In Russia, power is a top-down reality. Putin is revered like a God, and that is exactly where the Russians got their power structure from: the religious context. No wonder the feet of Russians do not really touch the ground when talking politics; the Russians chant for their country in a political context as if they are involved in a sports game.
In the USA, the power situation is actually quite interesting, too. At first it is a bottom-up reality based on We The People. Then, however, it is reversed internally as a top-down structure in which the Federal government is strongest, and where the individual States compete with one another (and compete with the Federal government, too) to each be their very strongest themselves. Meanwhile, We The People is actually pushed out much by these governmental realities of power, undermining the overall setup.
However, when push does come to shove, the USA is that We The People nation, whereas Russia is that God-fearing nation.
Viewed from the Enlightenment in which the Earth circles the Sun and not the other way around, and where we follow Spinoza's recommendation to separate Church and State, the USA is the better, more Enlightened nation compared to Russia. Still, many folks in the USA chant for their country in a political context, too, as if they are involved in a sports game.
Are there better nations? Yes, the ones that empower their people with full representation. It comes with a warning, though. Large nations should be careful not-desiring twenty parties for the sake of absolute freedom. It is better to have a handful of parties.
Just one or just two parties in control is nevertheless pathetic, not worthy the word Enlightened.
Russia is stuck in the 15th and 16th century when some nations in Western Europe entered the modern age. The Russians never made it to the inside of the Enlightenment. Even the Soviet adventure was not really a venture into the Enlightenment because dictatorships are never Enlightened of course.
The United States got stuck in the 18th century when the current setup got established (and relatively quickly thereafter got warped) to the power structure we have in place today. That is indeed on the inside of the Enlightenment, but then with at least one foot trying to escape it.
The choice which one to follow is easy. Let me show this in a funny way.
1. Not Russia
2. Not the USA
3. Not-not nations that hand more power and more freedom to their own people. (I particularly like how Germany now uses the USA system, but they fixed up the American voting system in one simple manner, so it reflects the much desired Enlightenment better.)
