To Russia With Love - Для России с любовью
My memories of Russia over a lifetime evoke a wide range of emotions. Born in 1948, I still remember McCarthyism and the Red Scare. As a child, I remember the fear I felt when an air raid siren went off unexpectedly in my home town. Of course, I experienced this within the safety of the United States which has not experienced a real war on native soil since the revolution of 1776. It does not compare with the horrors of World War II. Nonetheless, I felt fear and it was about attack from communist Russia.
In the 60s, the James Bond movies were very popular, so popular that they continue to make them to this day, even though they ran out of Ian Fleming books to base them on. I read all of the James Bond books. They had an exciting blend of action and sex that appeals to the teenage mind. Russian spying and intrigue was a theme that permeated the series.
Through the years, the influence of Russia on my life would appear, from time to time. The assassination of President Kennedy, who was beloved by many for his patriotism and championing of the U.S. comes to mind. There was the showdown over Russian missiles in Cuba. That was another day of fear. I can still recall riding home in the school bus wondering what was going to happen. Would there be nuclear war? I read a report recently that we really did come very close to war that day. Lee Harvey Oswald and his Russian connection raised even more questions about Russia's role in that troubling and sad affair.
The late 80s found me married to a West German woman from Hamburg. I went to visit her and her family. On the flight over, the plane was unexpectedly rerouted to Berlin! This was 1987 and the cold war was relatively quiescent, but I remember feeling apprehension at crossing over the "Iron Curtain" and flying over Soviet territory (East Germany). What if there was a problem? Would I get out? Needless to say, there was really nothing to worry about. It was a routine event, but I can remember looking out the plane's window and wondering about the mysterious Russia below that had always been an ominous threat in the background up to that point in my life.
My in-laws took me to the East German frontier where I saw the barbed wire and fortifications on the Russian border. It was a sight that stirred feelings of fear and apprehension though I was totally safe. An interesting part of that experience was learning of the dogs that patrolled the perimeter. They were not put there by the Russians to keep people out of Russia, but operated by the West Germans to stop anyone foolish enough to try to cross over.
The Berlin Wall is now history and as I see it, Russia is just another country in the geopolitics of the modern world, albeit a very powerful and influential one. Still, the Russian mystique pervades the contemporary atmosphere. The situation in Syria, the 2016 Election DNC scandal, along with President Trump's alleged Russian ties, these all make for head scratching questions about America's relationship with Russia.
My thing is the future. As a transhumanist, I hope for a better world where science and technology can provide solutions to the tough problems of aging and death. Man and machine can meld to form healthier, more intelligent and happier humans. Indeed, Russia has made it's fair share of scientific contributions to the world. After all, it was Russia's launch of Sputnik that gave America the kick in the pants it needed to get the space program rolling. Moreover, Russian science is a powerful force and I look forward to future developments.
I hope you enjoyed my recollections of Russia over the years and I invite you to visit my Biology of Aging Community on Google+ where I post about recent developments in life extension. There is also my Twitter feed at twitter.com/thetranshuman.
Finally, to celebrate my first post on Golos, I'm sending my blockchain buddies this song I recorded on my Korg MicroArranger about romance and intrigue and written during the cold war: From Russia With Love.