ZATO VS NATO
In the Russian language there is a word “zato” — it can be translated as “but”, “or”, “because”, “on the other hand”, depending on the context. However, neither translation reveals its full meaning. This word has a justifying connotation. It is always used when you first assert or you are said that you are not able to do something, or you do it badly, or has done something wrong, etc., and in the second part of the sentence you indicate that you know something but it’s something different, you do something well but little, do the right things but in other cases and different circumstances. By using the word “zato” you kind of recognize that you are not as good as you could be or you are expected to be, but there is still something good in you, or is happening to you. Children in Russia most often use this word. For example, when I ask my son “Have you read the book you’d promised me to read?” he answers “No, zato I boxed very well today in a gym”. And even more often the word is used by Russian politicians. There is good reason why the main excuse used on TV, in social networks and even patriotic t-shirts is a hashtag #ZatoKrymNash (#ZatoCrimeaIsOurs). Thus, everyone understands everything: how it should be, what we have promised and how it appears, but instinctively a Russian man wants to justify himself and find anything good in the world.
All illustrations by (c) Dima Mishenin and DopingPong
I love Russia. I was born and grew up here. But when I post on Facebook or Instagram that I don’t like something in the country, my more patriotic friends blame me that “you shouldn’t leave the motherland in a difficult moment”. But I have always believed that the correction of errors begins with their acceptance. And I’ve never thought that being realistic is unpatriotic.
Another fact that raises a lot of concerns is that 2014 was the record-breaking year in terms of the number people who left Russia for permanent residence abroad. My friend Oleg Tinkoff, so-called “Russian Richard Branson” and President of TinkoffBank, has said the following: “The President of the country from which 22% of its population (assuming that the figures are correct) want to immigrate should be ashamed of it. Incredible indeed … it’s as if an entrepreneur with 22% of his employees wanting to leave a company that he established and managed”. Amidst the restricted access to foreign capital due to the sanctions and enhanced government control inside the country, more and more entrepreneurs and investors are looking for different options (for example, “Russian Mark Zuckerberg” Pavel Durov, Michael Zelman, founder of Goodman restaurants, entrepreneur Alexandrina Markvo, Konstantin Sonin, professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, etc.). State media and pro-government businessmen call them betrayers. If you look at the Russian classics, at least 30% of works of literature, music and paintings were written by Russian writers, composers and artists, when they were living or traveling abroad. Therefore, I do not think that “to live in Russia” and “to love Russia” are two similar concepts. The same holds true to the government: for some reason the criticism of the Russian authorities is usually considered as dislike of the country. Now most of the media in Russia are either silent or indignant about Leviathan’s award at the Golden Globe saying that Russia is shown from the ugly side in the movie. Could you kindly show me where in the works of Dostoyevsky Russia is portrayed in a good light? At the same time, you cannot accuse him of lack of love for the motherland.
I’ve recently attended a meeting of a Russian state venture fund with representatives of the largest Internet companies. They discussed “the development of the Russian Internet” and my question “what is the Russian Internet and how it differs or will differ from any other” was left with no answer. In order to get the state financial support the participants were setting goals on the number of companies to be established in different Internet sectors. When I said that companies generally appear not when they are given money for it but when there is an entrepreneur who comes up with an idea of such a company and who lives with this idea, my colleagues said they couldn’t see a problem. “if there is no entrepreneurs, we’ll set a goal for Skolkovo and we’ll have the required number of entrepreneurs.” Then there was a session on innovation in the Russian e-Commerce. All the speakers proposed nothing but protective taxes and other barriers for more successful foreign online shops in Russia. I don’t know what happened next as far as I left the event: I have one life, which I don’t want to spend on inventing how to annoy someone. Or inventing the wheel.
As far as the currently popular (among those looking for governmental funding) “import substitution” is concerned, the former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in an interview that we can “in five or ten years get close to the western products but the majority of these products are not going to be better than the western. Therefore everyone should understand that it’s him — every citizen of Russia — who provide import substitution by high prices and declining living standards… if we hurl all effort into development of analogues, tomorrow will consume products in the same volume, but only at great expense. Now countries are trying not to create a full range of technology products rather become the first in something, and thus enter into the international division of labor.”
The desire to create something different, special, sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. Recently, a priest has called for a system of “Orthodox banking” in the country — similar to the “Islamic Banking”. But — “Islamic banking” was established not “in spite of” but “owing to”. It is built on a system of their own values, which trigger the development of this area in finance. The church official hasn’t explained what distinguishes the orthodox banking. A few days ago there was the news that we also need “orthodox Hollywood.” Looks like inventing the wheel for a second and third time is a national Russian game. Russian startups often ask me for funding and they all want to become billion dollar companies and be the second Steve Jobs. And I always give the same recommendation: “You should first learn how to be Chinese”. The Chinese have been copying Steve Jobs and others for years, thus, they humbly learned and became innovative as a result. Even Salvador Dali always recommended to “learn how to draw a horse” to all young people asking him “how to learn to paint in the style of surrealism.” “Can draw a horse? — No? — Go and learn! Then you can start with surrealism.”
Another typical Russian trait is the inability to admit your mistakes and that someone knows something better than you. The Russian company Yota was established more than three years ago and at once its YotaPhone was dubbed “iPhone killer”. This is a “zero sum game” — if you win, I lose. Russian mentality does not allow that both sides can win. The Chinese company XIAOMI is a bit older than Yota, it was established 5 years ago, but it has already taken the leading position in smartphone sales. And they never wanted to “kill”, “overtake” or “bankrupt” someone, on the contrary, their CEO has always recognized how much he appreciates the genius of Steve Jobs and how much he has learned from Apple and other “elder brothers.” Peter The Great was not afraid to admit that Russia lost its leading position in a variety of industries, and sent everyone to study abroad. If you look at the number of people who go to study abroad from China or Singapore to the number of Russian students, there will be nothing to compare with.
However, one can understand the Russians — it’s difficult to do better if it feels good as it is. In principle, it’s a characteristic of human psychology — it’s easier to develop when you feel bad rather than good. Low motivation. A Russian classic once wrote: “Russia has two misfortunes — fools and roads.” But last year I used to modify his utterance saying that it’s oil and gas. It is very hard to change when so much money goes into the budget from the sale of hydrocarbons [Forbes]. Thank God, the sharp fall in oil prices will encourage us to diversify the economy, develop the Internet and technology companies, pay more attention to small and medium businesses, and in general, promote the entrepreneurial culture. Or not — Russia might get more angry at the world, “unite in the face of the enemy” and continue on a number of actions to spite.
Recently, the mayor of Kazan — one of the most technologically advanced cities in Russia, which wants to become a local Silicon Valley (read about the short life and speedy death of the other Russia’s Silicon Valley — Skolkovo — by Foreign Policy) — has said that schools should stop teaching Darwin’s theory, because it conflicts with Islam. Several other leaders of the Islamic republics of the Russian Federation, at that time held rallies and protests against the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and sympathizers of Charlie Hebdo.
I’m not afraid of economic and social problems — if I know what I’m fighting for and that someone needs it. I deeply love Russia. I love Russian culture. I am an Orthodox and regularly go to church. I would like this country to evolve and be as beautiful as it has always been in my heart. I would like to raise children and grandchildren in Russia. But looking at what’s going on right now, I understand that I will spend 3–5 years of my life in vain for a fight that nobody needs. A movie character once said: “This is not my war.” When we decided to relocate the fund, a number of countries — Great Britain, Estonia, Latvia, Hong Kong, Singapore, — invited us to move there and do business with them. The only country that did not care was Russia.
