My answer to the appeal of Senator John McCain in “Pravda”
My answer to the appeal of Senator John McCain in “Pravda”
Dear Mr. McCain! I’d like to answer your appeal to Russian people as I’m myself a citizen of Russian Federation and reasonably expect your letter to be addressed to me as well.
To begin with I’d like to explain that when I write “You” I don’t mean just you personally but also the political party you represent.
As well let me tell you that I have a profound respect for you as both a person and a politician and I love and respect the USA, your people and culture. I expect Americans to be my brothers and sisters and hope that one day our countries will become sister nations.
I’m not going to speak about politics, I just want to respond to your appeal, passing over international relations. The things I’d like to tell may seem ordinary ones but they are the essence of my usual person life.
So let’s begin with the starting of your appeal. You write that you respect me, a Russian person, you believe me and consider me to be equal with the Americans. I refer to your words “…the Russian people, no less than Americans, are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But you don’t think so, at least I don’t see any corroboration of your words.
The process of getting entry visa to your country is so much complex and laborious for a Russian person that most tourists prefer visiting some other countries. I myself once wanted very much to visit America but was really impossible to collect all the necessary papers, while people of other nations don’t take a lot of trouble over it. If we go into problems of money I turn out to have no right of visiting your country having encash, I must have just a credit card. It can be explained with money-laundering control but what respect for me do you mean if my getting salary in cash makes you consider me a potential swindler?
According to your statement of my being equal to any American I should have the right of using even distant American worldwide Internet sites, but I can’t. A very popular trade site has got a limitation just for Russian people. It doesn’t let us have total good value more than $500. Thus having the picture by Monet, at the cost of $1000 000 I can estimate it at $500 just because I’m Russian. Hence I don’t have the right of quoting real price for my goods as all Europeans do because of my nationality. One more example. Another Internet site related to such popular nowadays crowdrising where I wanted to collect money for my ecological project doesn’t provide for Russian people registration. The same things happen at the scientific conferences which accept researches of scientists from all countries except mine. You don’t trust me as you a priori suppose me to be a swindler and limit my human rights just because I’m from Russia.
I’m an author of an independent scientific ecological research which I’ve been fulfilling for a few years since my being a student of ecological department and after a student of a post-graduate course. I several times applied by letter to a number of American universities with some scientific points but never had an answer. You consider me so faithless that even don’t keep the common rules of politeness. O.K., let’s leave science alone, but there is a matter concerning your department. I’ve got the hobby, it’s taking famous people likenesses and sending them their portraits. I received answers from H.H. the Dalai Lama, from our President Administration, from Venezuela Embassy, from Oleg Mitvol and from other places except your authorities because you don’t respect Russians.
You claim that you are on my side but against our government which supposedly infringes upon my rights and doesn’t let me develop myself. If you really thought so and worried about me and my problems as of an individual, you’d try to give me an opportunity to prove myself in your country. But instead a common man from Russia meets incredible obstacles on his way to the USA. I see that actually you are absolutely indifferent to my life and problems as well as lives and problems of my compatriots. You for some reasons don’t like our President and try to use Russian people in order to suit your own ends. You apply to a general concept “people”, and you love this “people,” respect us and wish we were happy, but when the conversation turns to a separate person as me it becomes evident that we are “second chop” people for you.
In the end I can’t trust you appeal to Russian people, because:
you don’t respect me as a personality as all your organizations I addressed to didn’t even answer my letters;
you don’t esteem my human rights and don’t consider me to have the same rights with the Americans as just the information about my nationality is enough for you to tacitly put me in the worst conditions at any virtual site of your country from virtual shops to scientific conferences;
You are afraid of me since you as hard as you can prevent me from visiting your country. You expect me to be a deceiver and a person having potential criminal behavior as you make much more greater demands of me than of a person of any other nationality.
As for me I like and respect American people without any reserve or double game. It doesn’t matter for me who rules the USA: Republicans or Democrats as I mean every American person irrespective of his nationality, religion or party membership but not of some abstract people as a whole.
I may seem too censorious but I expect myself to be pro-American person as you allege yourself pro-Russian politic and I regard you all as my brothers and sisters so I believe we will again restore that level of mutual understanding and real rapprochement we had at the beginning of the 90th of last century.
With respect and best wishes to you and all your country,
Artemiy Chayko (AKA Archy Goncharov in WEB)
Here is a Russian version of this article