List continued again
5. Cult of personality and cheesy slogans.
Yes, the cult of personality silliness continues to be ever present in virtually every former Soviet Republic. In this sense, the legacy of Stalin is still felt, even though he has been dead for 53 years and the country he once ruled has not existed for almost 20 years. It seems to be less blatant in Russia and gets more ridiculous as you head south into former Soviet Central Asia. Nasirbaeav (the president of Kazakhstan) is everywhere; including on billboards, in stores and even on the walls of offices that have no connection with the government what so ever. Our office at the complex already has a picture of him hanging on the wall. It was the first picture to go up.
Then you have the silly slogans and quotes. If there is not a picture of Nasirbaev hanging up on a sign, there is often a quote talking about how great Kazakhstan is and how the big 2030 plan (Nasirbaev's economic plan to have Kazakhstan fully developed by the year 2030) will radically change everyone's life. Personally, I think it is a big waste of money on the part of the government.
4. Nationalism.
Since Kazakhstan was under the rule of the Russian Empire in the 19th century and the Soviets in the 20th century, there is a great push for Kazaks to become more in touch with their national identity. In the process, this puts all the other Russian speaking non-Kazaks who make up more than 40 percent of the population, on edge. I was told that the government wants to remove Russian as an official language by 2030. I don't know if this is true and certainly did not see such a proposal when I glanced over the 2030 plan, but I do know that there are folks out there who would love to see this happen. Of course this would be economic and demographic suicide in many ways.
First, as I have already pointed out, more than 40 percent of the population is not ethnic Kazak. The vast majority of them don't speak Kazak at all. Then there are many of the ethnic Kazaks who either don't speak Kazak well, or don't speak it at all. It is common to see two Kazaks having a conversation where one will speak Kazak and the other will speak Russian since the Russian speaking Kazak can only understand it, but not speak it very well.
Then you have the demographic issues. Many of the non-Kazaks have left since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since I was here in 99-2000, 2 million have moved elsewhere, especially Russia, Germany, Canada and the United States. The population here is now only 16 million. This despite the fact that Kazkhstan is the 9th largest country in the world. With a rapidly developing economy, the place needs people to fill jobs. If you get rid of Russian, the Russian speakers will again hit the road (I have heard that folks are not leaving as much these days because of the fact that things are getting better. In some cases, they have even come back from Russia because of the growing job market). Russia is now trying to make it easier for Russians in the Russian diaspora to come back. If the language change occurs and everyone is forced to do everything in Kazak, I am sure that many will gladly go where they will not be regarded as second class citizens culturally and linguistically. Of course if this were to occur, I don't know what this country would do. The Slavic population tends to be more educated and fills a lot of the service industry jobs here. Kazaks, true to their nomadic tradition, often still live outside the city tending to the sheep. In the city here, it seems like they work most of the construction jobs, kind of like Mexicans in the US. This is not to say that Kazaks are not educated, professional people. I work for one who is. But the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of Kazaks who aren't and there are lots of non-Kazaks who are. In short, nationalism in this context will not benefit this country in the long-term.
Good list continued
5. Get togethers
When you go to a friend's house as a guest, there will always be lots of good laughs, toasts and great food. The other day we went to the birthday party of one our co-worker. We had a blast talking, eating, toasting, eating, eating, and toasting some more. I think it would serve Americans well to check out how parties and get togethers are done over here. It is next to none.
As always, I have to run. Since I still have not been able to fix my computer, I am having to do all of this blogging in an internet cafe. So sit tight and be patient. I will hopefully have this list done by the end of the month.
5. Cult of personality and cheesy slogans.
Yes, the cult of personality silliness continues to be ever present in virtually every former Soviet Republic. In this sense, the legacy of Stalin is still felt, even though he has been dead for 53 years and the country he once ruled has not existed for almost 20 years. It seems to be less blatant in Russia and gets more ridiculous as you head south into former Soviet Central Asia. Nasirbaeav (the president of Kazakhstan) is everywhere; including on billboards, in stores and even on the walls of offices that have no connection with the government what so ever. Our office at the complex already has a picture of him hanging on the wall. It was the first picture to go up.
Then you have the silly slogans and quotes. If there is not a picture of Nasirbaev hanging up on a sign, there is often a quote talking about how great Kazakhstan is and how the big 2030 plan (Nasirbaev's economic plan to have Kazakhstan fully developed by the year 2030) will radically change everyone's life. Personally, I think it is a big waste of money on the part of the government.
4. Nationalism.
Since Kazakhstan was under the rule of the Russian Empire in the 19th century and the Soviets in the 20th century, there is a great push for Kazaks to become more in touch with their national identity. In the process, this puts all the other Russian speaking non-Kazaks who make up more than 40 percent of the population, on edge. I was told that the government wants to remove Russian as an official language by 2030. I don't know if this is true and certainly did not see such a proposal when I glanced over the 2030 plan, but I do know that there are folks out there who would love to see this happen. Of course this would be economic and demographic suicide in many ways.
First, as I have already pointed out, more than 40 percent of the population is not ethnic Kazak. The vast majority of them don't speak Kazak at all. Then there are many of the ethnic Kazaks who either don't speak Kazak well, or don't speak it at all. It is common to see two Kazaks having a conversation where one will speak Kazak and the other will speak Russian since the Russian speaking Kazak can only understand it, but not speak it very well.
Then you have the demographic issues. Many of the non-Kazaks have left since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since I was here in 99-2000, 2 million have moved elsewhere, especially Russia, Germany, Canada and the United States. The population here is now only 16 million. This despite the fact that Kazkhstan is the 9th largest country in the world. With a rapidly developing economy, the place needs people to fill jobs. If you get rid of Russian, the Russian speakers will again hit the road (I have heard that folks are not leaving as much these days because of the fact that things are getting better. In some cases, they have even come back from Russia because of the growing job market). Russia is now trying to make it easier for Russians in the Russian diaspora to come back. If the language change occurs and everyone is forced to do everything in Kazak, I am sure that many will gladly go where they will not be regarded as second class citizens culturally and linguistically. Of course if this were to occur, I don't know what this country would do. The Slavic population tends to be more educated and fills a lot of the service industry jobs here. Kazaks, true to their nomadic tradition, often still live outside the city tending to the sheep. In the city here, it seems like they work most of the construction jobs, kind of like Mexicans in the US. This is not to say that Kazaks are not educated, professional people. I work for one who is. But the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of Kazaks who aren't and there are lots of non-Kazaks who are. In short, nationalism in this context will not benefit this country in the long-term.
Good list continued
5. Get togethers
When you go to a friend's house as a guest, there will always be lots of good laughs, toasts and great food. The other day we went to the birthday party of one our co-worker. We had a blast talking, eating, toasting, eating, eating, and toasting some more. I think it would serve Americans well to check out how parties and get togethers are done over here. It is next to none.
As always, I have to run. Since I still have not been able to fix my computer, I am having to do all of this blogging in an internet cafe. So sit tight and be patient. I will hopefully have this list done by the end of the month.
posted by moskovki inastranets at 1:40 AM
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