I will reach the age of 66 this year: 33 years in the USSR and 33 years in the US. Goethe said once that 'There is death for the new life.' I guess, I qualify. So I decided to add another '6' to my age, make it '666' and state my conclusions in the light of the Dostoevsky's Law. He visited Western Europe in 1857, and when he returned home, he published a short travel diary , 'Winter Notes On Summer Impressions.' There he formulated a law:
- You know what? A person can be even a criminal, but retain a sense of honor, but here (in the West, MS) there are so many honest folks who totally lost the sense of honor. They thus commit abominations on the regular basis, without knowing, just out of the 'goodness' of their hearts..
You know what, he was right. The longer I lived in the US, the more something bothered me. It is like Hemingway stated in his story about Scott Fitzgerald , 'It bothers you first, and when you figure it out, it bothers you even more.' I learned a lot before I 'figured it out': in the US hypocrisy is biological. It is a feature of the national American character. It doesn't discriminate; progressive or conservative, black or white, straight or gay, Jewish, Christian or Moslem, man, woman or child, good or bad, rich or poor- hypocrisy defines the everyday life in the US. I guess, the only exception would be homeless; they most likely have not enough strength to be hypocritical and, as a result, IMHO, they are the only people in the US still with the sense of honor. Mind you, the US is full of 'honest people'. They do not steal, they do not kill, they do not covet the other person's possessions. They live and work, they 'love' the fellow man and animals, they are 'good'. And at the same time, they are deeply indifferent, ignorant and totally dishonorable. It is the chronic feature of the American psyche; it came from Europe with the basic hypocrisy of the Western Christianity and proved itself so indispensable in conquering the New World, that it eventually rooted in and became a spiritual environment, the 'force of the American nature'. Western Europe has it too, but the horrible consequence of it, the WWII atrocities- shook it to the level of PTSD and they still retain it but they do not like it. They have to push themselves, they suffer from it, sort of a heartburn. The people in the US 'love their hypocrisy'. They cannot imagine being without it. That's why 'love' is the most abused word in the vocabulary of the masses here; more even than 'money' and 'power'. Hypocrisy covers everything like gravy.
I am in a good company; many American writers and just remaining honorable people discovered this phenomena. The most clearly we can see it in the famous story by Mark Twain, 'The man, who corrupted Hadleyberg'. Henry Mencken mentioned that feature constantly in his writings. Gore Vidal stated that explicitly, emphasizing the overall unbelievable ignorance in the US, but:
- Ignorance is a demonic possession, and we are afraid that it will be the source of more suffering in the future..
K. Marx, F. Engels, The Holy Family
It is thus plausible to conclude, that the people in the US are in fact 'possessed' and that exorcism in order although, as far as I know from the teachings of Malachi Martin, exorcism only helps those who ask for help, not those who are perfectly satisfied. Americans seem to be the latter. But maybe there is still hope, I don't know. Certainly, not in my lifetime, I think.
There is a good saying in this country, 'I love you, but I don't like you very much.' I love this country and the people, that's why I decided to put on the ' 666' hat and state the above. But I don't like them very much, my dear decent, honest, perfect, clean, lucky and absolutely dishonorable folks.
If Rob Kall decides not to publish this, I will not be upset. This small article can be considered as offensive. But you know what, so was Dostoevsky; he was an 'offensive genius'. In fact, genius comes into this world to offend and disturb. I am not a genius, just a retired engineer, like Dostoevsky was. As I said, I am in a good company.
P.S. All the citations above are by memory. Please, do not try to point to the discrepancies. Nothing personal, folks. Strictly business.
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