Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, head of the Republic of Ingushetia
I would like to say that a patriot is not one who draws more attention to himself. Yes, there are those that at a football game without any reason break chairs, throw them at someone. They are not patriots. There are those who hear "Look out! They beat us!” and utterly without understanding commit insane acts. This is not patriotism, it's not a feat, it is nonsense. There are those that come in the wake of a stronger person and perform again unworthy actions, which they then regret. This is also not a feat, it is nonsense. And there are those who are quiet and peaceful, just doing their job for the benefit of themselves, especially the human factor is here, no doubt, all of you think about how to do something good for your families, but overall, it all goes to the benefit of the village, the city, the republic, it is subject to the benefit of the society, the community of people. If there is a good doctor, you will benefit from him. He makes money for his family and heals the sick. And if he is a bad doctor, maybe he will make good money for his family cheating, but it is a tragedy for the patients. Therefore, we must watch these steps. And I think that patriotism and heroism of these small things is these candy wrappers. If you are keen on sports, and there are no bars, no children's corner, there is no site, and the power has no possibilities, do something yourself, and children will have something to do. This is a feat, these are the Patriots. From small things big things occur. Then there are Gastello, Nikolai Kuznetsov, our great pilot Oskanov, Hero of Russia, and all the rest. Love of country is a great concept, extensible, insensible, intangible, but it is the love for the motherland. I was in 2010 in Strasbourg and, speaking to the European Parliament, spoke about the situation to protect our interests, talked about it. Someone understood me and someone did not understand. And when reporters asked me who I was by birth, I said "Russian". They asked for a second time, a third, each asked in French, Dutch. I said that I was Russian. They corrected me. But I said what I had in mind. In the Caucasus, I am Ingush, in Moscow, outside the Caucasus, I am Caucasian, and outside Russia I am Russian, because we are all so called. If I do something bad abroad, they will not say about the Ingush, they will say «Russian». If I do a great job out of the country, again, they do not say "Ingush" but "Russian". It would seem that post-Soviet era has passed, but the Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and people from the Baltic states, and Kazakhs are still called Russians. These are the things that form your personality, and what is the meaning of these words? Any Caucasian, going outside their republic, should first think not about himself, but of the people which he represents. If he is self-discipline for the good, normal, nice action, and these are the things put in his head as a child, the same pattern will be with any Russian citizen, whether from Khabarovsk, whether from Chukotka, or from the Caucasus, being outside he will not think of himself but of a great country, the culture of the great country.
There is a saying: If someone says something bad behind your back about you, then you are ahead. This is a formula, it is well known, of course. Not always this may be well to lean forward. This also should be known – in ethics, according to our customs, in the Caucasus, and not only in the Caucasus. For some reason we, when we talk about the Caucasus, forget about the Slavs. There are good old customs. When I ask the question, when the tradition of large families appeared in the Caucasus, I say, we took it from the Slavs. Think of serfdom, remember our great generals of the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War and the name of at least one who had fewer than five children. Everyone had 12-13, even 18 children, even in the most difficult times, when there was serfdom in Russia, these were huge families. I also say this. Therefore, the tradition was in all nations, and even more stringent than in the Caucasus. If we begin to remember the history, there are quite serious, good, patriotic customs and traditions of all nations. Of course, when we talk about our country, we first need to think about what the result can be. There is a formula. It's like a small family. If you have someone in the family - father, mother - God forbid, drinking, drug dealing, unfortunately, there are those who are deprived of parental rights, but it does not give the right to a son or daughter to go out and tell everyone that they have bad parents. It is extremely rude and unethical. He must fight against this phenomenon, but he should not tell about tit. He can ask for help from friends and colleagues but not tell about this as a shameful thing, as a hex on their parents. Of course, someone tell about their homeland that it is very hard and very bad, and he does nothing. Look who speaks badly about our country, our own citizens, and in the republics there are such people. Se their biography, they have not planted a tree, have not raised the wrapper, have not accompanied an old woman across the road, in the life of the society he did not do anything useful, but loudly, violently, stomping their feet, he talks about his homeland. It is necessary, especially to you, young people, to try to understand the meaning: who says this? Here again, there is a famous saying "Who are the judges? '. I would ask to understand that such things are a betrayal of the traditions, customs, ancestors, the deeds of our fathers, who built our country. Of course, all these things, actions lead to the substitution of our history, our traditions, customs, and the substitution of general overall system, and there are some areas that think: now we can get down and do something great. But again, I stress, this will not work. Returning to the same kitten that meows in a burning house, and you walk past the window, at home, knowing that you can go there and save this kitten, but you know that you cannot get a medal for this, at best, someone will say "Thank you". And you go somewhere further, passing on this thanks, not saving the living soul, you think that there is something somewhere where you can earn a medal, but already you do not have enough spirit. Here we have to think very seriously, when we listen to the people who tell something bad about their country, their customs, their traditions, these are unfortunately, lots of people today, including among you, young people, in your circle. Sometimes, when you come to the blogs, internet, look and read – you see colossal bad manners. But you are happy when it appears that there is the one who writes with a sense of duty and responsibility. This means that the land has enough patriots of their country, their homeland.
