Thursday marked the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik flight -- the first time that a man-made object went into orbit. The enthusiasm of the Soviet people at the news is hard to overestimate. Of course, their lively emotions were at least in part provoked by a new sense of liberty that came with Khrushchev's "thaw" and open denouncement of Stalin's atrocities.

In a sense, the Sputnik was even more important for the United States -- it served as a wake-up call, alerting Americans that their science and technology had fallen behind and prompting a major overhaul of the education system. The leading role of U.S. universities in research and technology today is also a distant echo of the Sputnik's beeps.

1957 was a landmark year for the United States for another reason, too -- it was in the fall of '57 that nine black kids marched into the Central High School of Little Rock, Arkansas, escorted by the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army.

It remains debatable whether the leaders of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s would be happy with the situation today, but one thing remains certain --the world has changed dramatically. It was only a short time ago that there were separate washbasins for whites and blacks in the U.S. South. It was only a short time ago, really -- a little over a century -- that trade in human beings was widespread and legal both in the United States and Russia.

In the West, some of the fruits of "political correctness" are ridiculous and some downright ugly; and intolerance still simmers below the surface. However, a mainstream Western politician, university professor or office worker, whatever their real views might be, would not publicly declare discriminatory views, because they effectively make a person an outcast.

Sadly, in Russia aggressive nationalism is tolerated or, worse, encouraged, and a leading politician may use language that would make him a pariah in any civilized country. It's not that Russia has more idiots than any other country -- it's just that they are not ashamed of being idiots.

Russian literature and culture in general have not responded well to the challenges of the post-Sputnik era. It seems to me that writers, dramatists and filmmakers are still busy reworking the legacy of the 19th century. As for the reality of the changing world, they barely scratch the surface. Still, Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" was completed more than 50 years after the end of the war he depicted. Perhaps we should stay tuned.