Tourist's impression: A view of 'Glasnost' in the Soviet Union

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ready. She thus glided over the Soviet Union's woeful lack of preparedness as a result of Stalin's purges, particularly in the Red Army.

However, among the material printed during the revolution that was on exhibit was a newspaper showing the picture and name of Antonov-Ovseenko, who commanded military operations during the insurrection and led the assault on the Winter Palace but who was executed during the purges. This surely would not have been shown a couple of years ago.

Scientists rehabilitated

In general, I was surprised at the extent to which glasnost had proceeded. The English-language Moscow News, which is made available in places where there are tourists, had an article telling of the rehabilitation of 15 scientists who had been sentenced to death in the 1930s. It did not refer to other trials, but such exoneration can only raise questions about them.

During the tour our group had discussions with two academicians: Professor Kukharenko in Odessa and Professor Matveyev in Leningrad. Both were very frank in speaking of the shortcomings in Soviet society and established an excellent rapport with their tourist audiences.

At times, however, they echoed an official ideology that did not conform to life. This, I believe, was not through an intent to deceive but through a thoughtless repetition of cliches, just as in the United States people will extoll its freedom of the press without mentioning that the major media are controlled by big business.

Professor Kukharenko made a scathing criticism of Soviet education, saying that it was being improved through such measures as better pay for teachers and better textbooks, but that the process would take a long time. She asserted that the middle layers of the bureaucracy were resistant to perestroika (restructuring) and were holding it up.

Professor Matveyev spoke with equal forthrightness about the problem of cynicism among the youth. He did not, however, explain the origin of this cynism except by saying that many of them were following Western fashions in punk, motorcycle gangs, and devotion to soccer.

In response to a question from me about Nor did he mention that the Soviet Communist Party has 19 million members and that it is becoming more tolerant of other organizations participating in Soviet life-though not of other parties doing so. He did concede that there is too much bureaucracy in the Soviet Communist Party and that what the country needs is more socialist democracy and more popular participation in politics.

My own over-all impression is that immense changes are under way and will continue, but that one cannot be sure in which direction they will go since different forces are at work. A genuine deep-going democracy will not be achieved, however, through a beneficient General Secretary who knows that change is necessary if the country is to move again.

A return to workers' self-management such as existed in the early Soviets [see article on p. 16] will come only through struggle from below-through a revolutionary struggle of the Soviet workers against all wings of the parasitic bureaucracy.