I recently stumbled upon the TRIGGERnometry podcast, which brands itself as a “free speech show”. It’s hosted by two (former) comedians, Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster. I usually listen to these podcasts while working out, and what I really appreciate about them is that they host people with very different views and always have respectful, unfiltered discussions. Yes, honest debate without disrespecting each other is possible. Sometimes their podcasts are not only eye-opening, but inherently funny.
Kisin himself is a Russian immigrant in Britain who describes himself as a “Remainer with liberal and centrist views who has only voted Lib Dem or Labour” and criticised the use of the “right-wing” label as a “smear for those we disagree with”.
Given how much I enjoy their style, I was happy to read Kisin’s bestselling book An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West. In this book, he defends the British and Western societies in which he is so grateful to have found himself.
Let me share a couple of ideas from the book so you can decide whether you’d find it interesting.
The roots of political correctness
This is a funny one for several reasons. One is that certain people like to accuse everyone who disagrees with them of serving Russian purposes. These are usually the same people who love to be politically correct — not simply love to be, but they see it as the only acceptable way to communicate in order to “ensure sensitivity to the feelings of others, or protecting vulnerable groups”.
From the book, you can learn that political correctness as a term “first appeared in Marxist-Leninist vocabulary following the Russian revolution and used to describe adherence to the politicies and priciples of the Communist Party”.
In the Soviet Union you could be easily told, “Comrade, this may be factually correct, but it is politically incorrect.” Yes, political correctness comes from the desire to hide the truth to advance your political agenda.
Let’s face it, it hasn’t changed ever since or maybe it’s just gotten worse.
Low wealth and income inequality and British food
If you like sarcastic, sometimes dark British humor, there is a good chance you’ll love this book. Unlike British food, it’s heavily seasoned. (Personally, I enjoy British food a lot whenever I get the chance to visit the UK and always come back with a full suitcase of different items to the biggest delight of my family.)
The author — jokingly — claims that food in the Soviet Union was better than British food. People in the USSR were very inventive when it came to cuisine. For example, his mother would pick apples in the university gardens and cook them with rice, which was a typical family meal for them.
Some now might smile thinking what a great idea it is to use the produce of university garden trees. But the reason behind it was that the USSR had achieved the ultimate socialist dream: low wealth and income inequality.
It’s a minor detail that it was achieved by keeping everyone poor, with restricted access to basic goods such as food and clothing. As he says, “socialism’s answer to poverty is the equivalent of helping wheelchair users by cutting everyone else’s legs off.”
If you ever lived in a state that was part of the socialist bloc, you probably know at least from your grandparents how things worked. If not, you’ll understand from this book. You’ll also learn about the history of socialism and how the founders of this ideology lived off their rich parents’ financial support.
Being conservative with only a Netflix password to conserve
But this doesn’t mean at all that all socialist ideas are bad, and definitely not that the bigger the inequalities the better it is for everyone. Of course not. Kisin also writes about why these ideologies can attract so many people.
“According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, ‘the average property price in England has risen by 173 per cent after adjusting for inflation, and by 253 per cent in London, since 1997. This compares with increases in real incomes of 25-to-34-year-olds of only 19 per cent and in (real) rents of 38 per cent.’ When young people have little opportunity to accumulate capital, is it any wonder they don’t have faith in capitalism, which promises so much but seems to deliver little of long-term value?”
Young people have a hard time putting down roots. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, and it leads to bigger societal problems. If you have no stable place to live and settle down, you’ll delay getting married and having children.
As the author says, “how on earth can they expect people to become politically Conservative when they have nothing to conserve except their Netflix password?”
Conclusion
An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West is a sharp, funny and surprisingly moving defence of the values most of us in the West take for granted.
What makes Kisin’s argument stand out is not the argument itself, but where it comes from. He wasn’t born into a society with freedom of speech, property rights, and individual liberty as abstract constitutional principles. He fled a country that actively denied them. That experience gives him a perspective that no amount of academic study can replicate.
The book is also enjoyable to read. Kisin writes the way he speaks on TRIGGERnometry: with wit, warmth, and no small amount of self-deprecation. He doesn’t preach. He tells stories, makes his case, and trusts you to draw your own conclusions.
If you’re already sympathetic to his views, you’ll find your intuitions well-articulated. If you’re not, it’s still worth reading as a good-faith argument from the other side. A recommended read.
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