Vladimir Pozner: “Slavery in Russia was transmitted genetically and will not go away soon”

“In the blood” is too strong a word. And don't "grovel". Still, when I spoke about the influence of slavery in relation to Russia and serfdom, which persisted for several centuries and formed certain relations, it rather led not to groveling, but, firstly, to a lack of responsibility, to that you expect the other to make a decision for you, to some humility, and even a very big one ... There it is.

Until now it is. Chekhov talked about it. There is a famous quote...

And it won't go away for long. This can be seen in the United States: the liberation of blacks did not lead to internal liberation. Did not lead. And to this day it is.

We have little understanding of this, not to mention the fact that we have a lot of racism - and therefore they do not want to understand.

But here it is, genetically transmitted as a result of centuries ... slavery, in fact, it is a part of the mentality that will not go away soon.

…The Europeans have passed a certain path, which we are still only passing through here. Material goods, all these things - there it has become an ordinary part of life. Not here yet. There is still hunger for these things.

They are still ranked high. But not as high as even ten years ago, when people cared what brand of tie you had. Now this is no longer the case.

But still, for the time being, this thirst for material wealth, when it is put at the forefront, is characteristic precisely because “they haven’t eaten enough,” and I understand this very well. And in Europe - "ate". Russia is twenty years behind Europe...

I don’t like to predict, point my finger at the sky, it’s all such a little child’s play… But, I think, in twenty to twenty-five years, if the world develops in the same way as it develops, the material side of life will become less important for our citizens.”

The entire interview with Vladimir Pozner can be viewed here.