The softer side of Russia
I loved the story this week as reported in the UKs Independent that Medvedev has decided to abolish winter time in Russia. When the clocks change to summertime, that will be the last time the clocks change.
A brilliant idea and 60% of Russians support it.
What struck me most with the announcement was how Medvedev explained his reasoning for the change. He argued that changing the clocks twice a year causes "stress and illness" among Russians". "It's just irritating. People either oversleep or wake up early and don't know what to do with the hour," he explained.
Russian doctors came out in support, claiming the clock changes disrupt natural body rhythms. The head pediatrician at Russia's Ministry of Health, Alexander Baranov, was "fully supportive" of the President's decision this week. "Moving the clocks here and there has a bad influence on people's health, on their moods, and on their capacity to work," he said. "Children suffer particularly, when they have to be woken up ahead of time."
His remark about how the cows don't understand why the milkmaid comes to milk them at a different time just sealed the story for me.
This speech revealed for me two elements in understanding the Russian people. First is the sentiment behind his initiative, which could almost be called caring. Yes Russians kill hard but they love hard too. My experience with them has been nothing but a society driven by love and care. There are of course major racial rifts that fall on the kill hard side but this is likely driven by the uneducated as it is in most countries around the world. In Russia's case, this is also driven by wars and occupation, which adds complexity to assessing certain actions.
The other aspect of his announcement was the farming reference, which Putin uses a lot as well. Russians are forever close to the land, which is reflected in the brilliant book by Dostoevsky Notes From Underground of a tortured soul who has lost touch with the land and tries to find it through physical engagement. How many times do you hear references to the land in nations that have urbanized? Russia has kept its link to the land through its shift to an urban driven economy. Having worked with the medicinal side of the Russian people, it's incredible how much they count on natural remedies and mostly these are grown in their own dacha - their summer home - which can be as basic as a shed or a palatial house but all will have a garden to grow all manner of herbs and such like and the majority of Russians have a dacha.
