Читать книгу Khan - Алмаз Браев - Страница 20

Why did the Kazakhs dislike the cat

Democracy is a system for migrants, for people without roots, to build a hierarchy on a new basis – on the basis of money.

Nomads are migrants, too, of course. But the nomads never had property. Besides, they were moving constantly, so they didn’t seem to care, like, well, who are you – we’re all equal. In fact, nomads are not democrats at all, and they know their place from birth. For the nomads to turn into democrats, all the steppe outcasts should gather in one place – then all the nomads would be Democrats in the Western manner. And then it’s not a constant movement. Nomads always have a place to rest while cattle graze around. These are the most abundant meadows. Disputes between the clans could arise over these places. But each family knew its route and did not cross paths with others. If it is a constant movement, then it is a relative constant. If it’s a life on the road, it’s a very stalled life. This slowness does not allow you to forget who is who and refreshes your memory if someone has forgotten and drunk a lot of fermented mare’s milk.

It seems impossible to have yourself in such a state, except for the nobility and elders. Therefore, the nomads have no principles but the power of words. Taking a place in the family hierarchy, everyone catches up with the owner of indescribable Kazakh ambitions. It can be said that nomads could compete in the pride of posture with each other if they could take off their robes. But one confident pose is enough; one can present arrogance, an expensive robe, a few words confirming his rightness, so that any conditional weak opponent – with a slightly crooked posture, barely noticeably uneven – still bends and concedes an invisible stranger to the lists. There seemed to be a dispute between the Kazakhs, but no one noticed. Any inconspicuous detail, maybe his robe is cheaper, maybe his boots creak or squeeze, perhaps he has nothing to say in response. But everything that is there must be in plain sight. It seems that appearance bothers all people: appearance is obliged to tell more about a person than he speaks. How he says and what kind of posture he will have depends on the robe (how many horses, how many sheep, the herd size). «I carry with me all that I have». It could be called imitating the ancient Greek (a modern meme on this subject, a Kazakh without show – offs is a loser. What kind of principles are Kazakh ambitions? Uh, who are you (Sen Kimsin?) – this is usually such a question to settle down any impudent person who has forgotten his place as an upstart. In this sense, any intellectual, a passing example of a petty bourgeois and a descendant of a fugitive European, could trump only with his knowledge. Kazakhs do not need knowledge. They have not been honored in the past. No amount of knowledge will help a modern upstart, either. In the past, a Kazakh had to know his place: to name his family, his father’s name, and only if they considered him worthy of a conversation and an invitation – who his ancestors were by name and what they did. Kazakhs do conduct side discussions about the weather or fashion, as if they do not keep any unnecessary cats in their portable housing. If this is a relative, at the beginning, they will ask how the health of that one is, how he feels, if he is ill, how he looks; they say last time he was cheerful and healthy – give him greetings from us. Nomads are also interested in the weather, but it is not attractive for walking or love meetings in the open air, but only for the «well-being» of feeding livestock. These are the Kazakh principles of life.

If they are reinterpreted in the European manner, then there is no state here (or any other ideology other than kinship and neighborhood with other people). Kazakhs, even modern ones, are not interested in an abstract state. Kazakhs respect witnesses. It is almost the same as the weather in the past: it is interesting purely for applied purposes. The state is fascinating for surprising relatives and friends, for example. To make the posture straight again, they look confident and arrogant (this phenomenon of straightening posture and the appearance of a voice can be traced to modern officials. Usually, officials recruit a contingent that is not quite suitable, frankly speaking, for management. It can be said that it is not suitable at all, but calm, quiet, unquestioning, humble. The first local boss knows that after a while, the neophyte will have everything: a lot of money and a lot of opportunities, which means expensive clothes and a commanding voice. The most important boss -an autocrat among them can cheer up a newcomer, a regional akim: «You’ll be fine soon. Be patient a little bit.» What does he mean by that? Of course, material well-being. After all, it is the officials who are the richest here.

That is, to add knowledge to ambitions and status, in addition to the father’s name, for example, the conditions are not ripe for this.

Kazakhs still value professionals little, but officials, that is, people with opportunities, love, adore, and at least publicly show it in every possible way as if all the officials’ fathers were noble, rich, and worthy. But this is not the case. Therefore, all officials do not waste time in vain – as long as there is time, while they hold office, they multiply their authority. And there is also little talk about the weather at the parties. They are mostly bragging. And among themselves, they talk about the case in a narrow circle. And the state is here again like some cat. And Kazakhs have never kept cats.