Specifics of European and Eastern mentality. Test “what is your mentality: Western or Eastern

The mentality of the ancient Eastern peoples was very unique. Social consciousness has a charismatic character here: reality is perceived through sensory experience (hearing, feeling, seeing) and through faith in divine powers. The purpose of the existence of societies is understood in the East as movement and approach to some higher divine ideal. Hence the comprehension of the highest sacred meaning, rather than the implementation of specific human goals - main the value of the life of the peoples of the East. The desire for spiritual perfection and the fervor of religious search are characteristic of both Hinduism and Buddhism in India and Taoism in China. In terms of worldview, in Eastern civilizations there is no division of the world into the world of nature and society, natural and supernatural. Therefore, the perception of the world an oriental person a syncretic approach is inherent, expressed in the formulas “all in one” or “all in all”. From point of view religious life, Eastern culture is characterized by a moral and volitional attitude toward contemplation, serenity, and mystical unity with natural and supernatural forces. In Eastern worldview systems, a person is absolutely not free; he is predetermined in his actions and fate by cosmic law.

Unlike ancient culture man does not strive here for external freedom, creating a new extra-natural human world, he tries to dissolve himself completely in the world of the eternal and divine nature of the Whole, thereby achieving inner freedom. This is exactly how in the East (India, China, Japan) the image of the supreme sage is presented, a person who completely denies the external, deceptive world, dissolving himself in the eternal flow of life of Tao, or finding peace within himself. This is how a person merges with Being and achieves what is violated by the human mind. eternal harmony. It is precisely this state that a person experiences in the act of instantaneous insight “satori”, which is at the same time an awakening from the “sleep” of everyday life. To achieve such states, the East offers many psycho-physical spiritual practices (yoga, qigong, martial arts).

Eastern societies are built on the dominance of community ties and the principles of collectivism. In practice, this meant that, from birth, a person’s fate is determined by belonging to a social group (caste, clan, class, community, etc.) Personal interests are completely subordinated to the community. Behind social group the type of activity and profession are fixed, which are passed on from generation to generation without changing. A person cannot change his occupation; this would be a violation of tradition, an insult to his ancestors and the divine order of things. This type of culture is usually called traditional.

The entire religious and philosophical thought of the East is also oriented towards tradition, but a spiritual tradition. Indian, Chinese, and other eastern philosophers did not strive, no matter what, to say a new word, but considered it their duty to preserve the achievements of their predecessors and deepen their intuitive insights. Thus, the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius claimed that he was not composing anything, but expounding the truth of the ancient sages. The transmission of truth in the form of spiritual tradition is carried out from teacher to student. Moreover, in contrast to the European educational tradition, where the student became acquainted with the teachings of his teacher through the text, which is what the term “knowledge” itself implied, in the East, the transfer of truth from teacher to student was carried out exclusively through the independent and direct experience of this truth by the student. That is, here “knowledge” acts as a personally lived experience that expands the student’s consciousness. But, nevertheless, the translator in the transmission of truth, which is eternal and therefore traditional, is the Teacher, who embodies the highest spiritual authority. What explains such reverence for the figure of the Teacher in the East? Unlike Europe, the Teacher who reveals the light of truth to his students must live and practice by personal example what he preached. Here the attitude towards the word was completely different than in the West. The mentor's hypocrisy and deceit, the discrepancy between his words and deeds, were regarded as complete “ignorance,” and this did not give him the right to be called a Teacher.

The Austrian psychologist Carl Jung, using psychological terms, proposed to consider the West and the East in psychological in terms of extroversion (West) and introversion (East), meaning, respectively, turning outward to transform the world, and inward, to transform oneself in a single natural-social world. Indeed, all ancient Eastern cultures are, first of all, culturally introverted, aimed at themselves, towards consciousness and self-awareness. That is why the Eastern sages were so successful in understanding man. While European culture can be called extroverted, aimed at understanding all the diversity outside world, by increasing more and more new knowledge, with the goal of gaining dominance over the world. It's different in the East. Education here is based not on acquiring new knowledge, but on mastering sacred traditions, traditions, religious texts. This is how the stability and traditionalism valued in the East are achieved. While any innovations or changes are rejected because they contradict the divine commandments. This achieves the resilience of cultures and societies of the East, despite natural and social disasters.

In the traditions of the eastern cultures of India, China, and Japan, the individual “I” is understood as a selfish and very changeable human existence and is the main obstacle to the search for true knowledge. Unlike European culture, where the intrinsic value of human individuality is elevated to the highest absolute, in Indian religious and philosophical thought, liberation from the “I” is main task a novice adept embarking on the path of spiritual self-improvement. From the point of view of Buddhism, “I”, “ego”, “selfhood” are the main obstacles to the path of true knowledge and spiritual “liberation” of a person.

Many books devoted to the achievement of true wisdom emphasize the serene joy of a person who has been able to “leave himself” and eliminate all images of himself. Perhaps the reluctance to have one’s own “I”, characteristic of the Indian or Chinese understanding of personality, will seem abnormal to a Western person. But the desire of a European to clearly define the firm boundaries of his “I” will seem just as abnormal to both the Indian and the Chinese!

To society traditional type corresponds to a special way of thinking, which received in scientific literature name of the eastern one. When comparing it with the West (ancient and modern European), differences are revealed in the social and individual consciousness of these societies. In contrast to the logical and active transformative thinking of the ancient Greeks and modern Europeans, in the East the contemplative attitude of man towards the world dominates. Unlike the Greeks and Romans, who for the first time tried to reflect reality through logical concepts, the sage in the East tried to express this through an image, a parable and a myth. Here, the ideal of the thinker was not a researcher who comprehensively understands the world around him and transforms it on the basis of knowledge, but a sage who listens to himself and tries to understand the world through himself. The absence of opposition between subject and object, their perception in unity (for example, in Zen Buddhism and Taoism), inseparability, excluded the appearance in the East of ontological and epistemological problems in the form in which they existed in ancient and European philosophy. But ethical issues about right life becomes central to Eastern philosophy and religion. Brahmanism, Hinduism, Chan and Zen Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism - at the center of all these directions of Eastern thought are moral principles people, rules and regulations of the organization social life, methods of mental self-regulation.

The East, unlike the West, has always demonstrated a different attitude towards life and death. Here, where periods of social silence and passivity lasted for centuries, culture developed a social-normative concept of care: from public life(monasticism) and from the worries and disappointments associated with it (contemplative “inaction”), from life in general (samurai suicide) or an even more radical departure from being into non-existence (nirvana). The person himself, the personality in the East never had its own value. Man is a grain of sand on the shore of the ocean of eternity, nothing depended on him. Hence one of characteristic characters Eastern culture type-person in a boat without oars, the flow of the river (time) determined a person’s life, i.e. traditions, the state, nature determined the path of human life, so man did not need oars. It's hard to imagine such an image for Western culture. And even if you imagine, the ending of this plot would be different, for example: a man tears off part of the board from the boat, directs it to the shore, and at the same time chooses his own further route. Because this is precisely the sociocultural type of a person of Western culture, opposite in every way to a person of the East.

We answer 10 simple questions, calculate the final score, and see the results!

1. What, in your opinion, determines our future to a greater extent?

a) God, providence - O

b) Our actions - 1

2. How do you prefer to represent your importance in the Universe?

a) I am just one representative of a huge number of people -1

b) I am a small part of the universe - Oh

3. When you have troubles, how do you cope with them?

a) I get very upset and show strong emotions – 1

b) I try not to give away my reaction in any way, I worry in silence, I go deeper into myself - O

4. In what case, in your opinion, will a person work better?

a) If he was well trained -1

b) If anything inspires him to do this work - O

5. What do you strive for more?

a) Understand this world - O

b) Achieve success in this world -1

6. How do you feel about sudden, radical changes?

a) They are necessary – 1

b) They are dangerous - Oh

7. Does it make sense to try to see as many cities and different countries?

a) You must try to know yourself first of all and find happiness in the place that fate has assigned you - O

b) Of course, by learning about the lives of others, we get to know ourselves better -1

8. Which definition of “fate” is closest to you?

a) Everything that happens to us is fate - O

b) We make our destiny with our own hands -1

9. How do you feel about traditions?

a) Respectfully, people have been hoarding them for years and years, our task is to support them - O

b) Traditions are invented by people and abolished by them - 1

10. What do you strive for more?

a) To learn as much as possible -1

b) Fortunately - O

Spoiler

3 points or less. Eastern mentality.

The most important thing for you is to think about yourself, about your own place in this world. Understanding who you are and why you were given life is a question to which you are ready to devote years. At the same time, you do not take current events in real life so seriously and view them as if from afar. Some Eastern religions consider the issue of reincarnation (transmigration of souls), and this, of course, left an imprint on the mentality of the people of the East. For them, the current life is not the only one, so there is still a lot of time to think about and correct mistakes. You are characterized by moral stability, stability of views, and recognition of authorities. You respect any antiquity, honor traditions sanctified by centuries. You are convinced that spiritual life is more important than material life. The pursuit of worldly success is not for you. Yours best time will come in old age.

4-6 points. Russian mentality.

The name of this category is arbitrary, since Russians, of course, are representatives Western world. However, for the sake of the theory of “Eurasian civilization,” this option should also be considered. Russians seem to be carriers of the moral values ​​of both the East and the West. Respect for the elderly, hospitality, the desire for spirituality - this is from the East. From the West we got openness, a thirst for knowledge, a desire for comfort and much more. The result was a people, intelligence and Vital energy which are so strong that they help us out in the most difficult situation. If you fall into this category, you probably have extraordinary mind(this does not depend on education), you have creative talents and, most likely, are capable of heroic things.” A person with your mentality often values ​​other people's lives more than their own. And you yourself live as if you feel some kind of mission. If you have already realized it, if you, say, understand that your mission is to create a family, raise children, help the unfortunate, make as many friends as possible, and so on, then your most productive time is maturity. And if you have not yet understood why you live, then the time has not come. But it can come at any time.

7 points or more. Western mentality.

You consider yourself first and foremost an individual. Your goal in life is to achieve as much success as possible. You know that life is given to a person only once, so every day lived is valuable. You view life as service: a person must serve God, himself, his family, his friends and even the whole world. You believe that one person can change the world, and you don't rule out that you could be that person. You consider education and professionalism to be the most important personality asset. And the main task of anyone living on earth is to do business, that is, study or work. Changing the surrounding reality for the better is not only useful, but also pleasant. You live in the real world and value first of all what brings benefit and success. Your best time is youth..

A friend sent me this letter by mail, read it, it’s very interesting.

Something to think about...

A quick overview of the sociocultural differences between European and Eastern mentality.

.... people simply do not understand the reasons why “refugees” act the way they do, because they approach the understanding of their actions with their own “European” standards, which are at least naive, and in fact short-sighted.
Some things simply cannot occur to a European, even if they are turned upside down and shaken.
Due to the relevance, I decided to share my life experience on the topic of the Arab mentality, in no way pretending to be complete and exclusive, and I will be glad if there are people who also have practical experience immersion and understanding.

I'll start with what I love Arabic East. Yes, yes, I love him. Arabic unrealistically cool, I can’t wait to retire when I finally have time to finish my education.
I wore women's closed Muslim clothing (out of curiosity), I liked it. These clothes make you change your step and make your gait simply extremely feminine. Wedding dresses I really like them, but for everyday life.
Yes I...eh)
The East generally cannot have a more loyal supporter than me.
That is why everything I say - I say without anger, from the standpoint of a keen understanding that the West is West, East is East.
I know that the power of the East is immeasurable compared to us and they will sweep us away like microbes from the face of civilization.
The fact that I really love the Arab world is absolutely no reason to destroy Europe as a branch human development, in much the same way as you prevent your flowerbed from being destroyed simply because the vitality of the weeds is several orders of magnitude higher.
You can be called a racist against weeds all you want, but for some reason you continue to weed your flowerbed...

Now for the practical training..
1. Warm up.
Just to start with something simple, let's start with the bazaar, the easiest place to start feeling the difference.
...I asked my friends how many times should I lower the price at the market in order not to be a tourist sucker.
I'm not greedy. I’m just not a tourist here, and don’t treat me like a tourist.
Not right away, but they admitted that we need to lower the price by 15-20 times, but without a local assistant I will never be able to do this.
I became sad. A bit much. Especially without fluent Arabic.
I decided to be realistic and aim for 10 times.
Regarding Europe, you yourself know that if you managed to reduce the price by 2 times, then the purchase was a success, if by three times, your level is “God”.
None of the Europeans will simply raise the price of their goods for a foreigner 20 times simply because you assume that he should have this money.
.. every day, like going to work, I go to the market and learn to bargain. The number of items purchased for training purposes is growing at an alarming rate, and I am figuring out who and when I will give them away. I started reducing the price five times almost immediately, after struggling for a couple more days, I improved the result to seven, and then things stalled.

I just can't figure out the crap they're doing to beat me in our argument, and it's pissing me off. NLP doesn't work on them.
...the suitcase announced that I could only buy one more large item. I go for an antique dish that I spotted in a store window. I usually reduce the price by seven times, but this is my last! a chance not to fail my studies, and I continue to bargain.
The situation is heating up.

The owner throws into battle a “silver” antique knife, which I briefly touched, and we start anew. The show goes to a new level, the owner gets into my dish with both feet and jumps in it, proving what an exceptional thing it is.
I already know this, but - at least at 9 am...
Suddenly the owner turns purple and begins to rant in some Berber language, apparently throwing out choice curses.

I get scared and am about to move my feet, but suddenly from the depths of my foggy consciousness emerges the memory that only if the owner swears and curses you, only then can you be sure that you received a more or less fair price. He silently packs the dish, showing with all his appearance that I robbed him, and I snort angrily on the way out.
The next day, when I pass by (I went to the oils section, but bargaining there is blasphemy), he rushes to hug me and drags me in for tea. Every day I explain that I won't buy anything else, and every day the result is that we sit, sip freshly brewed mint and chat about life.
A week later he asks me if I am ready to buy an inkwell. I tried with all my might not to look at the ancient Arabic inkwell, but the more I tried, the more I realized that its place was on my desk.
I don’t want to bargain, I already feel guilty for snatching a museum-quality object from him on the cheap, I know that I’ll take an inkwell for any money and I’m internally preparing for anything, but suddenly the price turns out to be what’s called “without asking.” I go to the shop opposite, buy all sorts of cheesecakes fried in honey, and this time the owner and I not only drink his tea, but also eat my buns.
I feel good. I feel like I'm at home.

Further thesis.
1. Attitude towards children.
I laugh at naive people, who believe that “refugees” are running to save children.
In the Arab world there is no such “tremor” over our children as we have; the attitude towards children is more than calm.
Probably, exactly the same attitude was in Russia 150 years ago, when families had 10-12 children, and there was no way to take special care of them. "God gave - God took."
Arab families still have many children. A lot. With particularly acute curiosity, I talked to people who had 7 children (I was never able to meet parents with so many children on the European continent). It’s no joke, raising so many!
First of all, you see enormous parental fatigue and emotional burnout.

I think that this determines the situation.
And you see very high demands on children - they are seen primarily as an instrument for the family’s survival. A three-year-old boy at the market helps his father lay out something there and tries to attract passers-by - and his father only restrainedly praises him. Who here moaned about the fact that refugee children are forced to work from the age of 6? Do you think they were taken to figure skating by the hand before this?

Yes, by the way, in ordinary local schools children are still punished with a whip.
The complete lack of our sense of significance and the importance of children reaches the point that the parents themselves will ask the girl who has disgraced the family to commit self-immolation. In a good way, in a good way. Otherwise they will have to do it themselves.
Again, there is no desire to condemn this. The same 150 years ago, in our country, a disgraced girl could have just drowned herself, she didn’t care more life there wouldn't be. However, the question is, do those who traveled to Europe from Russia want to end up back in the same Russia, only 150 years ago?
I hope, after my explanation, it will be more clear HOW children end up on leaky rafts on the open sea and how rare “refugee” fathers with small children in their arms for some reason climb to the forefront of clashes with the police.

2. Lies.
Lying is the norm of life. It is so comprehensive that in fact you find yourself in some kind of unreality, like the tales of 1000 and one night, and you will doze off to it, like that Shah.
They can lie about everything. When the plumber arrives, talk about the quality of the product and be sure to talk about any services provided. The “best” guide may not know anything at all about the city, and the “best car” will definitely turn out to be a rare sob.
Sometimes they can lie simply out of generosity. Well, they really want to help you, so they will promise you just to please you (you were happy, right? Well, that’s it for you :), without having any possibility in principle to fulfill what they promised. Having done something “pleasant” for you, they will be very satisfied with themselves and it will not even occur to them to experience any moral inconvenience. And sometimes they can lie with the best intentions, sincerely believing that some other decision will be better for you than the one you are about to take.

3. Theft
Theft is generally not considered something reprehensible. This is, rather, a kind of norm of life, something from the “daring” section.
You can cut tourists' wallets, or you can steal panties from your neighbor's balcony.
So what if your neighbor might start yelling, anyway, tomorrow his son might steal your bike, and you’ll be even.
In general, this is more like a kind of primitive communal consciousness, when everything belongs to one tribe, so the thing can be used by the one who needs it most.
They say that in the Emirates they cut off hands for theft, but I wasn’t there, my mother didn’t allow me. She, like so many others, was extorted at the hotel a large sum on the road, and since I don’t understand how this differs from theft, I decided to refrain from such an extremely ambiguous morality for now..
And we’re not talking about rich, prosperous countries.

4. Hygiene.
To see and understand this in its entirety, everyone needs to live in the medina - the heart of an Arab city.
Of course, it is dangerous to walk alone in the medina, primarily because you will definitely get lost without any chance of getting back, but you can take a guide.
The concept of hygiene does not exist there at all.
Slops are poured at the feet of passers-by, a live bird is gutted right on the same table where it was bought, and if the buyer does not take the offal, then they are again thrown at the feet of passers-by, and it’s good if dogs come to the rescue, but local suffocated people most often do not can consume the volume of offal that is sent to the floor.
The tanning and dyeing industry also dumps its waste somewhere right on the street, which is why there are some white puddles of unknown chemical origin.
And in many places there is a rare, simply fantastic stench on the level of a gas chemical attack.
I’m not criticizing, this way of life has been around for thousands of years, but do you want to be in that millennium?
I won’t tell you about how beautiful and majestic the medina is (especially at sunset, when storks fly home from the fields). Not this time.
Today I will tell you that no matter how many times you go outside the city wall to meet storks, your joy will be overshadowed by the sight of half a dozen men pissing on the thousand-year-old wall of their hometown. No, not in some secluded place, but in front of a couple of dozen people walking here or women and children. But you won’t have time to be offended, because you will immediately see something even more shocking - a couple of men sitting down “seriously”. Everything is right there in plain sight.
The walls of the medina reach 20 meters thick. Although completely stinking, she endures.
What about the walls of your houses?

5. Work
In the West, from childhood, people are instilled with a feeling of guilt if you don’t work (don’t study, don’t put away toys...)
The highest form of imposing this feeling of guilt is subbotniks, when you have to do someone else’s work for free and in your free time.
In the East, the only decent job for a man is trade.
But it’s much more decent to sit in a coffee shop all day, sip coffee and babble with other similar slackers and look at passers-by.
I racked my brains for a long time, what do they live off of, or are they all big-haired heirs?
But then I realized that people live according to the Soviet “accord system” of earning money. Sell ​​someone something for 200% of the price - and again you can sit with respected people in cafes for a month.
If you try to explain there what a “subbotnik” is (just for fun), they will think that you are out of your mind.
But those who believe that a million workers have poured into their hands are much more out of their minds.
And in conclusion, I bring to your attention an absolutely brilliant story (not mine), in which the author himself is not yet able to understand to what heights of foresight he rises.

In this question "who will gather whom, the whale or the elephant?" European culture and mentality will be mechanically replaced Arab world within 5-10 years, if the new arrivals are not sent home.
You can feel sorry for them, you can shed a mean Dostoevsky tear, but the problem is that they will not feel sorry for you, because even if this concept exists in their mentality, it certainly does not apply to you.
Therefore, ask yourself where the line is between pity and a sense of self-preservation, and read the rules of the rescuers.
The rescuer, for your information, must first make sure that his life is not in danger.
P.S. Please note that I am writing without anger, just about what I know well.
If this makes you angry and wants to offend the author, this is your fear looking for a way out. Think about it before you comment.
aurora_hws wrote to pora_valit September 10, 2015

(to the lecture: Ethnic psychology and culture. Psychological dimension of cultures)

The differences between the West and the East are profound. For example, what is for different cultures human life? For the West, it seems to be considered main value. But in the East, this is not so simple. Shaheeds blow themselves up in the crowd to get to heaven, and society approves of this. In some Asian regions, the custom of blood feud still exists. And in China at the time cultural revolution“They even believed that it wouldn’t be a shame to destroy a quarter of the country’s population so that the remaining three-quarters could live happily. On the other hand, what has the Western way of life given to the world over the past hundred years? The pursuit of super wealth moral decay, world wars and such a frantic arms race that humanity almost wiped itself off the face of the earth. So the two sides of the world clearly understand happiness differently. This means that they strive for different things and live differently. It will be useful to determine which type of worldview each of us is closer to.

1. What, in your opinion, determines our future to a greater extent?

A) god, providence - 0

B) our actions - 1

2. How do you prefer to represent your importance in the universe?

A) I am just one representative of a huge number of people - 0

B) I am a small part of the universe - 1

3. When you have troubles, how do you cope with them?

A) I get very upset, show strong emotions - 1

B) I try not to give away my reaction in any way, I worry in silence, I delve into

4. In what case, in your opinion, will a person work better?

A) if he was well trained - 1

B) if something inspires him to do this work - 0

5. What do you strive for more?

A) understand this world - 0

B) achieve success in this world - 1

6. How do you feel about sudden, radical changes?

A) they are necessary - 1

B) they are dangerous - 0

7. Does it make sense to try to see as many cities and different countries as possible?

A) you must try to know yourself first of all and find happiness in the place that fate has assigned you - 0

B) of course, because by learning about the lives of others, we get to know ourselves better -1

8. Which definition of “fate” is closest to you?

A) everything that happens to us is fate - 0

B) we make our destiny with our own hands - 1

9. How do you feel about long-standing traditions?

A) society cannot exist without traditions, our task is to support them, not to change what has developed over the years - 0

B) traditions are invented by people and abolished by them - 1

10. What do you strive for more?

A) to learn as much as possible - 1

B) fortunately - 0

3 points or less. Eastern mentality. The most important thing for you is to think about yourself, about your own place in this world. Understanding who you are and why you were given life is a question to which you are ready to devote years. At the same time, to current events real life you don't take them so seriously and look at them a little from afar. Some Eastern religions consider the issue of reincarnation (transmigration of souls), and this, of course, left an imprint on the mentality of the people of the East. For them, the current life is not the only one, so there is still a lot of time to think about and correct mistakes. You are characterized by moral stability, stability of views, and recognition of authorities. You respect any antiquity, honor time-honored traditions. You are convinced that spiritual life is more important than material life. The pursuit of worldly success is not for you. Your best time will come in old age.

4-6 points. Russian mentality. The name of this category is conditional, of course, they are representatives of the Western world. However, for the sake of the theory of “Eurasian civilization,” this option should also be considered. Russians seem to be carriers moral values both East and West. Respect for the elderly, hospitality, the desire for spirituality - this is from the East. From the West we got openness, a thirst for knowledge, a desire for comfort and much more. As a result, a people has emerged whose intellect and vital energy are so strong that they help us out in the most difficult situations. If you fall into this category, then you probably have an extraordinary mind, have creative talents and, most likely, are capable of real feat. For “every Russian has something heroic.” A person with your mentality often values ​​other people's lives more than their own. And you yourself live as if you feel some kind of mission. If you have already realized it, if you, say, understand that your mission is to create a family, raise children, help the unfortunate, make as many friends as possible, and so on, then your most productive time is maturity. And if you have not yet understood what you are living for, then the time has not come. But it can come at any time.

7 points or more. Western mentality. You consider yourself, first of all, an individual. Your goal in life is to be as successful as possible. You know that life is given to a person only once, so every day lived is valuable. You view life as service: a person must serve God, himself, his family, his friends and even the whole world. You believe that one person can change the world, and you don't rule out that you could be that person. You consider education and professionalism to be the most important personality asset. And the main task of anyone living on earth is to do business, that is, study or work. Changing the surrounding reality for the better is not only useful, but also pleasant. Do you live in real world and value above all what brings benefit and success. Your best time is youth.

To be honest, the news I read today about the kidnapping of more tourists in Sinai has me tense. You will say: “since when is Sasha bothered by such news? Tourists have been kidnapped before, but you continued to go to Dahab and didn’t worry.” Of course, the mess didn’t start yesterday, and you and I have known for a long time that most of The Sinai Peninsula is not controlled by the authorities, and its north is completely in the hands of jihadists. Moreover, exactly a year ago I published a post “”, where I discussed in detail the topic of kidnapping, drug trafficking and even numerous murders of African illegal immigrants in the vast expanses of the Egyptian Sinai. What has changed now? Two things that will seem insignificant to a person far from the Middle East -

Firstly, the careless Egyptian police, under the influence of the general chaos in the country, lost fear and began to attract tourists, which had never happened before. Secondly, never before have terrorists gotten so close to a tourist area. Please note that the bandits stopped a taxi with tourists on the main road leading from Taba on the border with Israel to the youth resort of Dahab. This road has always been considered the safest in all of Egypt; I myself have traveled along it dozens of times. Thirdly, everything around is even visually deteriorating, from the roads, which no one has repaired for two years now (since the overthrow of Mubarak), to the infrastructure of the Egyptian security services. The following shots are unlikely to make you feel protected, nor will the pissing law enforcement officers. Thanks for the photos curiousalex , who staged a photo hunt for Egyptian border guards patrolling the border between Egypt and Israel, see his post " Along the border with a camera" -

But actually I wanted to talk about something else -

Features of Eastern mentality

More than 10 years ago, as a simple soldier in the Israeli army, I was sometimes surprised at how harshly the military sometimes treated the Palestinians. The fact is that quite often I was sent as a driver of a patrol jeep to the Palestinian territories in support of the border police or paratroopers. I remember many harsh rules regarding the local population, which were due to security reasons, but often seemed to me an excess. For example, as punishment for throwing stones at Israeli cars, we could close the exit from some Arab village and prevent them from going to work, to the hospital, or to study all day. But then the alarmed village elders appeared and tearfully promised the military to curb the hooligans, after which it was quiet for a month or two, and no stones were thrown. And here’s another thing: there was a rule that no one could overtake a patrol jeep driving slowly along the road, so a convoy of Arab cars lined up behind us. It would seem that we are driving 30 km/h and are in no hurry, why make it so that fifty cars trail behind us? Let them overtake! That's what I thought. And the officer explained to me that it is very easy to shoot us point-blank from an overtaking car, but when they are trailing behind, it is much more difficult. Let’s say, I agreed, but such incidents happen extremely rarely, we are essentially punishing thousands ordinary people, who have not done anything wrong to us. The officer had an answer to this too -

...We taught the Arabs to live in a certain coordinate system, clearly drawing the lines of what is permitted. Sometimes the innocent suffer, yes. But the peculiarity Arab mentality is respect for the strong and contempt for the weak. They perceive any indulgence as weakness and immediately conquer living space; for them there are no concepts of ethics and the value of human life. If we weaken, they will tear us to pieces...

The idea is that, in the officer’s opinion, it is impossible to negotiate with this audience in a human way. You cannot meet them, shake hands and agree: up to this tree is your land, and then it’s mine. No! It’s possible with a European, but not with an Arab. Because as soon as you give him your hand and take a step back (as agreed), he will decide, “Loshara, are you a weakling for agreeing to make concessions? Well, well, right now I’ll throw you out of here completely.”

Returning to Egypt

To be honest, I did not agree with the officer. Seriously, is it really possible to keep an entire nation in line because of a certain number of bastards and terrorists? This is illogical and unfair. But life showed that the officer was certainly right in part of his arguments. In the East the weak are not tolerated; they are trampled and their living space is conquered. Egyptian President Mubarak kept a tight rein on a huge state of 80 million people, the bulk of the population of which are illiterate peasants, embittered at their miserable and hopeless fate. Mubarak dressed some of the peasants in military uniform and gave some money, following the principle “the best overseer is ex-slave". And these cattle, in uniform, began to spread rot on their own fellow citizens. But this is the Arab East, where such a system is everywhere, it is impossible otherwise - they will trample.

What happened? There is no longer the stern Pharaoh Mubarak, who could praise or chop off his head. And the illiterate people were at a loss at the first moment, how could this be? Will no one hit us over the head anymore if we ask for an extra loaf of bread? For about a year, people watched closely, expecting a catch; What if Pharaoh returns and punishes for disobedience? But the pharaoh never returned. And the people realized that it had arrived finest hour. Now you can do whatever comes into the brainless head of a sexually preoccupied, illiterate fellah. You can rob your neighbor, you can burn down Christian churches, you can rape women, you can kidnap tourists. Finally, happiness has knocked on the door of ordinary Egyptians, do whatever you want, and nothing will happen to you for it!

As you can see, the situation is developing exactly as that Israeli officer said. As soon as the system of total control and the inevitability of punishment collapsed, the crowd immediately lost fear and went on the offensive. Today, having kidnapped tourists directly from the tourist area, the cattle have won more living space for themselves. They will only advance, carefully taking the next step (testing the government for lice); if they don’t get hit on the head, they will capture more and more. This is what Eastern mentality is.

Clean up Egypt in 24 hours

If Mubarak had been released from a Cairo prison and asked to restore order in the country within 24 hours, he would have started with napalm. Bedouins kidnapped a tourist? What tribe? Such and such? Raze all their villages to the ground, shoot and burn them all. Are there still problems, say there are queues at gas stations and fuel is being stolen? No problem: cut off the head of Morsi and all Islamists, hang the governor of Sinai, shoot the head of the police, rip out the index finger from each of the drivers of all oil tankers who dump gasoline “bypass the cash register.” Then Mubarak would have lunch (a hard day) and by the evening he would restore order in the country. What, did someone remember about democracy? Checkers for you, or let's go?

Values ​​of democracy in the Arab East

Two things: democracy is the right of the majority to destroy the minority, and democracy is the right to make a choice. The first and last choice in their life. They removed Pharaoh Mubarak - a much dumber and more evil Islamist Pharaoh Morsi came in. There will be chaos and bloodshed. By the way, exactly the same thing is happening these days in Syria.