Russia, Why Lying Has Become a National Pastime!

[borosp1]

I found this interesting article (Why Lying Has Become a National Pastime) from Oct. 22, 2012 from the Moscow Times website which seems more evident today because of the attack on Ukraine to anyone outside of Russia than at anytime I recall. A lot of people living in Russia probably are aware of people lying as being 'normal' part of their society but those outside of the country who are not from Russia would have no idea lying is as pervasive in Russian culture and society as it evidently is.

One of the ways people survived these mind-bending issues was to practice what is known in Russia as "vranyo." It is deemed a "white lie" and is generally accepted as acceptable. Vranyo is described as when a person knows he is lying and expects the other person to understand that. One of my colleagues said, "He was lying to us, we knew he was lying, he knew we knew he was lying, but he kept lying anyway, and we pretended to believe him."

Lying is often used to maintain a better image and to save face. Russians are a very proud people, and under the Soviet system many genuinely believed they were "the best." For those men and women, their sense of personal value was coupled with this system. Thus, when it fell, so did their personal worth. They also had never been allowed to think independently or understand how to be responsible for themselves. As a result, during the chaos of the 1990s, many Russians were very confused. They were required to suddenly make decisions and accept responsibilities for which they had no training. At the same time, their pride would not allow them to admit that they did not know how to accomplish these new tasks. Consequently, they fell back into their old familiar pattern of vranyo and lied rather than admit that they could not do something or needed help.

Lying often is used to take advantage of others, thus breeding corruption and outright theft. Many entrepreneurs have been robbed because criminals bribed officials who enabled them to evict the rightful owners of newly successful businesses. Contracts have been canceled and property seized. I remember several years ago walking past the Trinity Motors showroom on Tverskaya Ulitsa, and I was shocked to see the windows painted white. I later read that 25 men had stormed in and given the company only a few hours to evacuate the property. Their lease had been canceled by the presidential administration

Russia is plagued by lying that ranges from what is deemed as a mild-mannered vranyo to immoral corruption. Vranyo is a lie, and the acceptance of this creates a system of falsehood that undermines trust and condones and encourages deceit, deception and irresponsibility. If someone lies regarding small things, he will likely lie in more important areas and also will accept this offensive behavior in others.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2012/10/22/why-lying-has-become-a-national-pastime-a18754