Today’s discussion between Putin and Igor Shuvalov, Chairman of VEB.RF State Development Corporation, provides an opportunity to look at a portion of the history of Russian educational institutions that are organizations separate from schools yet intimately connected nonetheless.
Thank you for this long article on Russian education and culture. Over the span of my life, I thought that education was the key issue and when I volunteered at the democratic county office here in Columbus OH in 2004 for the election of the president, I kept asking "where is the education in democracy" effort. The answer was the voter information on one sheet listing democratic candidates.
I will have to reread this article a couple of times to further appreciate "the other", those parts of the world not captured by The Enlightenment and are working to extract themselves from the "rules based order."
Over the last 20 years, most of my reading has been on the French polymath Bruno Latour whose book in 1991 was "We Have Never Been Modern." He says after post 1989, the West conquered communism, the Modern cosmology no longer held and the West was adrift. (This is a rough paraphrase. )
The collapse of the Modern cosmology has been apparent in international relations, finance dominance of economics and in vaccines used for "the pandemic", and education and other areas.
As Latour noted a few decades ago, "is politics possible?".
The mantra within the Anti-Communist Crusade was there's nothing of value within the Communist system, including its long-term planning, which you'll recall was ridiculed at every opportunity. That and much more were deliberate actions that contributed to the closing of the American mind well before the book of that name was written and also avoided its roots. Escobar informs us that Alexander Dugin was the featured guest on Sputnik's New Rules podcast that's evolving into a good program, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-5e4TBFn20
I must say that Radhika Desai needs to improve her spoken diction as she's very difficult to follow to the point where it's almost better to bypass her portion in this case. That wasn't the case so much on the earlier shows.
[Somewhat of a diversion, but I can't post a comment except in reply.]
I've read many writers who said that their attempts to publish in the Soviet Union subjected them to hindrance, harassment, and worse. This prompts the following questions.
1) Where did the Znanic Society fit in? Was it a sort of refuge for dissident writers/artists, a tool of the state, fairly neutral, or something else?
2) With the involvement of government (or any powerful interest group) in education comes the danger of the institution's becoming an echo chamber of prevailing beliefs and a relentless adversary of new or contrary ideas. Is Russia taking steps to ensure that freedom to research and publish even controversial ideas is not infringed?
I'll try answer your query with today's article since it's Knowledge Day where Russia's students are encouraged "to make a choice that will meet your own interests and help you take place in life as an independent successful person," as Mr. Lavrov urged in one of his speeches today.
Thanks. I've read that article and was pleased to see Lavrov support independent thinking. But it seems to me that crafting an educational system that appropriately encourages independent thought would require exceptionally thoughtful design of instructional materials (including tests) and highly skilled teachers (who aren't exactly a dime a dozen). It's a tall order. I'd be interested to learn (although I'm not sure how one could easily find out) how this is being approached. I imagine we've all seen numerous examples where an organization claims to emphasize some value but does little or nothing to actualize it.
You'll see part two finally got finished that will give you an idea. Previous meetings related to education I've read over the years has jazzed me up from the standpoint of being an educator. The entire mentoring and team yet competitive school work approach; the involvement of the family is huge and you'll notice Russia pushes being educated and informed as a high value and the vital tool related to citizenship. I talked about that more in the article I wrote for VK when I learned about Znanie about 16 months ago. But then, I'd also read much about the expansion of schools and very heavy emphasis on education and training very openly to promote the people so they can promote the nation. So, getting educated can be said to be patriotic in Russia--It's expected of you. Yes, it's very collectivist.
I now think that my above comment about crafting an educational system, although it raised valid concerns, reflected my living in a society in which creativity is regularly stifled in school, employment, and government. I actually believe that even a supposedly ordinary person can accomplish a lot if provided with a supportive environment. I am reminded of Robert Townsend's approach to management (detailed in "Further Up the Organization," which I recommend you get a copy of immediately if you're unfamiliar with it).
I get the impression that a fair slogan for attracting people to Russia might be, "Russia: The World's Most Satisfying Place to Work."
In my study, Bruno Latour and Hannah Arendt books are the most numerous.
I saw Hudson's recent work on Naked Capitalism. I seldom go to his web site. Have you seen strong arguments against his work? I don't think so. Hunch there is no dialogue with his work.
I watched Dugin interview. Interesting guy. Tradition. Collective ahead of individual. Religion is a critical element. Russia is different and the West is so full of itself that it is not able to understand the other. A friend a couple of days ago recommended Rene Guenon who was an important source for Dugin. I can see why Dugin is important in Russia as I continue to learn about Russia.
USA is falling apart at the seams and no visible path to get back on course. Not worth adding more words to this statement.
Thank you for this long article on Russian education and culture. Over the span of my life, I thought that education was the key issue and when I volunteered at the democratic county office here in Columbus OH in 2004 for the election of the president, I kept asking "where is the education in democracy" effort. The answer was the voter information on one sheet listing democratic candidates.
I will have to reread this article a couple of times to further appreciate "the other", those parts of the world not captured by The Enlightenment and are working to extract themselves from the "rules based order."
Over the last 20 years, most of my reading has been on the French polymath Bruno Latour whose book in 1991 was "We Have Never Been Modern." He says after post 1989, the West conquered communism, the Modern cosmology no longer held and the West was adrift. (This is a rough paraphrase. )
The collapse of the Modern cosmology has been apparent in international relations, finance dominance of economics and in vaccines used for "the pandemic", and education and other areas.
As Latour noted a few decades ago, "is politics possible?".
The mantra within the Anti-Communist Crusade was there's nothing of value within the Communist system, including its long-term planning, which you'll recall was ridiculed at every opportunity. That and much more were deliberate actions that contributed to the closing of the American mind well before the book of that name was written and also avoided its roots. Escobar informs us that Alexander Dugin was the featured guest on Sputnik's New Rules podcast that's evolving into a good program, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-5e4TBFn20
Also, the transcripts of Hudson's last two talks are up at his website, https://michael-hudson.com/
I must say that Radhika Desai needs to improve her spoken diction as she's very difficult to follow to the point where it's almost better to bypass her portion in this case. That wasn't the case so much on the earlier shows.
[Somewhat of a diversion, but I can't post a comment except in reply.]
I've read many writers who said that their attempts to publish in the Soviet Union subjected them to hindrance, harassment, and worse. This prompts the following questions.
1) Where did the Znanic Society fit in? Was it a sort of refuge for dissident writers/artists, a tool of the state, fairly neutral, or something else?
2) With the involvement of government (or any powerful interest group) in education comes the danger of the institution's becoming an echo chamber of prevailing beliefs and a relentless adversary of new or contrary ideas. Is Russia taking steps to ensure that freedom to research and publish even controversial ideas is not infringed?
I'll try answer your query with today's article since it's Knowledge Day where Russia's students are encouraged "to make a choice that will meet your own interests and help you take place in life as an independent successful person," as Mr. Lavrov urged in one of his speeches today.
Thanks. I've read that article and was pleased to see Lavrov support independent thinking. But it seems to me that crafting an educational system that appropriately encourages independent thought would require exceptionally thoughtful design of instructional materials (including tests) and highly skilled teachers (who aren't exactly a dime a dozen). It's a tall order. I'd be interested to learn (although I'm not sure how one could easily find out) how this is being approached. I imagine we've all seen numerous examples where an organization claims to emphasize some value but does little or nothing to actualize it.
You'll see part two finally got finished that will give you an idea. Previous meetings related to education I've read over the years has jazzed me up from the standpoint of being an educator. The entire mentoring and team yet competitive school work approach; the involvement of the family is huge and you'll notice Russia pushes being educated and informed as a high value and the vital tool related to citizenship. I talked about that more in the article I wrote for VK when I learned about Znanie about 16 months ago. But then, I'd also read much about the expansion of schools and very heavy emphasis on education and training very openly to promote the people so they can promote the nation. So, getting educated can be said to be patriotic in Russia--It's expected of you. Yes, it's very collectivist.
You're right: part two does give me an idea. 8^)
I now think that my above comment about crafting an educational system, although it raised valid concerns, reflected my living in a society in which creativity is regularly stifled in school, employment, and government. I actually believe that even a supposedly ordinary person can accomplish a lot if provided with a supportive environment. I am reminded of Robert Townsend's approach to management (detailed in "Further Up the Organization," which I recommend you get a copy of immediately if you're unfamiliar with it).
I get the impression that a fair slogan for attracting people to Russia might be, "Russia: The World's Most Satisfying Place to Work."
In my study, Bruno Latour and Hannah Arendt books are the most numerous.
I saw Hudson's recent work on Naked Capitalism. I seldom go to his web site. Have you seen strong arguments against his work? I don't think so. Hunch there is no dialogue with his work.
I watched Dugin interview. Interesting guy. Tradition. Collective ahead of individual. Religion is a critical element. Russia is different and the West is so full of itself that it is not able to understand the other. A friend a couple of days ago recommended Rene Guenon who was an important source for Dugin. I can see why Dugin is important in Russia as I continue to learn about Russia.
USA is falling apart at the seams and no visible path to get back on course. Not worth adding more words to this statement.