In a collection of essays titled The Soviet Mind: Russian Culture under Communism, the great twentieth century Oxford philosopher Isaiah Berlin tells a story: There once was a man who worked as a steward on a seagoing ship. He was told that, in order to avoid breaking plates during heavy weather, he should not walk in a straight line. Rather, he should try to move in a zig zag manner to maintain his balance. A storm came. The steward dropped his plates, shattering them in the process. Asked why he had not followed instructions, the steward replied, “I did, but...