ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     sumer society which is in 
     
     store for us. too, if we 
     
    
   
   
    
     don't change. We hbe- 
     
     gan restructuring just in 
     
     time.” 
     
     “When 
     
    

    
     talking to Americans. I 
     
     was surprised that they 
     
     didn’t know their great 
     
     writers Kurt Vonnegut. 
     
     Stephen King, and Nor- 
     
     man Mailer. whom I 
     
     read here. They seem 
     
     to be interested only in 
     
     comics and Hollywood 
     
     movies.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     YCL city committee 
     
     adopts new style of work 
     
    
   
   
    
     rr 
     
     ——q—q————E———— —K—~_X_——_—_———_—_—__—EEE= 2 
     
    
   
   
    
     errr ee 
     
     ——— March 17th 1988 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     We were received by 
     
     Stanislav Smirnov. First 
     
     Secretart of the Moscow 
     
     Young comununist 
     
     League City Committee. 
     
     (The Moscow YCL orga- 
     
     nization has 1.2 million 
     
     members). 
     
    

    
     ‘I 
     
     would divide youth asso- 
     
     ciations into those which 
     
     we willingly contact and 
     
     those which we reject on 
     
     principle. For example. 
     
     we cannot accept hippies 
     
     with their leanings to- 
     
     ward relition and social 
     
     isolation. Metallists and 
     
     other rock-music lovers 
     
     are a different thing. We 
     
     organized a_ rock labo- 
     
     ratory at the YCL City 
     
     Committee and held a 
     
     rock festival. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Lately the 
     
     peace was often being 
     
     disturbed in Moscow by 
     
     motorcyelists riding the 
     
     streets at night. Many 
     
     of them did not have 
     
     a driver's licence and 
     
     consciously violated the 
     
     rules. We made night 
     
     raids together with the 
     
     militia. got acquainted 
     
     with motorcyclists. and 
     
     are setting up motorcy- 
     
     cling clubs.” 
     
    

    
     “I’m sure that none 
     
     of the punks or other 
     
     groups is against the so- 
     
     cialist princi- 
     
     ples.” Stanislav Smirnov 
     
     said. “They most often 
     
     protest against obsolete 
     
     formal] 
     
     structures. Today peo- 
     
     ple’s initiative foreruns 
     
     structural changes in so- 
     
     ciety. A pap between 
     
    
   
   
    
     them causes public dis- | 
     
    
   
   
    
     content. young people 
     
     are against bureaucrasy 
     
     in the YCL. We were 
     
     slow to understand that 
     
     we should base our work 
     
     on young people's inter- 
     
     ests. These interests 
     
     change quickly and we 
     
     weren't flexible enough. 
     
     now we are restructuring 
     
     our system.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     The YCL does not 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     just look after young 
     
     people’s free time. “we 
     
     want to set up sections, 
     
     factory depart- 
     
     mént and clin- 
     
     ics staffed entirely. from 
     
     office-cleaners to the di- 
     
     rec- 
     
    

    
     tor. by 
     
    
   
   
    
     shops. 
     
     stores 
     
    
   
   
    
     young 
     
     said. 
     
    
   
   
    
     people” 
     
     Stanislav Mis 
     
     month we are opining 
     
     such department stores 
     
    
   
   
    
     “Who taught them 
     
     that happiness is being 
     
     married to a brainless doll, 
     
     making good money and 
     
     having a car and carpets? 
     
     There must be a different 
     
     goal in life.” > 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     in each Moscow district. 
     
     We want. them: to work in 
     
     an unconventional way. 
     
     We've opened the first 
     
     school staffed by young 
     
     graduates of pedagogi- 
     
     eal institutes. Though 
     
     they lack work experi- 
     
     ence. they are more will- 
     
     ing to establish infor- 
     
     mal communication with 
     
     their pupils and have a 
     
     better understanding of 
     
    
   
   
    
     child and teenage psy- 
     
     chology. Many youth 
     
     problems are caused. by 
     
    
   
   
    
     a lack of 
     
     and trust 
     
     adults.” 
     
    

    
     Young biologists 
     
     higher education 
     
    

    
     In a Moscow. Uni- 
     
     versity garden we met 
     
     Alexander Rubtxov..a 
     
     32-year-old assistant at 
     
     the Biological Faculty 
     
     Chair of Biochemistry. 
     
     He is married with two 
     
     children. 
     
    

    
     “Th 
     
     my opinion. there are no 
     
     special youth problems.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     understanding 
     
     on the part of 
     
    
   
   
    
     on 
     
    
   
   
    
     he said. “There are so- 
     
     cial problems which con- 
     
     cern all generations, but 
     
     some young people have 
     
     an accentric reaction to 
     
     them, such as becoming 
     
     a hippie. Im indifferent 
     
     to unofficial associations 
     
     Tin past that age.” 
     
    

    
     Since restructuring is 
     
     mostly young people's 
     
     concern, it’s important 
     
     that they be not only so- 
     
     cially active citizens. but 
     
     real professionals.  Ac- 
     
     cording to the young 
     
     scientist, at higher ed- 
     
     ucational establishments 
     
     the emphasis should ‘be 
     
     on practical rather than 
     
     theoretical education. In 
     
     this respect. there is 
     
     room for improvement 
     
     at the biological faculty. 
     
     too. 
     
    
   
   
    
     | served in Afghanistan 
     
    
   
   
    
     Transport worker 
     
     Viktor Morozov whom 
     
     we met on Ostozhenka 
     
    
   
   
    
     street in Old Moscow be- 
     
     lieves drug addiction to 
     
     be the Number 1 youth 
     
     problem. “Young people 
     
    
   
   
    
     take drugs because they 
     
     have nowhere to po in 
     
     their spare time. They 
     
     try it out of curiosity and 
     
     the weaker ones get ad- 
     
     dicted.” “Did you try 
     
     drugs yourself?” ‘Yes. I 
     
     did, in Afghanistan.” 
     
     Twenty-four- 
     
    

    
     year-old Viktor is single. 
     
     “I’ve no time for girls.” 
     
     he said. Since serving 
     
     in Afghanistan. he has 
     
     been studying part-time 
     
    
   
   
    
     at the Institute of Na- 
     
     tional Economy for two 
     
     years. 
     
    

    
     He recalled the most 
     
     searry episode in his 
     
     life. It happened in 
     
     Afghanistan. A radio- 
     
     controlled antitank ar- 
     
    
   
   
    
     tillery shell smashed a 
     
     tank ahead of him. He 
     
     got off with a slight con- 
     
     cussion, but he clearly 
     
     imagined himself in that 
     
     tank. 
     
    

    
     His greatest desire is 
     
     to live his life in peace. 
     
     “Those who have been 
     
     to war. know this feeling 
     
     well.” 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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