I, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, state...
A collective letter, compiled from letters of Russian speaking residents of New York, sent to "Citizens Magazine".
By Ilya Galak (Russian speaking resident of Staten Island)
I value my personal freedom, freedom that I never had under the triumphant socialist system in my former country.
I love having an autonomous and seemingly unlimited choice of partners, religions, political parties and lifestyles.
I love that I am personally responsible for the care and well-being of my wife, my children and myself.
I love that in America we are individuals, and recognize that people are different by nature and it is harmful to generalize, as if one size fits all.
I am for equality of opportunity rather than equality of wages.
I'm happy for my neighbor who buys a Mercedes 600 with money earned in the free-market, and not stolen from me and people like me, while pushing our country to ruinous inflation and ultimately, bankruptcy.
I am proud of the Americans who were able to create, store and convey to their posterity both material and the spiritual assets, despite the intractable resistance of many professional politicians who care only about their re-election
I am proud of the country where all people, regardless of race or religion, have the opportunity to prove themselves and take their rightful place on Earth. I bow to both Republican President Abraham Lincoln and African-American preacher, Martin Luther King for championing these cause, causes for which they paid with their lives.
I feel sorry for the huge number of my friends and acquaintances who are members of various "minorities." They are excellent professionals, hardworking employees and just wonderful people - people just like everyone else! They work, think, dream, and create; no worse and no less than whites. While I thank God that today's America is a country of equal opportunities, there are those gentlemen known as POLITICIANS who humiliate these people, labeling them with the pejorative term "minorities," providing handouts in exchange for votes, and forcing them into ghettos.
Give them a real opportunity to prove themselves! Give them the opportunity rise to the top of society, to achieve the American dream. These hard-working people deserve it! Do not humiliate or make them second-class citizens. They are talented and diligent! And remember, gentlemen politicians, that only a rich and prosperous state can truly help people of all races and religions to feel that they are equal MEMBERS OF SOCIETY! Think at least a little about the country and its citizens, not only of your re-election! Think of the debt your children and grandchildren will be left to pay for your waste and "political correctness". Above all, you're working against those people who believe in you, and do not understand that all your promises are baseless.
I do not accept the monopoly of the lazy that claims the right to speak on behalf of the state. I hate it when they tell me how to spend my money, what books to read in school, what products to buy in the stores, or how to travel when visiting friends abroad.
I will not accept the dictates of politicians, who believe that they can manage and trade what is not theirs - my life, liberty, property and the future of my children.
Socialists call me "opportunist" and "capitalist" because I work from morning till night, rather than lay all day on the couch with a bottle of beer demanding that my elected officials provide me with my equal share of the pie.
My sweat, muscle, time and money – these are the contributions I want to make to earn my way in society. But the choices of bureaucrats and sycophants are flattery, demands, organizing protest rallies. This form of exchange is not satisfying for me - but I am forced to participate, as they say this lie and tell me that this is good for society, nation and state.
What is the difference which methods are used to take up my time and steal my money? The society that abuses its productive citizens is immoral.
No, I'm not for anarchy. A government must exist! But if the greedy professional politicians, labor unions and specific community-based organizations for the benefit of that government and not for me, what purpose is the state serving?
In this sense it is worst of all possible worlds, because it enslaves, beguiles and humiliates its citizens - and not so much the rich as the poor. And in the course of the doing, politicians focus their innocent eyes and point their fingers at the "money-hungry businessmen”, entrepreneurs and ordinary, decent people.
I do not understand why the politicians, many of the "public" organizations and trade unions argue that the government is a bottomless pit from which you can pump an unending supply of money for all time. Even when there is no money!
Are they having problems doing the math? Re-allocation is possible only when there something to allocate! But when the country is bankrupt, what exactly do they want to redistribute? The money that remains in the hands of the wealthy? That will quickly run out as well, because no one is interested in creating wealth when it will assuredly be taxed away.
Do they not know the history at all – or do they just not care? Can they not learn from the collapse of the Soviet Union, leaving only the debris upon which criminal gangs proliferate, and where the majority of people live below the poverty line? I was not that long ago!
Then take a look at Greece today. The same policies and bureaucracies that threaten us here brought Greece to a state where there is no money to pay ANYONE – not even the unions or state employees that got her into this mess! Behold Greece, like the Soviet Union before it, a country of triumphant socialism!
SLOW down! Think about your children. They too want to live with dignity!
I am envied because I drive a good car, live in a nice house, provide my children with opportunities for a good education and every year take my family on vacation.
I refuse to apologize for these things - I have worked very hard in order to support myself and my family. Nor will I apologize for being a consumer of the finer things that life can provide. Why? Well, because I'm a workaholic. Because I put all of my soul into my own business and in my work! Because my brain is constantly working on ideas and methods to improve productivity.
I refuse to apologize for being professional in my work and doing it better than others. I do not think that because more people voluntarily hire me – rather than my competitors - is somehow to be considered a fault. I am not forcing them to do so – they hire me because it is beneficial to them. I refuse to apologize for my success, for my talents or my money. The source of my success lies not in my connections with bureaucrats, but in meeting the needs of people who hire me.
We do not need a middleman to sell services and goods; he is always cranking rates and increasing the risk of fraud to both seller and buyer. I do not need a mediator to help people build temples, dress orphans or support old age homes.
I voluntarily give my resources to the fight against poverty, because without money and education man goes out to rob or kill. I understand that, and readily support teachers, hospitals and police. But when the last shirt is torn off your back and you are charged with the obligation to share with professional beggars in the streets and in the office, you scoff at this form of enforced charity.
Here are my principles; I am not forcing you to take them on. I never force - I propose a "product" of material and spiritual values, services, or simply gifts and donations. If there is something you do not like, then do not buy, exchange, or accept. MARKET PRICE will tell me your choice and the degree of your satisfaction.
1. Don’t ask the politician to take from a neighbor what you personally are ashamed to beg for. Rely on yourself. If you did well – enjoy yourself. If you did poorly – accept the loss or bankruptcy or lack of friends and relatives. But do not blame the neighbor, if you yourself are lazy, if you have children from three marriages and can’t normally dress them, because you prefer drugs or beer to a normal upbringing of your children. Look in the mirror more often. Respect yourself, but do not blame your neighbor for your health problems.
2. When you lend money, requires an account. It does not matter whether a few cents to buy a roll for a son or a couple of million to pay in taxes to the state. You must know specifically who, what and how much is spent. Always compare and think, would this job be done at another place for less. Do not be shy to invite professional controllers. Only they can reveal professional crooks. Look to the results when judging politicians: another term, or behind bars.
3. Don’t trade in your conscience and principles. Do not cheat your neighbor or they will delight in deceiving you. It is fine to compromise, but only with small things. By stealing, raping, or betraying a partner, client, customer, taxpayer just once – you can put a stamp on yourself for a long time.
4. Judge or be judged. Always be able to defend your point of view. Tell the jerk that he is a jerk, tell the scoundrel that he is a scoundrel. Silence is all it takes for evil to rule the day. Do not be afraid to vote against, even if everyone else votes in favor. Perhaps it is not you; perhaps the whole world has gone mad. If you have something to say – speak up! It is easier for self-appointed revolutionaries or community organizers to use the silent, submissive majority. Form your own opinions, but do not think that it’s always right, be open to listen to the ideas of others. Do not pity the weak and dishonored, better to teach them how to be strong and find themselves.
5. Think! It does not hurt! To survive, nature has given you brains - the ability to think. You don’t have to think, either - nobody's forcing you – but if you don’t think, you will not enjoy work, or beer, or the spa, socializing, or sex. Why would you need this life? The sooner you learn to think, the quicker and more likely your find yourself on top of the human pyramid.
6. First, learn to think small. Experiment. Find partners and friends among the professionals, not the sycophants. Professionals always have something to offer in return for your brain, heart, or capital. Beware of the professional beggars in the streets and in the offices – they are only capable of solicitation and blasphemy. They will always bite the extended hand, because they hate the state of dependence, but cannot and do not want to shake off the sloth in order to change anything.
7. Respect tradition, but don’t stress yourself if you violate them. Customs and traditions were invented by people who, hundreds of years ago, had a pool of information that was vastly different. It's silly to require implementation of certain universal rules of conduct, particularly within the family.
8. Do not hide in the face and challenges of real life. It is not important what the problems are, because for many, you can only blame yourself. You made the wrong choice. In many cases, you did not control the situation. It is important to quickly begin to solve the problems rather than to pretend they don’t exist. Gather your forces, the means, the will, a plan of action. If necessary, form a team - and move forward. If something is not working, then ask a professional, rather than attempt to reinvent the wheel. You see, in this life it is hard to find a unique problem. Everything has already happened somewhere to someone.
Just don’t drink beer if you want to get rid of a hangover. Do not eat 7 times a day and before bedtime, if you want to lose weight. Do not waste your money, which you do not have, using endless supply of credit cards and mortgages. Payback time will come eventually. This applies to both individuals and businesses and even the whole government.
9. Do not try to change nature. Tractors with vertical takeoff and turning back of rivers already took place in the former Soviet Union. You do not have a magic wand, a flying carpet and a golden fish.
10. Do not walk past someone else's misfortune. When you help a neighbor - help, do not spit in his well, he needs it to drink. A poisoned well is of no service to anyone.
11. War is always the destruction, not creation of wealth. But if you are attacked, if they want to destroy all your values to impose their own, you should be ready and able to defend yourself.
12. Government, as a rule, is usually a negative factor in the family budget. Not everything in this world has a market price. Often, the pleasure derived from a grateful elderly or from your children may far exceed the profits earned from business dealings. At the same time, don’t forget that in order to be able to give, you first must earn.
13. Man does not live on bread alone. Don’t sponge off the charities; just get up and help. Because it is what you need. Because tomorrow, even you'll be old and feeble. Because it is an investment in your personal future. Because people are not bastards by nature. Bastards they become willingly and in good faith of the divinity of the most divine of all gods – PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS. People are good, honest, and responsive.
I am an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, I believe in man. I love people. I love America. I have every reason to believe that it is mutual.
