To: GSlob
'Germans, Jews, Poles, and the Balts were [even in pre-1917 russia] much more highly individualistic than the rest. High degree of individualism is a sociological hallmark of the Western civ, and is conspicuously missing in the other civs, which you are "much more interested in", and which I find inferior.'
I suppose that the Natzi movement is for you the prove of highly individualistic character of German culture [sarcasm]. German culture is one of the most anty-individualistic I have ever met with. The German proverb "Ordnung must sein" is the gist of German approach to life. In case You don't speak German and simply use a translator, I want to draw your attention, that "ordnung" is much closer to 'discipline' than to 'order'
As far as Poland is concerned, the line of thought before 1939 was described by proverb 'God, honor and my country'. I don't see any individualism there, do you?
Individualistic approach to life is a product of the last decades, and the speed of implosion of the Western civilization is the best indicator of how beneficial this attitude is for a nation. If you are talking of highly individualistic nations before 1917, than gosh you don't have a clue. At that time people even didn't know that one day they may be considered as equal!!!
The hallmark of successful society is not an individualistic approach, but freedom to better one's life, freedom to keep fruits of your work and working legal system. To sum up a successful society is a society that motivates its people to create wealth. Anglo-Saxon culture met this condition. Individualism has nothing to do with it.
I found it very refreshing, that in this insane times of PC a person belonging to western civilization says, that he/she finds other cultures inferior. [I'm dead serious, there is no sarcasm here]. What's more I think that it's a fair statement, because people living in non-western circles usually have no doubt, that their culture is superior to any other.
37 posted on
02/14/2007 11:46:03 AM PST by
pppp
To: pppp
Nazis in Germany were a historic blip. As for your trouble with seeing individualism [happens when one has imbibed too much "russity" and has not puked it out], compare "rab bozhij" [god's slave - "rab" is used, not "sluga"] with "servant of god". The same idea, but translated within two different [Orthodox and Western] civilizational mentalities: a slave is not an individual, while a servant is, or could be. Orthodox civ [in huntingtonian nomeclature] is that of the slaves and their masters, i.e. a despotic civ, whether the despot is a landlord to his serfs, or a kegebuchij nomenklaturist in relation to mere inhabitants. Thus that dunghill is to be rejected, root, branch, trunk and leaves.
38 posted on
02/14/2007 1:23:21 PM PST by
GSlob
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