We live in a global village, so what happens in Lycoming County is impacted by what goes on in Washington, D.C. If the national media is to be believed, Washington is influenced by Kiev and Moscow. My wife and I lived in the former Soviet Union for sixteen years, from 1991 (when it was still the USSR) to the collapse of Communism and onwards to the year 2006. I have traveled and taught extensively throughout Russia and the Ukraine during that time. I developed many good relationships with people in those countries. We even adopted an orphaned Russian child. From this up close and personal perspective, I would like to give some reflections on Russians and Ukrainians, and their attitudes toward the United States.

First, people are people. The average Russian/Ukrainian wants to take care of their family, live peaceably, and enjoy life as much as they are able, just like all of us here. Where they differ, is that life is not as easy, and they must work very hard to get ahead. For example, in education, a typical college undergraduate will speak two, and often three or more languages will have studied the classics and can understand deep concepts (read Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, or Solzhenitsyn, and you’ll see why), and have a good grasp of math and technology — even if it is not their field.

In short, there are a LOT of very sharp folks in that part of the world. This is why the “Russian meddling,” we have heard so much about, has to do with technology and why so many of American political operatives sit up at night worrying about it. And to bring it back to Lycoming County, one of the reasons why we now have a whole new voting system in place now.

Yet, here is an important point to remember. The average person in Russia and the Ukraine does not sit up at night plotting on how to destroy the United States. I have met and talked with hundreds and hundreds (and have business cards to prove it), and I cannot remember anyone who said they would not love to visit the U.S. In many, many ways, our country represents the best of their hopes and dreams. It is important to distinguish the governments of these countries from their citizens.

That is because their governments have the worst “deep state” imaginable. In the former Soviet Republic of Latvia, where we lived, even after independence and a democratic government were in place, nepotism and corruption were still rampant. One old man described it as a bucket of rocks (Communism) poured into a new bucket (democracy). He said, “Nothing changes, Larry, it just makes a lot of noise.”

I was not as cynical as that old man, but working with people in all phases of the former Soviet Union society; government, education, banking, commerce, etc., I can attest that the road to free and open markets and a democratic government that honors the rule of law is a very rough one indeed. For example, I had a restaurant owner complain to me that she had one of the best restaurants in the capital city of Riga, Latvia, that was booked to capacity night after night, yet she still could not make a profit given the draconian taxes that she was forced to pay. When I confronted a cabinet minister about this, he remarked that it was necessary to have the super-high tax rate because everyone cheats on their taxes so that the end result would be the desired amount. I asked, “but what about those who don’t want to cheat?” He tilted his head and smiled as he said, “Visi krāpj” (“Everyone cheats”).

Though this rationale might be hard for us to understand, much of the world does struggle with the rule of law because pragmatism is the true world religion. And if we were extremely honest, the attitude of “go along to get along” is the attitude of most Americans as well, even when we know it is crossing the line.

For example, let’s look at our own Lycoming County. What about a political party that supports a candidate that they know is unqualified and uses questionable tactics to get him on the ballot? What about a local public official who uses his position to help a developer who is a friend but puts roadblocks up for another? Unfortunately, there are many more examples.

But here is the difference between the United States and Russia/Ukraine. We do not sit comfortably with these activities, and there are many Americans who would want to put a stop to such practices. In the former Soviet Union countries, graft, avarice, and ambition are so ingrained, those who wish to change the system are rarely heard — or punished if they are.

But before we hold our heads high in moral indignation, we need to take a long hard look at our own political soul and where our country is going. We have a great heritage, but it is rarely taught in schools today. We are big on rights and less big on responsibilities. We should look at the other side of the world not as a threat, but with caution — that we could become like them.

Larry Stout welcomes your comments or input. He can be reached by email: lionwebbweekly@gmail.com.