Replace the Me with the Us

When living away from your home country, you get to see a different culture. Every country has its own culture. People debate and argue what is culture but I see it as habits and customs, that are special to a place and nothing more complex than that.

Human nature is universal and has a light good side and a dark evil side. One thing I have come to realize now I am in the later years of my life, is that basically we all shit, fuck, sleep, walk the dog, play football, hate, love, fart, cry, paint the house and kill each other the world over. Take a man from China, Italy, England, America, Russia or any other country or a woman and they will all have the same needs, hates, loves and desires, good and bad. The world is changing and has changed in my life time. I came to think about this topic, while doing sit-ups yesterday in a Moscow park, as it was my first break from childcare duties for over a week. Human nature and culture are the main topics today.

What motivates us all now, is money and survival. Some say it has always been like this but I argue motivation has changed. We all now are spoon fed advertising via the mass media and the Internet. We all want the latest iPhone, iSpoon, iBanana, TV, shoes etc. In Russia, labels are popular and Russians have the belief, that if something costs a lot it must be very good. This is a false belief, because something can cost a lot but not be good. In my opinion, there is no such thing as quality only good luck. A label here, is a converted thing to own and has replaced the socialism and church. There was a time when decency and morals were the main control on human behavior and the fear of eternal damnation, this has now been replaced by good parenting and by good education, in a lottery of human experience, depending on where you live, on your family, income and on your situation. Religion, (apart form extreme Islam), has sadly died, a spectacular and tragic death. People no longer really go to church of any religion and the new god is the self, the "me". Despite this black picture of the world, I have met and seen many very decent people since moving away from London England. Human kindness in its simplest from, like a neighbor bringing you some fresh home made jam, apples or pickled cucumbers from their Dacha, is worth more than any iPod, iPad, iPhone or gold. I came to realized this, as I sat in my Moscow kitchen, typing this blog post on my new iPad, eating her home made jam, feeling a consumerist traitor and longing for a simpler, less complicated life, far away from here.

I have noticed, since travelling around the world and living in just two different countries, people can surprise you with their kindness. This can even happen in a big city like Moscow from friends to total strangers in the street. For all the negatives of Moscow or anywhere else, you can find gems of experience if you look under the carpet. The same could be said for any large city anywhere in the world. Human nature and cultural differences are fascinating subjects that have no real conclusion.

In my opinion, money is the root of all evil and we would all be better of without it but course we would all starve. Russia is corrupt and has a lot of very bad people running the country and mixing among the population, men pass you in the street that have murdered and would murder again, if required to do so. These people live next door to us, in our street and in our cities. They are evil shadows, that cannot be avoided and pass us by unnoticed, unless you look for them as I do.  In Moscow, like in any city, there is an aggression that bubbles under the surface, like a hot spring under a rock. You can accept this or adapt to it. Living in Moscow, you have to adapt to it and in some ways keep your eyes closed to these hard realities. Russia has a different culture to my own. I can honestly say Russia is an alien culture and although we all shit, fuck, eat and sleep, we are very different culturally. I celebrate culture and its difference. Although I may not always like the culture in Moscow (I say Moscow, as I have not lived anywhere else in Russia) and at times it will offend me and shock me, I enjoy it and accept it for what it is, life is an experience that enriches us spiritually. I have come to realize, that if you take away the rat race and mass consumerism, the sun will shine and human beings can be beautiful. The world must change now and it's up to our leaders to lead us to this change. Laws, punishment, penalty and reward are the only tools of mass control and no one should be above these things. The world really is going a little bit nuts now, the "Me" must be replaced by the "Us".

When a crazy, orange haired  joker, high on drugs, shot all those people, we could once say "only in America" but not anymore, these crazy things can happen anywhere now. Is all human nature bad and evil? No its not all bad, good human nature is becoming increasingly hard to find, in an ever changing world but when we do find it, we must celebrate it, share it and love it. Good human nature is fragile and must be protected. I can write this stuff as I have a blog. On the most part, I stick to the agreed agenda and don't rant too much but the recent shootings in America this week touched a nerve and I had to say my part on the World Wide Web to you dear reader.

One thing, regular readers may have noticed, is that I am never stuck for things to say on this blog, in an ocean of crap and blogs, floating out  in cyberspace. I can launch my tiny ship into cyberspace and I can give my opinion. It is my right and I am very lucky to be able to do so, if you don't like it, that's your choice pilgrim, please forgive my moral speech. Rant over, back to nappies and baby food.

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