May 15, 2004
East Meets West Twice
Givatayim
A bright white hillside district of Tel Aviv. With nary a sand-bagged machine gun turret to be seen, it is difficult to imagine one' s self near the centre of one of the world's most tireless conflicts. In twenty years much has changed in Israel, but at a glance, new housing aside, Givatayim reflects little of it. On the street and in the shops, however, one change becomes evident. In a single generation, Israel has unlearned the English language. Having lived in Montreal for ten years, I am sensitive to the pride associated with resisting the monolith of la langue anglaise. I at first attribute the scarcity of English phonemes in the air here with this same project of cultural resuscitation. As our two weeks pass in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, I meet only a handful of citizens proficient in English. From this handful though, I learn my theory is flawed. The demise of the tourist industry is more commonly cited as cause for the country's verging unilingualism.
From conversation on the sunny porch of a house where West meets East Jerusalem, Nika and I learn of related regressions in the business community here. Just as tourists have been staying away in droves, the world of business has grown shy of trading in shekels. Worse still, claims our host, a contractor in the construction industry, one can little hope to grow a business beyond a certain modest size here. As Israel has grown insulated from the wider world, so it's government has grown more dependent upon its domestic tax base. U.S. hand-outs, notwithstanding, the Knesset is asking more and more of the average Israeli to sustain high standards of social services and a costly array of army and security forces. Even here, looking straight into predominantly Arab East Jerusalem, it is uncanny how little strife is evident. Our hosts in Tel Aviv did their level best to discourage our visiting Jerusalem at all. "Stay here where it is safe. Jerusalem is not safe. Here there is no killing." It's easy to interpret these sentiments, as well as much of what passes for "common practice and common knowledge" here, as living in outright denial. What a dichotomy: watch Israel on television from the West, all you see is settlements, Gaza and the West Bank; visit Israel without an agenda, all you see is Tel Aviv and J-City, for the mostpart, happy, shiny places.
On the other hand, my sister-in-law is marrying into a family of Iraqi Jews, longtime citizens of Givatayim. These Sephardic people have trodden the same sands as their Arab neighbors from times biblical and before. They are full aware of their place in the world, cheek and jowl for better and worse, with Arab nations recognized and otherwise.
Moscow
Like London, Moscow, is swollen with the ranks of its newly arrived. It is a place to take chances, to strike it rich, or lose it all. Everywhere are large casinos ornamented with pompous body-guards and opulent flashing neon facades. There are slot machines in every café and bar, bingo machines in the gas stations. “Try your luck today”, seems to be the motto for this metropolis of 13 million. In reality, the wealth and opportunities have already been more or less divided up between various economic interests and ethnic groups. It is a tightly run ship under the command of interwoven government/business/criminal interests. Russia of the 90’s had a thin patina of fairness, of democratic process and a seemingly impartial legal system. That is all gone now. Everything in the country is about making money, no time for civility here. The head of HR at a large logistics company, briefs a fresh-faced MBA applicant: “If you want to run in this business, you have to be prepared to do ANYTHING. No questions asked.”
The people I met seem to fall into two categories: the non-participants (whether due to inability or moral disgust) and those who've decided to go along. The division is strikingly similar to Soviet society of the 70s and 80s: party and industry functionaries got all the material goodies but didn’t have the luxury of sleeping well at night. Artists and intellectuals had nothing but freedom of expression (in the privacy of their own cramped kitchens and a small circle of friends.) Workers drank, and continue to drink, themselves into stupor and oblivion. In 2004 the pace has changed but the dynamics remain the same.
A lark for the powerful, moneyed types: Taking the subway, having sent two out of three bodyguards home. Still feeling couped up? Go on a two-day binge to Jamaica by private jet (status symbol for this crowd in 2004.) Grand, new sky-scrapers in Moscow, with adjoining winter garden and walking bridge over the Moskva-river, referred to as “ Stroyki Kommunizma”, financed by pseudo-voluntary but unavoidable “contributions” to the mayor’s fund. Intellectuals disseminate their ideas aided by the Internet. The working class now have 54 brands of vodka to test their stamina, as well as dozens of magical herbal potions (“traditional medicine” is BIG) to support their collapsing health. AIDS and drug abuse are rampant, especially in the provinces. In a private conversation, an officer of the Health Ministry explained that the population of 20-25 year-olds is ravaged, all but disappeared due to hard drugs, alcoholism, violence and STDs.
We met young people from both sides of the participant/non-participant divide. The most impressive group was practicing Lubki. The word is derived from “lubo”, meaning love. The main premise: Live life in “lubo”, i.e. love of the world. Love it and the world will love you back. The philosophy descends from the pre-Christian (and pre-Mongolian) Slavic tradition of Skomoroch, practiced by magicians, craftsmen and warriors alike. Around the country there are several “circles” led by individuals entrusted with duties of passing on these ancient ways and wisdom. 16-year olds who have been through this 'shamanic' training come across as composed, doggedly optimistic and brimming with self-confidence. I asked one teen, an aspiring economist and graduate of the Lubki training, "How does this “love-centric” attitude play out in the rough reality of Russia's jungle capitalism? (referred to in the tradition as, “zverki” or mentality of animal survival.) The training prepares one for urban as well as wilderness survival. Mastering martial arts and possessing a Coyote-style whimsical sense of perspective, Anna has better 'equipment' than the merely brawny and cunning. Her stance is stable and confident, she can see beyond immediate circumstances. Pushed into a tight corner, she looks far and wide. The big picture provides her with solutions that make direct confrontation obsolete.
