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европейские ценности

российские ценности

традиционные

новые

традиционные

новые

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Ценности

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise; Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.

May the best man win; It’s a dog-eat-dog world

A man’s home is his castle

Every cloud has a silver lining; Look on the bright side; tomorrow is another day; Sky is the limit; every problem has a solution

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again

Where is a will there is a way; sky is the limit

Actions speak louder than words.

A penny saved is penny earned; Waste not, want not; Save something for a rainy day

Stand on your own two feet; Pull yourself by the bootstraps; Life is what you make it; Every man for himself; you have to blow your own horn

He travels the fastest who travels alone;

She is always beating around the bush; straight talk, straight answer, straight shooter; Tell it as it is

Cleanliness is next to godliness

Time is money; time has a wallet; an inch of time is an inch of gold; don’t waste five-dollar time on a five-cent job; time is capital: invest it wisely; time is like money: once spent, I can never be spent again, another day, another dollar; seconds are the gold dust of time; use time as though you knew its value; he that gains time, gains all things; nothing is more precious than time, yet nothing is less valued; time is a limited resource; time is a valuable commodity; A stitch in time saves nine; Time and tide wait for no man;

God helps those who help themselves

Don’t judge a book by its cover; all that glitters isn’t gold

The squeaky wheel gets the grease

Пословицы

Ценности

Не красна изба углами, а красна пирогами

Скучен день до вечера, когда делать нечего;

Без труда не вытащишь и рыбку из пруда; Работа не волк, в лес не убежит; работа дураков любит; от работы кони дохнут; трудом праведным не наживешь палат каменных; любишь кататься, люби и саночки возить

Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей; один в поле не воин; ум хорошо, а два лучше

Русский медленно запрягает, да быстро едет

Семеро одного не ждут; Время – понятие растяжимое

Двум смертям не бывать, а одной не миновать

Береженого бог бережет;

Где родился, там и пригодился

Equality/egalitarianism: Equality is understood as equality of opportunity (basic traditional value). Equality has its expression in rejecting class distinctions (at least openly); status of a person is little acknowledged (there are no hereditary rights); one tends to treat others as peers; people are evaluated on the merit of their work, immigrants succeed in business (there are equal chances for success). Special forms of address based on the social status, age, gender are not common in the U.S. Equality explains informality in American general behavior and in their relationships with other people.

Historically, equality/egalitarianism was a life philosophy, it was understood absolutely: equal payment was assigned for different work both in Old Russia (when there used to be communities (obshchiny) and during the Soviet period with its system of distribution where benefits were supposed to be equal, hereditary rights were not recognized. The influence of this is felt even now, but still it is gradually changing: more often one can see the recognition of merit based privileges; distribution is gradually turning to be fairer – according to the contribution. Unfortunately, the division between the poor and the rich is presently much greater.

Equality of sexes: this value is displayed in many things starting from quotas for women at enterprises; going Dutch; rejecting help in getting off the bus; carrying heavy things; jokes underlying the sex differences are considered to be rude and are not told. There are many female bosses, owners of companies, women in the government, etc. On the other hand, there is a concept of “glass ceiling” that discloses obstacles for women to achieve more than men. Men and women are treated equally and any sexual harassment is punishable.

Officially, sexes are equal. A large number of women work, but female heads of enterprises are rather an exception. Fewer women are in politics in Russia than in the USA. Jokes about women are widely spread. Still, gender differentiation is greater than in the US. One can often see a man carrying a woman’s heavy bag (Some men go as far as help a woman with her purse!). Some males also open the door in front of a female and show other pleasantries.

Democracy has its expression in the majority rule at decision making that is widely applied not only in a business settings, at meetings, but also in every day life too. A family may vote to distribute the chores among themselves. At the same time the chairperson is regarded as a facilitator who helps every individual be frank.

Democracy is a value but has a narrower application. By the way, the chairperson is enabled an extra voice when the outcome of voting is a tie.

Individual freedom is the most basic value (sometimes called “individualism” by scholars or simply “freedom” by people. Individuals are free of control from the group, from any organized authority. Americans will terminate relationship “when the costs exceed the benefit.” (Albert, 1996, 338) Americans usually think about their own wishes and needs, which is perceived by Russians as selfishness. Americans believe that one’s well-being and personal interests will be best looked after by a person himself/herself. American individualism is reflected in the language (the use of pronouns, e.g., Americans will say, my family, my college, my country.) One’s identity is based on his/her own individual attributes. Individualism presupposes that each person has the right to their own private life; the ideas expressed by someone may freely differ from those of colleagues, friends, family members, etc. Individualism is displayed in many aspects of American way of life. In education, for example, each student has the right to get individual private information – the test results are ciphered, the access to the results is limited to the student who wrote the test. The grades are not discussed in class. Some scholars see changes from individualism to collectivism after the nine eleven event (Ryan, 2002, 55-58.)

Collectivism is a value, Russians associate themselves as part of a group (though every person would like to be an individual, a personality—this is a value too, but at the same time Russians behave according to the norms of a group.) Relationships are very important. Russians usually think about what is good for the other, the group. Collectivism of Russians is reflected in the language, Russians will say, our family, our college, our country. In Russia, “the communal good takes priority over individual needs and rights, mutual dependence is a unifying factor” (Richmond, 1992, 14.) Russians like to spend their leisure time in groups. Yale Richmond refers to the common practice when an American asks a Russian girl for a date and she accepts she may come with several other Russians accompanying her. The collectivism as a value is reflected in the proverb Na miru I smert krasna (Even death is beautiful in common-translation from: (Richmond, 1992, 16.) Historically, collectivism grew from sobornost’ (communal spirit, togetherness)

Self-reliance and independence (both financial and emotional.) Americans are self reliant or must be seen as such. The traditional cut off for parental support is at age 18 or 21: (children usually leave their parents’ home at that age; if due to some circumstances adult children have to live with their parents they would not share the finances. There will be even two welcome mats at the door to underline the fact that there are two families. The state supports this value: student special loans are available at a bank (with a low interest). If a family supports a student he or she will pay the money back to their parents. So, rich parents do not mean rich students. There is plenty of evidence of the impact on everyday life aspects: for example, it is this value that explains why American students do not help the person next to them during an exam. However, recently there sprang a new trend: adult children keep on living with their parents and being financially supported by them (they are known as twixters). This social change, the change of self-reliance and independence values, are of great concern for American parents and are much debated in mass media.

Dependence (both financial and emotional). Russians rely on support of others and depend on community. The whole cultural system does not allow young people to become independent (though most of them dream about it and usually underscore their independence in behavior—at least in the family. But many young people have to share the same apartment (sometimes three generations living together). If young people go to a different city to study their parents keep on supporting them financially. It is very rare that students can afford payment for the university (where tuition is not free; even if tuition is free students cannot support themselves because the stipend is “symbolic”—one could live one or two weeks at the most). So, rich parents do mean rich students (their children). This value makes parents scarify to their children, which also explains continuing family ties.