Combining The Best Of Russia And America

When I was 13, I had interaction with a man who had been the vice president of the Soviet writers' guild. He told me, “We are Russian people, and that is all we will ever be.”

He was wrong – dead wrong. He was in his 50s or 60s; I was 13. He was Russian through and through, whereas I was at an impressionable age. I had Russian influences; I also had American influences. I continue struggling to resolve them and figure out who was right and about what.

The Americans appear to have been right about democracy and business. The Russians appear to have been right about culture. One can imagine the greatness that can be accomplished when the two work together.

This has happened before in American history. It was called 1920s. There was a vast technological boom involving such people as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Nikolai Tesla. There was also a cultural blossoming involving such people as T. S. Eliot, Louis Armstrong and Edna St. Vincent-Millay. The age produced magnificent technology such as the Packard and magnificent architecture such as the Chrysler Building. The 1920s is proof that there is no contradiction between prosperity and culture, and that the two can – and should – coexist.

As someone with education in economics, I look for ways to combine the inputs in such a way as to make the best output. And that is accomplished when there is both technological prosperity and cultural blossoming. We have that way the best of all worlds. And the result, when it happens, is a golden age which people remember for ages to come.

Before 1920s, we see the same features in the Italian Renaissance. There was both commercial prosperity and creation of great artistic masterpieces. Once again, there is nothing contradictory between prosperity and the arts, and there is nothing contradictory between inspiration and realism. In best situations, the two work together.

Am I, as that writer said, a Russian man and only a Russian man? I find this funny. The Russians think that I am an American, and the Americans think that I am Russian. Quite simply, I've had extensive influences from both; and what I have been seeking to do in my life is reconcile these influences so that I can combine the best of both worlds.

There are many things that Americans have to teach Russians. There are also many things that Russians have to teach Americans. The best feature of the American way is entrepreneurship and creation of wealth. The best feature of Russian way is culture. Put the two together, and you have the best of both worlds.

My family immigrated to America when I was 12; and that is probably the worst age for immigration. People who come to America as children become American, and people who come to America as adults retain their culture. But when you are 12, you are part-formed. This then requires lot of effort to reconcile the competing influences. Some such syntheses become successful, and some do not.

So I seek to take the best of Russia and the best of America. Support entrepreneurship, also support culture. And then do your part in creating something like 1920s or the Renaissance Italy.

A time of both beauty and prosperity, that people will look back to fondly for generations to come.