Freedom is an issue that I have dealt on before. It is the reason that I got an e-mail last night that lambasted me for even questioning the freedoms in America and comparing them to Russia. The fact that I consider Russia a freer country infuriated this person. They could not comprehend that Russia was not a cesspool of evil lies, corruption, mafias, communism and deceits. They also admitted that they based much of their assumptions on what their local and national media tells them and that blogs like mine are what is tearing down the fabric of societies all over the world…
So as I sipped my cup of coffee and considered my thinking’s this morning about why I feel freer in Russia…
The other day I watched a group of young boys playing army. They had sticks and their fingers as guns. I was walking the dog and Boza took an interest in the 7 or 8 boys running all around and shooting each other, then playing dead. Of course arguments ensued when someone did not want to die when they were suppose to…
I really do not know what two sides where at war with these kids and really do not care. I know that when I was little we played cops n robbers, cowboys n Indians and Army (Germans against Americans). This was a normal fact of life and I have never seen any harm in playing cowboys and Indians…
Boza and I were play shot several times by these rampaging renegades playing in a fantasy world. Obviously we looked like an invader of some type and that we watched them, drew their attention upon us and Boza and I paid the price with imaginary bullets. I acted like I was shot and that made them happy but of course Boza ignored the barrage of bullets that should have ended his existence. Which caused them to increase their firepower upon a super dog that would not falter at their efforts to dispose of him. Boza and I left before the bazookas came out of hiding… 🙂
This is common play in Russia just as it use to be very common play in America before we became scared of our own shadow…
Yesterday I watched two videos on YouTube made by a man who was filming trains at a train station in Boston, Massachusetts in America. He was traveling by train and had gone halfway across the country and even had been to Washington DC. He was harassed by security. He was detained from getting on his train. He was hounded for his state id. He was so on and so on. You would never know that America is a free country after watching these videos. The one thing that stood out in the videos was the security saying, “You do know about 911 right. You cannot just take pictures of trains anymore!” Or they said something close to that…
I also read a whole bunch of articles related to children being chastised over playing cops and robbers, at schools and at home territory. I also read a whole bunch of information about what the Patriot Act has done and is doing to our freedoms in America. Why we have issues in America now over dancing on public property, TSA feeling your private parts and so on and so on and so on…
So that video is very typical of what is happening in America. I do not see Israel doing this type of actions and in fact I do not see anyone else in the world doing this kind of stuff. We travel extensively! This TSA crap is happening not just on international flights but domestic flights as well…
I just feel a hell of a lot more comfortable in a country that does not run scared at their own shadow. I have often wondered what would happen in America if someone bombed a bus or the metro like they do in Russia and many other countries all the time. It is a sign of weakness to cave into the terrorists. People in Russia just shrug their shoulders and keep on going. Just as I do now that I live with the Russians…
Something that amazes me is that we kill Bin Laden and the call for more controls and freedoms dissipated, is increased at a steady pace. The Patriot Act was just extended by Obama and it is starting to look a lot like “nothing ever changes even when we spout change as a motto…”
I know that I said that I would lay off the America crap and I have, but when I get an email that triggers it and makes me think of stuff then I will respond…
In Russia we can walk just about anywhere we want to. No posted no-trespassing signs to tell me not too. In Russia we can piss on the side of the road and not ever be threatened. In Russia we can say what we want and think and not be censored. In Russia a locked gate is an invitation to break the lock and see what is hidden (Fences and gates everywhere but non of them lock and none work most of the time!). In Russia a grassy yard is a good place to start a path even when a sidewalk is present. In Russia we can buy raw milk and raw milk products. In Russia we are never harassed about IDs and about what we are doing walking at three in the morning. In Russia we (Sveta and I) have traveled 100,000+ km by car and never been subjected to scrutiny. In Russia we can take pictures of trains and metro. In Russia rules are to be broken. In Russia… (You get the picture, because the list is a mile long!)
In fact the only time I have been told not to take a picture was at the Ukraine border and it really was posted that you can not take pictures. I took them anyway and got yelled at. But they never harassed me and tried to take my pictures…
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” Benjamin Franklin…
That quote by Benjamin Franklin is so true and Russia needs to listen to that same quote. For if they take Russian people’s freedoms just in the name of security then they are no better than Americans…
So it is not just one little trivial issue that makes me feels freer. It is the whole package called Russia! The whole basket of idiosyncrasies that create a wonderful life of freedoms, security and peace. Yes freedoms, peace and safety in Russia…
Who would a thunk it?
And that is enough said about that…
Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia
http://windowstorussia.com/that-russian-way-of-life-ignore-the-rules.html
http://windowstorussia.com/dont-come-to-russia-and-coffee-thoughts.html
http://windowstorussia.com/you-are-not-free-so-accept-that.html