride in my country, I do. Despite the fact that I'm taught I must loathe it, despite the fact that there is a lot worth loathing, I have affection and pride for my country. Russia was told by the world to loathe the USSR. Loathe it I'm sure they did. But the USSR wasn't Russia, not really. So how exactly does one deal with a people who have a wholly unique psychic understanding of themselves? It isn't by appealing to the things that the West holds dear. Russia is neither west nor east-- they are Russia. It's just the way it is.