The American Spectator

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David Govett br> Davis, California /p>

Erich Fromm comments in The Forgotten Language: An Introduction to the Understanding of Dreams, Fairy Tales and Myths, the psychological and sociological reasons the Jews of Exodus were not allowed to enter the Promised Land was they would be unable to adapt to the new freedoms; they were slaves, not only because they were under the rule of others, but because they also had learned to think of themselves as slaves. The Exodus generation had no way to expunge from themselves what they were existentially. This held true for the Moses and his generation and it holds true for most citizens of the former USSR.

Many of the people who made for peaceful and semi-peaceful revolutions in East Europe (a.k.a. Russian and her Soviet satellites) have allowed or called for less than democratic leadership for which they strove. Russians hoisted Boris Yeltsin onto their shoulders and demanded freedom for all, but without any leaders who truly understood freedom and democracy, the people and the nation stumbled. And it was not just leaders who could not fathom freedom (or the risks that attend freedom), but the people themselves who howled for a new king. Now, once again, they have a rather strong dictatorial leader in President Putin, and while they have lost much freedom, they seem more contented than when they were freer.

p>As we read in Ecclesiastes, there is no new thing under the sun. So, just as the freed Israeli slaves bemoaned their transition, trials and tribulations and wished to return to " the flesh pots of Egypt" and the familiar heavy hand of pharaoh, the Russians long to feel the weight of Putin's reins. Can the Russian psyche ever be one that yearns for freedom above structure (and false security) is one that is still open to question, but America and the West would best be served by steady patience. An entire generation had to die before even one Israeli was allowed to step into the Promised Land. The people of Russia may need a similar time frame. br> -- Ira M. Kessel br> Rochester, New York /p> p> THE FIGHT OF FRED'S LIFE br> Re: Lisa Fabrizio's How to Fight for Life :

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