berman@ihuxm.UUCP (Andy Berman) (11/22/83)
Concerning ABC's film on Nuclear War "The Day After," Michael R. Zboray writes: >But now who is going to show this film to the 10 - 20 million >communist party members of the USSR? >Who is going to make it frightfully clear to them that this is >ridiculous? [Whatever one's view of the USSR is, can it be disputed that the Soviet government and people are painfully aware of the effects of war? We are talking of a nation that was literally ravaged by WWII with a loss of 20 million people...touching literally every family in the USSR. In the USSR one never hears or reads the kind of insane and chauvenistic "nuke the bastards" crap that one hears in so often in the USA] >There is no need to show TDA to the entire population of the USSR. >They have very little contorl over thier lives anyway. >I'm afraid that ABC has put the fear into only half of the people that >need to be afraid. [Reading Soviet propaganda or speaking to any visitor almost invariably indicates that there is a painful awareness and concern over the danger of nuclear war in all levels of Soviet society. As far as control over our lives, I fear that the lack of control over our destiny is a common feeling these days, among Americans and Europeans as well. So much of the discussion I have heard since the film is of the theme "well, its hopeless anyway, ordinary people can't do anything"] >We are dealing with people who have a very different perspective on the >world. [My understanding is that Soviet people look very much like us, and share the same concerns about family, job health, love, as we do.] >What other country has murdered millions of its own citizens as the USSR >has under the leadership of Uncle Joe? [Stalin has not been in power for 30 years. He is looked upon with a very mixed view by the current authorities. He has been openly criticized for victimizing innocent people since his death.] >I think that the best thing that could happen is for the people of the >USSR to see TDA. [I agree. As a matter of fact ABC did show it to Soviet officials at their request about a week before the public airing here. But again, I don't think the Soviets need quite the reminder of the horrors of war that we Americans seem to need so badly] >There is a common thread between us and that is the fear of death. [Right on] >But trust them? [A bogus argument. As former Sect'y of Defense McNamara pointed out in the ABC discussion following the film: 1) There are extremely accurate means (e.g. sattellites) to very any arms argreement with the USSR 2) The Soviets have a good track record in complying with SALT (Again, McNamara says that!) So "trust" is not really involved in the sense of surrendering anything or lowering our security] >Lets stop now and figure out a way back. [Great idea. A good start would be to examine more closely the nature of the USSR, to come to an understanding that it is NOT the incarnation of hell on earth; that it is a society in transition, with many shortcomings to be certain, with a lot to learn about tolerance of dissent; that it's people have rising hopes and expectations for improving their material well-beings; that the USSR was our staunch ally in the fight against Nazi Germany; that there is room for serious dialog and discussion.] RED-BAITERS AND FLAME THROWERS, PLEASE DO IT IT NET.FLAME Let's keep the serious discussion here. Andy Berman
eich@uiuccsb.UUCP (11/24/83)
#R:ihuxm:-72400:uiuccsb:11000077:000:1289 uiuccsb!eich Nov 23 23:42:00 1983 /***** uiuccsb:net.politics / ihuxm!berman / 5:39 pm Nov 22, 1983 */ Concerning ABC's film on Nuclear War "The Day After," Michael R. Zboray writes: >But now who is going to show this film to the 10 - 20 million >communist party members of the USSR? >Who is going to make it frightfully clear to them that this is >ridiculous? [Whatever one's view of the USSR is, can it be disputed that the Soviet government and people are painfully aware of the effects of war? We are talking of a nation that was literally ravaged by WWII with a loss of 20 million people...touching literally every family in the USSR. In the USSR one never hears or reads the kind of insane and chauvenistic "nuke the bastards" crap that one hears in so often in the USA] Au contraire. In the Soviet Union one hears a great deal of insane and chauvinistic crap about the "Great Patriotic War." The 20 million dying to defend their homes got a far better deal than the 20 million Stalin killed. World War II is viewed with nationalist nostalgia by White Russians. So stop repeating nonsense picked up from Georgi Arbatov or Joe Oblomov, or whichever Kremlin flunky it was who tried to put this one over on Ted Koppel. See Hedrick Smith's "The Russians."