Masha Gessen has become famous in the last few years, as Russia Fever has swept the nation, for being the most intelligent and articulate commentator and explainer of Russian culture on the American left. I found this article insightful.
I don't really agree with her on this. I think Americans lack a basic awareness of any society but our own. This can be a bad thing or a good thing. Being ignorant of another society is bad when we flatten or mix up other cultures in an imperialist context. It can be good, though, to be free of another culture's baggage.
She talks about having to do a lot of intellectual work to separate "socialism" from the tyranny she experienced under that name. We in our generation, in this country, never had to do that. We are free to associate socialism with positive things like literacy. It gets across the point that she does support. The fact that we are a comically blank and ignorant canvas needs to be included in any formulation of a narrative that will work on us.
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