XANDER BLAKELY
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FAQ 5. When you took your partner and other business associates to America, they were disappointed with our apparent lack of freedom. They even compared many aspects of our society to a communist utopia. Do you agree with this perception? Wholeheartedly. I have never felt freer, more alive, than I did when I moved to Siberia. And I have never felt less free, less vivacious, than I did upon returning to America. You can swim in America, but be sure to stay within the white safety lines. Flying over America, you can see that street grids don't stop at the city limits, but continue out into the countryside. Perpendicular roads from horizon to horizon cordon everything. From a plane, Russia looks much more raw. It is much more open, more random. There is a Siberian expression that our company truck driver, Sergei, loved to repeat: "In Siberia, there are no roads, only directions." America is a country of well-worn paths governed by well-established rules. Ironically, the symbol of American freedom, the open road, is often anything but open, but rather is paralyzed by gridlock. |
