On Lessons Learned After 15 Years in Siberia: The Baha’i model is the only thing that’s kept me really afloat
The most important thing that I’ve learned from my multi-cultural life is that the Baha’i model is the only thing that’s kept me really afloat here. First off I’ve avoided the trap of extreme chauvinism that ails many ex-pats here and makes it so they can’t stick around for more than a few years.
This is a fascinating post from Coffee in Siberia? with love.-gw
what I’ve learned is that I should always be learning and not insisting until I’ve distilled what is TRUTH based on what is right from that which is an indoctrinated idea that may very well be a myth (on either the American or Russia side of my cultural fence). A great example of this TRUTH is a recent conversation I had with a business partner of mine. He told me of a conversation he had just had with a very well educated Russian professor of economics. The conversation went something like this… the professor asked, “Why do we need transparency?” My partner began to give a bunch of arguments, like in the long run it will pay off, but from the Russian point of view it seems the opposite, transparency is the formula for closing your business because it will not be profitable. One argument after another the professor batted down with examples of why one should not be transparent. Finally my business partner remembered the argument that Baha’u'llah used about why one should be honest and truthful, “Because it’s right!” As he relayed the story to me he said that the professor’s face totally changed and said something like, “Now that’s the real reason why…” This example shows that there are things that are universal and we should build on them, this is what will be the foundation of our new endeavors, our truly joint-ventures, our new civilization…
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