From Rus to Russia, the last book Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov prepared for publication before his death in 1992, is no less fascinating — and even better flowing — than his first monograph. I enjoyed reading it now more than I did a quarter of century ago. I am also less willing to agree with the author now than then.
For instance, he insists that adoption of Eastern Orthodox Christianity was not just a good thing for Russia: it was the best possible thing. Moreover, thanks to this religion Russians became incredibly welcoming and tolerant. (Except for the times when they were not tolerant at all and kept beheading their enemies and each other.) Consequently, according to Gumilyov, the Russian empire-building was really benign compared to predatory Spanish/Dutch/French/British colonialism. And isn’t it strange that he singles out the mediaeval Jews as a parasitic super-ethnos, as if all Jewish people were merchants and moneylenders, while for the other nations robbing their neighbours is a kind of normal — apparently, non-parasitic — activity?
At least here, in contrast to Хунну, Gumilyov takes care to elucidate his passionarity theory of ethnogenesis. The problem with this theory though is that we can neither prove nor disprove it. We cannot measure the passionarity (or “drive”, as this term is translated in the English-language version of Ethnogenesis and the Biosphere of Earth) quantitatively. We only can try to link it with density of events — wars, revolutions, coups, etc.: most events in the historical record are violent.
For example, I’d like to think that English spent most of their passionarity a few centuries ago. That can explain why we have the most useless government in modern history headed by a proven liar and there is still no revolution in sight. But what about the Russian super-ethnos that is, according to Gumilyov, about 500 years younger than the Western European super-ethnos? The very word “passionarity” is hijacked by Russian mainstream, by establishment, even by Putin. And where is Russian passionarity? With current demographic situation, do the remaining Russians actually need or want expansion? For Pete the Great’s sake, the country just voted to allow our eagle Don Reba to stay in power for life. Yes, yes, I know, they know, the referendum was rigged, so what. A few hundred people protested. So?
Lev Nikolayevich lived in interesting times. He saw the birth and the death of the Soviet Union. What would he make of Dobby’s backward-looking, xenophobic and corrupt as ever Russia? Would he admit that his calculations were wrong and the country is not in the inertial, or “golden autumn” phase, but rather in the phase of obscuration?
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