The Nuanced Ways Russian And Ukranian Culture Shaped The World

As my long time readers know, I have many close relationships with individuals who defected from the U.S.S.R. in the early 1990s. I have focused most of my historical work focusing on classical communities and cultures aka Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.

Upon the request of Nikolay and at the urgency of current events in 2022, I have decided to delve into the history of Kievan-Russia, Russia, the Russe, the Ukraine, and the U.S.S.R.; as well as the post Soviet Russia.

It has also become an objective to address the gaps that we as citizens of the States have in world history which, in this author’s opinion, create an Ameri-centured perspective intentionally. That’s just my opinion. But feel free to study the history of pedagogy in your spare time in order to see why I came to this conclusion.

If we do not know who we were; it is impossible to adequately progress forward.

The Russian People As Cultivators Of Refinement And Culture

It is near impossible for me to adequately address Russian history without bringing to the forefront of you, the readers, just how big an influence Russian culture has had upon the entire world.

Ever wonder why we have coursed dinners? Appetizers first? Then preceding courses? All at a dinner table?

That was once referred to as “dining a la Russe” or “eating like Russians”. You can see this further referenced in one of my previous works where we looked at the final dinner aboard the Titanic.

The Dance Of The Refined, We Call It “Ballet”

Although ballet traces it’s roots in France. The actual momentum of ballet can be attributed to Russia where Peter the Great replaced Russian folk dances with ballet in the 1700s as a more erudite and distinguished art form.

Ballet single handedly influences almost every modern form of dance, including the modern studio training of hip hop.

Literary Genius Rivaling The Likes Of Dickens

Russia goes toe to toe with their English counterparts and pushes the envelope metaphorically and substantially in both the quality and volume of work.

Prolific does not do justice to describe the depth of work of many of these Russian authors and poets.

Notably, Russia lays claim to the likes of:

-Alexander Pushkin-noted for ushering in the Golden Age of Poetry

-Alexander Solzhenitsyn- famous for awareness of the Ghulag

-Ivan Turgenev-short stories

-Vladimir Nabokov- known for “Lolita”

-Mikhail Bulgakov- “The Master and the Margarita”

-Anton Chekhov- “The Seagull” and “Uncle Vanya”

-Ivan Bunin- recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature

-Nikolai Gogol- Ukranian born, “Diary of a Madman”

-Fyodor Dostoyevsky-”Winter Notes on Summer Impression”

-Leo Tolstoy- “War and Peace” and Anna Karenina

-Boris Pasternak- “Doctor Zhivago”

The Refinement and Prowess of Gymnastics

Dating back to Ancient Greece and the first Olympics, gymnastics has always had a prevalent place in athletic culture, both in the classical world and the modern world.

Long before Simone Biles was serving up perfect scores, the Russians and at the time "Soviet bloc" was renowned for the progression of gymnastics, once used as a military training exercise for the most savage warriors, gymnastics began to signify something else on the Olympic stage.

Athletic prowess of a people.

And with athletic prowess comes the assumption of corresponding military prowess.

(But that's another piece for another day, damn the list just keeps growing people).

It was said back in the 1970s and 1980s that you could see who the strongest world powers were by the placements in gymnastics.

And this whole time you just thought it was bad bitches in leotards.

In fact, the United States wasn't even a minor player in gymnastics until the likes of Bela Karolyi and Marta Karolyi defected from Soviet-bloc Romania in the 1980s and ushered American gymnastics into the forefront of the global gymnastics community.

"In God We Trust, But We Never Really Know What Got Discussed"-Hamilton

Ready to blow your Sunday school teacher's mind? In God We Trust did not appear on American money until the Cold War era.

Deep within the throws of the "Outpouring of the Holy Spirit" aka Revival aka Billy Graham's early American ministry, politicians needed a way to separate and help American's identify in solidarity.

"In God We Trust" was added to American currency in order to further several ideas including but not limited to:

-America as God's chosen nation aka "The New Israel"

-Create a continued solidarity against the Soviet-Communist block which was anti-religion and therefore anti-God (which people continued to practice their religion anyway, see The Eastern Orthodox Church)

Yep. That whole God thing and America being "Under God" yeah that wasn't a thing until we needed something to separate Americans from identifying with Soviets.

And what better ideology to fuel war and death than belief in God?

The "Nuclear Family" Was A Media Retaliation To Further The Cold War Efforts And Support

Most of you are familiar with the term, "nuclear family", you know, one dad, one mom, a brother, a sister, and maybe a dog.

No one is gay. No one is divorced. No one has fertility issues. Yeah nothing we see in real life.

The ideal of the "nuclear family" was a propaganda tactic that has lasted until our modern days as an American ideal.

Nuclear family is called nuclear family because that is when the very narrow concept of family was defined by not only Hollywood, but by politicians.

And guess when the term "nuclear family" came en vogue? You got it. During the threats of nuclear war aka Cold War era aka when the States were at odds with the former U.S.S.R.

So I guess in a way, you can blame Cold War propaganda for many of the relational and familial divides we see today.

Closing Thoughts For Now

In order to engage in appropriate discourse regarding direction of a culture, a society, or humanity as a whole, it is imperative that we seek more light and truth to understand how we got here in the first place.

The world of the future goes to the liberal man, the free minded, the one who owns control of their thoughts and beliefs. My Greek ancestors believed that and you know we can't get through one of my historical pieces without referencing my people at least once.

In our next piece, we will be diving into the founding of the Kievan-Russo empire with King Rurik. It's a lot.