First Mord Anders (Anders Mård) visited Saint Petersburg in autumn 1996 and have been in love and shocked in all respects. Then, in 2002, the Mord settled in this city, together with his Russian wife, who works as a doctor, and four children. In a recent book report “the Road is called Russia” Anders Mord writes, he changed his attitude to Russia. The Finnish-Swedish and St. Petersburg journalist ambiguous attitude to the environment where he lives.
He previously wrote about peculiarities of Russian everyday life, the kind of anarchy that prevailed in the stairwells of the house, where he entered the Mord and his family. Although he had some sympathy for the Russian worldview, according to which you do not have to do the right thing. And that’s when the family moved into an old house right behind the Peter and Paul fortress on the Petrograd side of the Neva, he realized that its shocking that anyone in the house did not seem to care, how to look like stairs and the General area of the type of attic, basement, roofs and pipes that are in the area of responsibility of the city. In practice, this meant that the residents mostly don’t care about the condition of these premises, what Mord was soon convinced by his own experience. It seems that no one else in the house not surprised that people threw trash on the roof of the porch over the street door. With the stubbornness of Sisyphus Mord climbed back up the stairs, picked up litter and threw it in a container day after day during the week, while his efforts have not yielded results.
But St. Petersburg and Moscow is not all Russia. So he made the journey on the Federal highway M10 between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Its length is 697 kilometers. Sometimes the road is excellent, but some sections in terrible condition.
Mord is not the first writer — traveler along the way. Many Russian writers tried to capture the essence of the Russian soul out of big cities.
Anders Mord visited the editorial offices of Newspapers, farms, monasteries, old Stalin’s dacha and the village of Turginovo, come from Putin. He says, like Gogol in the mid-nineteenth century that Russia suffers primarily from two problems: fools and roads. The fines he has to pay, are not good roads, and in the register of the traffic police. Ten years ago, the people’s money actually went into the pocket of the police, improving their personal financial situation, but now other times.
Having been in Novgorod, keeping the memory of the days of the Vikings, Anders gets Face to Staraya Russa on the Victory Day on 9 may. A great Patriotic day for Russia, a celebration of the victory over Nazi Germany. Anders Face bothers marching youth. This Russia of the future? The message from current leaders is crystal clear. Solves all the military power and “Victory” will always be on the side of the Russian people. In this nationalist message, which much is borrowed from the Slavophiles, Europe seems in a bad light, and modern Russia is in favour of strong nationalism, a strong leader and a strong Church. Used even mystical, concept of “Russian land”.
In his journey, Anders Mord meets and losers of the Russian modern society. Often it’s Russian men, whose life expectancy is on average 54 years. The reasons are many: alcohol, Smoking, poor nutrition, lack of movement. For example, when heart problems to the doctor they go, and poured another glass. The traditional male role is to be as strong as steel, but life in a society that is constantly changing and full of stress, hard for many men.
Anders Mord thinks about the future — his and his family in Russia. Putin and his cronies rule with an iron hand and control the economy, army, media and politics. No alternative center of power does not exist. It is unlikely that the people will rise, despite the dissatisfaction, for example, corruption. In contrast to the situation a few years ago, now there is a professional national guard. It has approximately 200 thousand people and is accountable only to the President, its task is to suppress “public disorder”.
Anders Mord says further. “Russia and Russian me in the throat, and I’d rather take a year off and being an assistant football coach in the Junior League in the youngest age group, Pohjanmaa. But I have a family that is much more important than some “Russia.” In any case, our family sees its future in Saint Petersburg. I myself much like in everyday Russian life. Russian — maximalists, and they have a fantastic ability to live a full life here and now. The seething energy infects all around, even deadly serious Finns”.
