stumpf@homxa.UUCP (P.STUMPF) (11/21/84)
Soviet Union Trip Report: Part 1 - "Political" Environment Tour Dates: 9/30-10/20/84 The opinions and observations contained herein are my own. I went as a tourist; my background in engineering, not in world politics, so take this report lightly, though it is hoped to be accurate. This is Part 1 of a series of reports on my tour of the Soviet Union (Russian and Uzbekistan Republics). Later reports will cover interesting things such as food, sightseeing, shopping, and drug deals :-). Among the most noticeably visible things is the large number of billboards promoting, or proclaiming, World Peace. The signs are brief, containing little message but the words Peace, or Peaceful World. In Asia there was a billboard which had "Peace" in Russian and in Spanish, using their respective alphabets, naturally. Peace, or War, apparently is a serious concern of a number of people; enough so, in fact, that members of our group were stopped at various times by citizens to discuss the matter. Older people, mostly women, were the main people who would stop us. Only two people on our tour spoke very good Russian, our American guide, and a woman whose parents left Russia at the time of the Revolution. Through these two we learned that the citizens were afraid of a war with us, mostly afraid of Reagan, and cared for us as people. In Asia, on learning that I was American, a man challenged me for being there, as though I was assumed to be hostile to him and his country. Through the tour guide, who happened by at the time, we were able to convince (?) him that we were there to see how people lived, to show that we were human too, and had no inherent desire to lay waste to their country. I felt that this man's attitude was remarkable since no European war that I knew has ever reached Uzbekistan, and he need have no reason to assume America was evil. In Leningrad, after visiting their memorials and museums to the people who had lived through the 900 day Siege (World War II) of the city, and understanding the magnitude of the loss, variously reported at 1-2 million (20 - 40% of the population), I (that's me talking) believed that these people don't want this to happen again, and have serious, and deep, feelings on the subject. I spoke to a number of young people, who were mostly, if not entirely, interested in black market deals; none of them seemed at all concerned with the possibility of another war. (More on the black market in another report.) In summary, I believe the people want peace. On the other hand, there is the Soviet government. (I will try not to draw parallels to the US government, as that belongs in net.politics.) The government is responsible for the billboards, so the emphasis on peace as an issue is the government's responsibility. Political cartoons in the Russian language papers (e.g., Pravda and Isvestia), show Reagan with six-shooters, standing astride Central America, or with missiles directed at the Soviet Union from Europe. Free English-language newspapers are available in the airport lobbies (in the tourist areas only) which also contain similar cartoons. The paper also covered non-political stories such as their Cosmonauts, and our space shuttle launch. They also gave a lot of press and TV coverage to the striking British coal miners who they had invited to the country. The TV news covered much of the world; it was hard to tell what was going on without knowing the language. They did have excerpts from American TV on some broadcasts. In particular, there were shots directly from (CBS?) news showing pages from the CIA manual apparently intended for use in Nicaragua. The shots included English-language captions specifying actions such as "removing key officials", etc. overlaying pictures of troops moving through jungle-like countryside. A news broadcast once included a picture of Ferrarro. We had two different full-time national guides with us during various parts of the trip: both women, both apolitical. Of six local guides, the only one to mention war/peace at all was the Leningradian who took us to the Siege museum. She explained that there was a strong peace movement in Leningrad. She was also explained to us how candidates are picked for local elections, and how they select the higher ranking representatives. This seemed no less confusing than party caucuses in America, so I gave up trying to understand it. Unemployment is illegal. They won't arrest you simply for being unemployed, but it will be another charge if you are found doing anything else wrong. To fire a bad worker, according to our guide, you write an extremely good recommendation and send the worker some place else. This may have been a joke, then again, it may not. Students are given stipends, based on performance. Personal freedom, for tourists and citizens, in my next report. (That one will be more interesting.)