Everything about the Great British Baking Show is an insult to my Russian-Jewish cultural sensibility. 1) The contestants help each other? 2) Elderly women aren't questioning men's ability to bake 3) NOBODY WINS ANYTHING
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For anyone struggling to understand the confusion behind point 1, a different way of illustrating cultural norms: On the Russian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, they got rid of the 'Ask the Audience' option because the audience would deliberately lie to the contestant.
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Are Russians inherently malicious? I don't think so. But it's a non-Western culture that survived traumatizing experiences under communism. A certain cultural outlook forms in such a social milieu. Namely, one that rewards groups & punishes individuals out for themselves.
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Replying to @JewishWonk
I'm Polish and I think this cultural outlook predates communism; I would also expect a Polish audience to act similarly. Someone described our defining national trait as "disinterested envy"—we don't want other people to have nice things, even if we can't use them ourselves.
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Replying to @Pinboard
Strongly agree. I just think that the "group" vs "individual" dynamic was influenced by generations of forced collectivization.
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Replying to @JewishWonk
A fun drunk fight to have would be how much of this is recent collectivization vs. peasant wisdom dating all the way back to the days of serfdom. The roots of slavic culture can be surprisingly deep. It would be a fun comparative study.
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Replying to @Pinboard
It certainly would be! I would also argue the trajectory of communism in Eastern Europe was informed by that Slavic culture you're referring to.
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Oh unquestionably! Thank you for this wonderful thread
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